Integrated Skills in English (ISE)

Guide for Students — ISE II (B2)

Reading & Writing | Speaking & Listening

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trinitycollege.com
Copyright © 2015 Trinity College London
Published by Trinity College London
Online edition, September 2023
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 Contents

Contents
What is ISE II? 5

ISE II summary 6
Reading & Writing  6
Speaking & Listening 7

How to prepare for ISE II 9

Reading & Writing 9
Speaking & Listening 10

What happens on the day of the exam? 12

Reading & Writing 12
Speaking & Listening  13

What is the examiner assessing in ISE II? 14

Language functions for ISE II 14
Reading 14
Writing 14
Speaking 15
Listening 15

Your ISE II qualification certificate 16

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 Foreword
Trinity’s Integrated Skills in English (ISE) exams assess all four language skills — reading,
writing, speaking and listening — in a way that reflects real-life communication in English.

This guide:
 gives a summary of both modules of the ISE II exam — Reading & Writing and Speaking & Listening
 gives you some ideas on how to prepare for the ISE II exam
 tells you what the examiner is looking for
 tells you about results and certificates.

Please check trinitycollege.com/ISEII for the latest information about Trinity’s ISE exams, and
to make sure you are using the latest version of the related documents.

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 What is ISE II?

What is ISE II?

ISE II is an English language exam for learners of English who are at level B2 of the Common
European Framework of Reference. You take ISE II in two parts — Reading & Writing and
Speaking & Listening.

Reading & Writing Speaking & Listening

What do I get when I pass a module?

You need to pass both skills in a module in order to pass the module and receive your
module certificate.
If you are taking ISE II as a SELT in the UK, you will not receive a module certificate; you need to
take both modules together.

When do I receive the ISE II qualification certificate?

After you have passed both ISE II Reading & Writing and ISE II Speaking & Listening, you receive
the ISE II qualification certificate. The certificate shows your results for each separate skill —
reading, writing, speaking and listening (Pass, Merit or Distinction).

Who recognises ISE?

Many institutions recognise ISE as proof that you can read, write, speak and listen in English.
To find out more visit:

trinitycollege.com/recognition

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ISE II summary

ISE II summary
Reading & Writing
How long is the Reading & Writing exam? Two hours.
Which skills do the reading tasks test? Reading for gist, reading for details, reading comprehension,
understanding the main ideas of a text and deducing meaning.
Which skills do the writing tasks test? How you organise a text, your range of language functions,
grammar and vocabulary, how well you answer the question, and how you transform reading texts
into a writing text.

The Reading & Writing exam has four parts:

Task 1 — Long reading

How many texts? One text.
How long is the text? About 500 words.
How many questions? 15 questions. There are three types of question:
 questions 1–5 — choose the right title for each paragraph of the reading text
 questions 6–10 — decide which five statements from a list of eight are true according to the text —
three are false.
 questions 11–15 — complete sentences with exact words from the reading text.

Task 2 — Multi-text reading

How many texts? Four short texts.
How long are the texts? In total, the four texts are about 500 words. One of the texts is
an infographic.
How many questions? 15 questions. There are three types of question:
 questions 16–20 — choose which text matches a description — there are five questions that
describe the main idea or purpose of the texts
 questions 21–25 — decide which five statements from a list of eight are true according to the texts —
three are false.
 questions 26–30 — complete summary notes with exact words from the texts.

Task 3 — Reading into writing

How many texts do I read? You use the four texts from task 2.
What do I write? A descriptive essay, a discursive essay, an argumentative essay, an article
(magazine or online), an informal email or letter, a formal email or letter, a review, or a report.
How many words do I write? 150–180 words. You can only use information from the texts in task 2
in your answer. Your answer must be in your own words and not copied from the texts.

Task 4 — Extended writing

What do I write? A descriptive essay, a discursive essay, an argumentative essay, an article
(magazine or online), an informal email or letter, a formal email or letter, a review, or a report.
How many words do I write? 150–180 words.

To see sample Reading & Writing exams, please go to:

trinitycollege.com/ISEII

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 ISE II summary

Speaking & Listening

The Speaking & Listening exam is a one-to-one conversation with a Trinity examiner.
The exam is in four parts:

ISE Speaking & Listening exam

Independent
Topic task Collaborative task Conversation task
listening task
(4 minutes) (4 minutes) (2 minutes)
(8 minutes)

Topic task (4 minutes)

To prepare for the exam, you prepare to talk about a topic. You can choose what you want to talk about.

