What is the pass mark for Skills for Life tests?
For the Reading tests at all levels, the number of marks that will be required to achieve a Pass will usually be in the range 65—70%. The number will fluctuate slightly to take into account slightly varying levels of difficulty which are found within the tests. We establish these levels of difficulty through a thorough process of pretesting and measuring the difficulty of each individual item. Writing and Speaking and Listening are different in that they are criterion-referenced tests. Pass level performance is indicated through candidates showing that they can ordinarily carry out the skills listed in the Adult ESOL Core Curriculum (ESOL CC) for the level of the test they have entered for. For Writing and Speaking and Listening at each level, there are essentially three bands of performance: • 3 — performance above that required for the level • 2 — satisfactory performance for the level (ordinarily producing language specified in the ESOL CC for the level) • 1 — below satisfactory per
