The Test of Interactive English (TIE) is an international EFL exam developed in Ireland by a group of Irish English language professionals. It can be taken by learners at any level, by junior and adult students on either short or long courses in Ireland as well as abroad.
TIE is a learner-centred exam designed to recognise and accommodate the needs and interests of each learner whatever their level of English, age, cultural or educational background. The test is task-based with the content chosen by each individual learner and can therefore be used to assess learners with all kinds of needs and motivations (general purposes, professional or academic purposes, English as a second language).
The test consists of two units:
- The Spoken TIE Exam, assessing listening and speaking skills.
- The Written TIE Exam, assessing reading and writing skills.
In preparation for the examination, at all levels, Candidates are required to:
- carry out an investigation/mini project on a topic of personal interest through reading and/ or listening to various sources to gather information in order to be able to speak about it
- read a book/graded reader in English in order to be able to speak or write about it
- follow a news story through reading and/or listening to various sources to gather information in order to be able to speak or write about it.
For the Spoken (Listening & Speaking) exam, candidates are required to keep a logbook, which they must bring with them to the test. This is a folder in which candidates record the information about the tasks they are required to prepare.
Candidates must be prepared to present and discuss all three tasks as they do NOT choose to speak about the book or the news story. It is the examiner who lets the candidates know which task they will present during the Spoken (Listening & Speaking) exam.
Successful Candidates are awarded the qualification at the level they have achieved. Candidates who do not achieve the lowest level of attainment (i.e., B2) in the examination will be assessed at B1 level (Fallback assessment) and can therefore be eligible to be awarded a B1 level certificate. Candidates not achieving the B1 level will not be awarded a certification.