How do you choose a topic?

Think of three different possible topics that you would like to talk to the examiner about.

1.

2.

3.

What can you say about each topic? Which one demonstrates your English skills the best? Which
one would you like to discuss with the examiner?
It is a good idea to bring some notes or a mind map with you to the exam. You may also bring
a small item such as a picture, an event ticket or medal into the exam room to support the topic
dicussion. However, mobile phones must not be brought into the exam room. During the exam, you
discuss your topic with the examiner. Remember to plan your topic as a discussion, thinking of
questions that you can ask the examiner and also questions that the examiner might ask you.

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ISE II summary

Collaborative task (4 minutes)

1. The examiner reads a short prompt. The prompt has some information about a situation
or opinion. You need to listen carefully to what the examiner says.
2. When the examiner finishes reading the prompt to you, he or she stops talking. It’s
then your responsibility to start the conversation. Try asking the examiner for more
information or details and then respond to what he or she says.
3. For the rest of the task, it’s your responsibility to keep the conversation going by
responding to what the examiner says, adding to the conversation and encouraging
the examiner to tell you more information.
Remember, it’s a discussion and it’s your role to collaborate with the examiner, working
together to build the conversation. But if you say nothing, the examiner says nothing.

Conversation task (2 minutes)

In this part of the exam, you and the examiner have a conversation on one of these subject areas.

Society and living standards Personal values and ideals

The world of work National environmental concerns

Public figures past and present

Think about each subject area. What can you say about each one? Try to talk about your
opinions, ideas and experiences.

Independent listening task (8 minutes)

In this part of the exam there is one task.
You listen to a recording (about 2 minutes 30 seconds) twice. After the first time you tell the
examiner in one or two sentences what the talk is about. You listen again and take some notes
if you want to. Then you respond to the examiner’s instructions. For example, listen for and
report opinions, ideas, and advantages and disadvantages of a situation or proposal.

? ? ...

The examiner gives Listen to a recording The examiner gives You report the relevant
you some instructions (twice) you some instructions information

To watch a video of an ISE II Speaking & Listening exam, please go to:

trinitycollege.com/ISEII

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 How to prepare for ISE II

How to prepare for ISE II

Below are some tips for preparing for each part of the ISE II exam:

Reading & Writing

Reading
Do
 Practise reading lots of different texts in English by, for example, reading English websites,
newspapers or magazines — look for subjects in English that interest you and subjects that
you are studying in school or college.
 Use graded readers, which are books specially written for B2 level learners of English.
 Try to understand the meaning of words you don’t know. Look at the whole sentence, the
paragraph and the context and try to think of possible meanings of the word. After you finish
reading the paragraph or the whole text, check the meanings of the words in the dictionary.
 Practise highlighting words or phrases that you think are important for your answer. You can
use a highlighter pen to highlight parts of the texts or questions in the exam, if you want to.

Writing
Do
 Look at the question carefully (How many different ideas are there in the question?
How many ideas do you have to write in your answer?).
 Practise writing in a three-stage process:
– plan what you want to write
– write your answer
– check what you have written.
 Check your work to see if it is:
– organised (Have you used paragraphs? Does it have a conclusion? Are your ideas clearly
organised and logical?)
– appropriate (Have you answered the question? Have you thought about the intended
audience?)
– accurate (Is your spelling correct? Have you used capital letters and full stops?)
– legible (Is it easy to read?).
 Practise doing sample exams from the Trinity website trinitycollege.com/ISEII.
 Practise writing in English outside study time — for example, write a journal of your ideas and
plans, write your opinions on news items and current affairs, write reviews of films you have
seen or books you have read, take part in discussions on the internet in English, and write
emails or messages to friends in English.

