Exam Structure

Online Exam is a remotely invigilated on-screen test, monitored live by an invigilator with the support of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The test will be recorded to maintain integrity and standardisation.

The Online Functional Skills English Level 2 exam assesses practical English skills applicable in real-life situations. The exam comprises three components:

1. Reading Exam: 1 hour, assessing comprehension and analysis of various texts.

2. Writing Exam: 1 hour and 20 minutes, evaluating your ability to communicate effectively in writing.

3. Speaking & Listening Exam: Conducted via Zoom, focusing on verbal communication skills.

Our tutor/assessor will contact you to agree on a date for your remote Speaking & Listening exam via zoom. Please note that we choose times suitable for majority of the candidates and we can not guarantee any special time or day requests.

Once agreed with the assessor, we will email you the ‘Discussion’ and ‘Presentation’ topics at least 7 days prior to your exam date. Please check your emails regularly to ensure you receive the email and if you haven’t received it, 7 days prior to your exam, please call us on 020 7288 9022.

IMPORTANT! If we do not have sufficient candidates for the Speaking & Listening exam, we will contact you to reschedule your exam.

Duration

You must pass all 3 exams mentioned below to achieve Functional Skills English Level 2 certificate.

• Reading Exam – 1 hour computer-based exam
• Writing Exam – 1 hour 20 minutes computer-based exam
• Speaking & Listening Exam – Internally marked group based discussion and presentation exam

It may take up to 20 working days, on exceptional circumstances may take up to 32 working days, for City & Guilds to mark the exam and inform us.
It may then take up to 2 weeks for us to receive the actual certificate if the exam result is a pass.

Pass Mark

Learners will be awarded either a pass or fail for each of the three components.

A Learner must achieve a Pass in all three components at the same level to achieve a Pass at qualification level.

“The following figures represent an early indication of the upper end of the range of pass marks for each subject and level. These may be updated as new exam papers are added to the bank of papers.”

• Functional Skills Reading Level 2 – 20/30 (Indicative Pass Mark)
• Functional Skills Writing Level 2 – 32/54 (Indicative Pass Mark)
• *Functional Skills Speaking & Listening Level 2 – Must meet 100% of the criteria

* Please note that for Speaking & Listening exam, centre assessor will provide the topics for Discussion and Presentation. You cannot choose your own topics.

For more information, please check City & Guilds – Indicative Pass Mark Guide

Cost

Below are the prices for each exam:

Reading Level 2 – £90
Writing Level 2 – £90
Speaking & Listening Exam – £90

If you are not successful on your test attempt, same fees and rules apply.

If you pass the exam and you want us to post the certificate to you, it will cost £10 (UK only).

How to Book Your Online Exam

1. Select Your Exam Date and Time: Exams are available Monday to Friday at 8:00 AM, 11:30 AM, and 4:00 PM.

2. Complete Your Booking: After selecting your preferred slot, proceed to payment to secure your booking.

3. Pending Confirmation: Upon booking, you will receive a pending confirmation email.

4. Approval: Within 2 working days, we will review your booking and send an approval email with further instructions.

5. Once we approve your online exam booking, City & Guilds will send you a welcome email within 2 working days. The welcome email includes preparatory material, instructions on how to access the test and the system requirements. Please contact us after 2 working days if you did not receive the Welcome Email.

Note: Ensure all details match your identification documents to avoid delays.

Exam Centre’s Functional Skills English Online Course includes the following components:

1 – Initial Assessment
Functional Skills English Online Course Initial Assessment intuitively determines the level students are working at from Pre-Entry to Level 2.

2 – Diagnostic Assessment
Diagnostic Assessments are mapped to the Functional Skills Standards, identify skill gaps, and produce an interactive Individual Learning Plan which links to the Functional Skills topic modules containing Interactive Resources and Skill Checks.

3 – Self-learning Course
Self-Learning Course is mapped to the elements of the Functional Skills English Standards, and link to the results of the Functional Skills English Diagnostic. The Self-Learning Course include information, examples and demonstration videos to teach various topics, with learners able to replay and pause the latter at any time, in order to review them in more detail. These are followed by sections entitled ‘Now it’s your turn’ which contain a mixture of self-marking and standalone activities, which themselves display either the correct answers and/or sample responses for learners to compare against their own.

4 – Skill Checks (Entry Level 3 – Level 2)
Skill Checks link to the Interactive Resource(s) in the topic modules, and confirm competency within them. If a learner achieves 75% or above, a module is marked as achieved.

5 – Interactive Revision Scenarios
There are six Revision Scenarios; each scenario contains activities based on a number of skills, resulting in a percentage score at the end of the assessment. The Revision Scenarios appear on a learner’s course page below the module topics.

Exam Components

The Functional Skills English Level 2 exam comprises three key components: 

1. Reading Exam: 1-hour computer-based assessment evaluating your ability to understand and analyse various texts. Indicative pass mark: around 67%

2. Writing Exam: 1 hour and 20 minutes computer-based assessment testing your skills in composing different types of written communication. Indicative pass mark: around 60%

3. Speaking, Listening, and Communication (SLC) Exam: An internally assessed Zoom session involving group discussions and presentations to assess your verbal communication skills.

Speaking & Listening Exam is delivered via Zoom. This exam will not be conducted on the same day as your Reading and Writing exams. Our tutor/assessor will contact you to agree on a date for your remote Speaking & Listening exam via zoom. Please note that we choose times suitable for majority of the candidates and we can not guarantee any special time or day requests.
Once agreed with the assessor, we will email you the ‘Discussion’ and ‘Presentation’ topics at least 7 days prior to your exam date.

Pass Mark

Learners will be awarded either a pass or fail for each of the three components.

A Learner must achieve a Pass in all three components at the same level to achieve a Pass at qualification level.

“The following figures represent an early indication of the upper end of the range of pass marks for each subject and level. These may be updated as new exam papers are added to the bank of papers.”

• Functional Skills Reading Level 2 – 20/30 (Indicative Pass Mark)
• Functional Skills Writing Level 2 – 32/54 (Indicative Pass Mark)
• *Functional Skills Speaking & Listening Level 2 – Must meet 100% of the criteria

* Please note that for Speaking & Listening exam, centre assessor will provide the topics for Discussion and Presentation. You cannot choose your own topics.

For more information, please check City & Guilds – Indicative Pass Mark Guide

Where is the Exam Centre Located?

Exam Centre
362 Essex Road,
Islington,
London N1 3PD

Our exam centre is conveniently located in Islington, North London, with excellent transport links from across the city.

Nearest Stations: Highbury & Islington, Angel, Essex Road
Buses: 38, 56, 73,341 and 476 stops in front of our centre.