ENGLISH EXAM ...A1 level required as part of Spouse Visa application
So i started my research off on the UK Border Agency website ..here i learnt we must use an approved English language test ( from the new list of approved test providers )
So far so good ...
I read the list and start doing some searches ..i soon learnt that the list was very small, what seemed to be the easiest to understand by visiting there online site was ESOL Cambridge, very informative website/design and made things very clear and easy to understand ..but alas they only have a test centre in Cebu !! ..so that was straight out of the window ..my wife lives in Manila area ..
The only other one on the list that provided the relevant test and had a test centre in the Philippines was TOEIC (or maybe i am missing something??) ..so i searched this (TOEIC) and was directed to the "Hopkins International Site" ..at last i had found what we where looking for??? ..alas though, the website unlike the other one was badly designed and really difficult to understand and follow.
Well UK Border Agency states my wife only needs an A1 level in "SPEAKING and LISTENING" ..but guess what ..Hopkins do NOT give you that option!! ...why do they make it so complicated?? ..in fact Hopkins do not even mention anything about any of there exams being acceptable for any visa applications on there website?? ..
What "Hopkins" offer is a test for "SPEAKING AND WRITING" and also another test for "LISTENING AND READING" so guess what ..u need to sit both exams on different dates to obtain your "SPEAKING and LISTENING pass that is required by the embassy!! ...why can they not just provide one exam that covers both the requirements is beyond me ..money i guess may have something to do with it, it is not just the cost of the tests though, its all the travelling and time involved ..even to this centre it will take my wife around 3hrs just to get there ..
Assuming this is the only centre/exam in the Manila area??? (does anybody know any differently???) i am still very confused by which one we should in fact actually be booking? ..one course is for "SPEAKING and WRITING" so this part was easy, we booked this course and was just able to book the speaking part of the exam ..my problem came in trying to decide what else we should be booking to cover the listening requirement? on there website they offer three different possibilities and for me it still remains really confusing as to which one we should be booking?? ..the three courses that all cover "listening" are :
Classic TOEIC - (Listening and reading) ...have to take both parts!!
Redesigned TOEIC - (Listening and reading)...have to take both parts!!
TOEIC Bridge - (Listening and reading)...have to take both parts!!
Does anybody have any idea which one out of the three we need/should be booking??
Many thanks for your time ..