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How to prepare for ISE II

Speaking & Listening

Topic task
Do
 Spend time choosing and preparing your topic. Choose a topic that interests you and that you
can spend up to four minutes discussing.
 Try to think of a topic that includes lots of language of ISE II. For example, a topic in which
you can talk about advantages and disadvantages, speculate or ask for opinions.
 Use a range of different language functions from the level (see page 14).
 Think of the language you will need and the questions the examiner might ask you.
 Use a diagram or mind map to help you plan your topic.
 Think of questions you can ask the examiner about your topic.
 Practise listening to English as well as speaking it — you are tested on your interactive listening
skills (how well you follow the conversation), so practise having conversations in English.

Don’t
 Don’t choose a technical topic — it’s difficult to remember technical vocabulary in the exam.
 Don’t memorise a script — you can plan ideas and phrases for your topic, but remember that
the topic is a discussion and it is important to be natural.

Collaborative task
Do
 Practise with a friend or colleague.
 Practise asking another person about a problem, a situation that has happened, or a problem or
situation that might happen in the future. Also, try asking them about their opinion on a problem
or situation — ask them for more information and try to work with them to discuss the situation.
 Practise listening to English as well as speaking it — you are tested on your interactive listening
skills (how well you follow the conversation), so practise having conversations in English.

Don’t
 Don’t talk about yourself — the Collaborative task is about the other person’s situation, not yours.

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 How to prepare for ISE II

Conversation task
Do
 Be prepared to talk about all the conversation subject areas.
 Think about what questions the examiner might ask about the different conversation subject
areas.
 Think about how you can use the language functions of ISE II to talk about the different
conversation subject areas.
 Remember to think of questions to ask the examiner about each conversation subject area.
 Practise listening to English in addition to speaking it — you are tested on your interactive
listening skills (how well you follow the conversation), so practise having conversations in English.

Independent listening task

Do
 Practise listening to recorded English — you are tested on listening to recordings, so watch films
and television in English, listen to English podcasts or news programmes, watch English videos
on the internet and practise in and out of study time.
 Practise taking notes while you listen — try to only write the most important information like
key ideas, opinions and facts.
 Listen to discussions and speeches where the content is abstract and implied rather than factual.

Don’t
 Don’t try to write down everything you hear — you don’t need 100% of the information.

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What happens on the day of the exam?

What happens on the day of the exam?

Reading & Writing
You take the exam at a Trinity centre or at a registered exam
centre. It is a written exam and it takes two hours.
Here is the format of the exam and some tips on each part.

Task 1 — Long reading

 Read the questions carefully.
 Y
 ou can use a highlighter pen to highlight parts of the texts
or questions, if you want to.
 Write your answers on the exam paper.
 Spend about 20 minutes on this task.
 ake sure you have enough time to do all the other tasks
 M
in the exam.

Tip
If you make a mistake, cross out your answer and write a new answer next to it.

Task 2 — Multi-text reading

 Read the questions carefully.
 You can use a highlighter pen to highlight parts of the texts or questions, if you want to.
 Write your answers on the exam paper.
 Spend about 20 minutes on this task, and make sure you leave enough time to do all the other
tasks in the exam.

Task 3 — Reading into writing

 Read the task carefully.
 You can use a highlighter pen to highlight parts of the texts or questions, if you want to.
 Plan your answer before you write — your plan is not marked.
 Make sure you answer all the points in the question.
 Make sure you use information from the texts in task 2 to answer the question.
 Check your work when you have finished.
 Spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Tip
Don’t just copy from the texts — always try to use your own words.

Task 4 — Extended writing

 Read the task carefully.
 Plan your answer before you write — your plan is not marked.
 Make sure you answer all the points in the question.
 Check your work when you have finished.
 Spend about 40 minutes on this task.

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 What happens on the day of the exam?

Speaking & Listening

A Trinity examiner comes to your centre for the
Speaking & Listening module. This is what happens:

Introductions
 The examiner says ‘Hello’ and asks your name.
The examiner uses some simple greetings like
‘How are you?’.
 The examiner asks to see your identification.
 You are not tested during the introduction part
of the exam.

Tip
It is natural to be nervous when taking an exam — but try to think of the Speaking & Listening
exam as an opportunity to talk about things that interest you. It’s a chance to show the examiner
what you can do in English.
If you don’t understand something, ask the examiner to repeat what he or she said.

Topic task
The examiner asks you what you want to talk about and then asks you a question about your topic
to start the discussion. Listen carefully and answer the examiner’s questions. Don’t forget to ask
questions too.

