Hi All,

My wife and I are in the process of putting together her settlement visa application. We have a Cambridge ESOL KET exam booked in Bangkok for the 19th of November. It is an approved test centre with the UKBA.

I was just wondering if anyone had any experience with how long you have to wait for the reuslts certificate to be posted if she is succesful?

Regards

If you're using BULATS then their certificates are ready for collection in about 3-4 working days but the Cambridge University ESOL certificate takes about 3 weeks to come through.

Some useful hints for the BULATS test:

• The test covers all 4 elements: Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing
• It's business based but no need to panic, remember she only needs the SPEAKING and LISTENING A1 level for her settlement visa though she will need to be able to read a bit to answer some of the questions
• Get your wife to try their online demo tests just so it doesn't come as too much of a shock
• The speaking element is 15 minutes and If she doesn't understand the question get her to say "Sorry but I don't understand the question"...better than saying nothing!
• The whole test is set to take about 3 hours but Mrs Phomthai was out in about 2hrs

FYI I've no links with BULATS other than Mrs Phomthai sat her test there. Kevin who runs it is a really nice guy who put Mrs Phomthai at ease and she got the required A1 level...I recommend them!

Sorry no experience of Pearsons or TOEIC

Good luck

Thanks phomthai,

I have emailed Kevin already, I am awaiting his reply.

How much did you pay? How soon did you get your wife a test?

Regards

If you're using BULATS then their certificates are ready for collection in about 3-4 working days but the Cambridge University ESOL certificate takes about 3 weeks to come through.

Some useful hints for the BULATS test:

• The test covers all 4 elements: Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing
• It's business based but no need to panic, remember she only needs the SPEAKING and LISTENING A1 level for her settlement visa though she will need to be able to read a bit to answer some of the questions
• Get your wife to try their online demo tests just so it doesn't come as too much of a shock
• The speaking element is 15 minutes and If she doesn't understand the question get her to say "Sorry but I don't understand the question"...better than saying nothing!
• The whole test is set to take about 3 hours but Mrs Phomthai was out in about 2hrs

FYI I've no links with BULATS other than Mrs Phomthai sat her test there. Kevin who runs it is a really nice guy who put Mrs Phomthai at ease and she got the required A1 level...I recommend them!

Sorry no experience of Pearsons or TOEIC

Good luck

Thanks phomthai,

I have emailed Kevin already, I am awaiting his reply.

How much did you pay? How soon did you get your wife a test?

Regards

Cost was 7,000 baht. Phoned on the Tuesday and Mrs Phomthai sat the test on the Thursday and got results the following Wednesday.

If I remember right they do the tests on Thursdays & Fridays

Thanks phomthai, I have cancelled the KET exam, they were going to give her results in February!

Did your wife need much preparation time? My wife has resonably good english but the demo test looks quite difficult.

Regards

Thanks phomthai,

I have emailed Kevin already, I am awaiting his reply.

How much did you pay? How soon did you get your wife a test?

Regards

Cost was 7,000 baht. Phoned on the Tuesday and Mrs Phomthai sat the test on the Thursday and got results the following Wednesday.

If I remember right they do the tests on Thursdays & Fridays

Thanks phomthai, I have cancelled the KET exam, they were going to give her results in February!

Did your wife need much preparation time? My wife has resonably good english but the demo test looks quite difficult.

Regards

We spent a couple of hours going through the demos & tips (which is in Thai) first together then Mrs Phomthai had a go on her own. Like most things in life the more you practice the easier it becomes.

Don't panic, I'm sure your wife will be fine. Just keep reassuring her that she only needs A1 level, which is pretty basic, and that she does NOT need to get it all 100% right!

Silence however is not golden in the speaking part, if she doesn't understand or isn't sure then she's better off to clearly say something like "I'm sorry but I don't understand your question" which incidently is the correct answer cos she didn't understand...but silence will score a big fat ZERO!

As for the chart description example just get your wife to describe what she sees in front of her...there really is no right or wrong answer...again, silence scores zero. Hint just look at it yourself and talk to your wife about what you see for 1 minute and then you'll both realise it's not really that difficult...ignore the fact that it's business related...it's really just a picture to describe!

Good luck