Collaborative task
The examiner reads out a short prompt. You have to ask questions and keep the conversation
going. Listen carefully to what the examiner says and make sure you understand the prompt.
Respond to the prompt and ask questions, offer opinions and ask the examiner what he or she
thinks. Don’t just talk about the subject in general, but interact with the examiner about what he
or she says. Build the conversation together.

Conversation task
The examiner tells you which subject you are going to talk about and then asks you a question to
start the conversation. Listen carefully to what the examiner says and think about what language
you need to answer the question. Don’t forget to ask questions too.

Independent listening task

You listen to a recording twice. After the first time you tell the examiner in one or two sentences what
the talk is about. You listen again and take some notes if you want to. Your notes are not assessed.
Then you respond to the examiner’s instructions. For example, listen for and report opinions, ideas,
and advantages and disadvantages of a situation or proposal.

End of the exam

The examiner tells you that the exam has finished and says goodbye. You are not marked on this
part of the exam.

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What is the examiner assessing in ISE II?

What is the examiner assessing in ISE II?

Language functions for ISE II

Study and practise the language functions below before the exam. You should also be able
to use the language functions for ISE A1, ISE Foundation and ISE I.
 Initiating and maintaining the conversation
 Expressing and expanding ideas and opinions
 Highlighting advantages and disadvantages
 Speculating
 Giving advice
 Expressing agreement and disagreement
 Eliciting further information
 Establishing common ground

Reading
There are 30 questions in the reading section. Depending on the number of correct answers you
give, your Reading result will be Distinction, Merit, Pass or Fail.

Writing
Here are the four skills that the examiner assesses:
Task fulfilment: How well you answer the question.
Organisation and structure: How well you organise your writing, use paragraphs and sentences
and link your ideas together.
Language control: How well you use the language functions at ISE II and the range and accuracy
of the vocabulary, grammar, punctuation and spelling that you use.
Reading for writing (task 3 only): How well you use the reading texts from task 2 to write answers
using your own words, in task 3.
For the writing tasks, your scores in the four scales are combined. Your Writing result will be
Distinction, Merit, Pass or Fail.
If you pass the reading part and the writing part, you will pass the Reading & Writing module. If you fail
either the reading part or the writing part, or both, you will not pass the Reading & Writing module.

Distinction Distinction
Merit Merit = Pass
+
Pass Pass

Pass + Fail = Fail

Fail + Pass = Fail

Fail + Fail = Fail

Reading result: Writing result: Reading & Writing module result:

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 What is the examiner assessing in ISE II?

Speaking
The examiner assesses these four abilities:
Communicative effectiveness: How well you complete each task. For example, discussing your
topic or having a conversation.
How well you respond to the examiner and how you cope with problems. For example, can you ask
the examiner to repeat when you don’t understand.
Interactive listening: How well you follow and build the conversation with the examiner.
Language control: How well you use the language functions of ISE II (see page 14) and the range
and accuracy of the vocabulary and grammar that you use.
Delivery: Can the examiner understand you? How good is your pronunciation and fluency?
Your Speaking result will be Distinction, Merit, Pass or Fail.

Listening
In the Independent listening task the examiner awards a score based on how well you have
understood the recording. Your speaking and writing are not assessed in the Independent
listening task.
Your Listening result will be Distinction, Merit, Pass or Fail.

If you pass the speaking part and the listening part, you will pass the Speaking & Listening
module. If you fail either the speaking part or the listening part, or both, you will not pass the
Speaking & Listening module.

Speaking result: Listening result:* Speaking & Listening module result:

Distinction Distinction
Merit Merit = Pass
+
Pass Pass

Pass + Fail = Fail

Fail + Pass = Fail

Fail + Fail = Fail

*Independent listening task

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Your ISE II qualification certificate

Your ISE II qualification certificate

When you pass both the Reading & Writing module and the Speaking & Listening module, you
receive your ISE II qualification certificate. This certificate shows that you have passed ISE II
and gives your results in reading, writing, speaking and listening.

ISE II: Pass

Reading: Pass or Merit or Distinction
Writing: Pass or Merit or Distinction
Speaking: Pass or Merit or Distinction
Listening: Pass or Merit or Distinction

You also receive a report showing your strengths and areas for future improvement in each skill.
You get this report if you pass or fail.

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