ISE Digital is a new UK exam that challenges the TOEFL

Standardized English language tests have long been a kind of closed club: for decades, the market was divided between TOEFL, Cambridge English, and several regional systems such as PTE. But this fall, a new player appeared on the scene – ISE Digital, developed by Trinity College London. The British decided to regain their role as standard-setters in testing English, offering an exam that reflects not academic abstraction, but a real command of the language as it is used in life, in study and in work.

Trinity is no stranger to this. Founded in 1877, this examination board specializes in testing language, music, and theater skills. Its certificates are recognized in many countries, and English language exams (GESE, classic ISE) have been used by schools and colleges for decades as a reliable tool for assessing student progress.

Now they are betting on the digital format and launching ISE Digital, a modern version of the Integrated Skills in English exam, fully adapted to the online environment. This is not just the transfer of a paper test into electronic form, but a rethinking of the very principle of testing: the emphasis is shifted to flexibility, remoteness and a combination of automatic assessment with human participation. Unlike the usual tests, where success depends on studying for specific types of tasks, ISE Digital seeks to check how well a person can use English in everyday communications: write letters, analyze information, respond in a dialogue and to unexpected questions. The developers emphasize that this is an exam about how we speak and think in English, and not about how we memorize clichéd answers.

Trinity College London: 150 years of exam culture

Behind the new test is not a startup, but one of the oldest exam councils in the UK, Trinity College London. The organization was founded in 1877 at Royal Trinity College to systematize the assessment of knowledge in music, speech, and languages. For a century and a half, Trinity has grown into an international certification center with a network of more than 60 countries and hundreds of accredited centers.

Trinity is known for always relying not on test mechanics, but on a communicative approach. Back in the 1930s, the first exams were developed here, where not the number of correct answers was assessed, but the candidate's ability to have a meaningful conversation. From here, two lines of English exams have grown:

• GESE (Graded Examinations in Spoken English) is a series of oral tests that test live language proficiency,
• ISE (Integrated Skills in English) is a comprehensive program that combines reading, writing, listening, and speaking into a single system.

From paper forms to digital

In recent years, Trinity has been actively adapting its exams to the digital age. The classic version of ISE has long been held in person and on paper, but the growth of online learning and the pandemic have accelerated the transition to new formats. ISE Digital is a natural extension of this strategy: the exam has been completely moved online, but has retained the principles of "live" communication on which Trinity's philosophy is built.

The main idea of the project is to combine the accuracy of technology with human assessment. The initial check of written tasks is performed by the algorithm, but the final decision remains with a certified examiner. The oral part is a full-fledged interview in a video conference, where not only language is important, but also the ability to interact, argue, and listen.

What is ISE Digital: Concept and Principles

The full name of the exam is Integrated Skills in English (Digital). This is not just a beautiful formula: it is based on the idea that English proficiency cannot be measured in terms of individual components – reading, writing, listening and speaking. True language competence is manifested precisely in the ability to use all four skills at the same time. For example, a candidate reads a short text, then writes a response or letter, and then discusses the topic orally. This is not a test of isolated knowledge of grammar, but the ability to understand, analyze, and express thoughts in English in context, just as it happens in real life, whether it's a university seminar, a meeting, or a job interview.

ISE was created as the opposite of tests, where you can "practice" on template tasks. It is impossible to prepare here on the principle of "memorize the format and pass", because the tasks are combined, require thinking and flexibility.

Flexibility and Abuse Protection

ISE Digital is designed as a next-generation exam: it can be taken from home or at an accredited center. The system uses proctoring, a remote control technology: a camera, microphone, and screen monitoring record the course of the exam, which ensures the honesty and transparency of the procedure. Trinity has implemented digital identity elements: a photo, a voice fingerprint and an identity verification system. This makes ISE Digital one of the most secure online testing formats.

The main feature is the flexibility of the structure: a candidate can take the written and oral modules on different days, and if necessary, retake only one of them, without losing the entire result. This is convenient and economical, especially for students who need to confirm their language level in stages.

Two modules, four skills

ISE Digital maintains the traditional structure of Trinity College London, consisting of two self-contained modules:

1. Reading & Writing,
2. Speaking & Listening.

Each module tests two interrelated skills, so the exam does not look like a set of separate tasks, but like a holistic communicative scenario. The candidate can take both modules at once or separately, and if necessary, retake one without affecting the other. This is a fundamental difference from most international exams, where a retake is possible only in its entirety.

1. Reading & Writing: Working with Information and Arguments

The writing block takes about two hours and takes place entirely online. It includes:

• Reading task — several short texts (news, letters, posts, articles) that need to demonstrate an understanding of the facts and subtext,
• Integrated task — working with sources: you need to combine information from different texts, compare arguments, draw conclusions,
• Writing task is your own text (essay, letter, report, post), where logic, structure, language, and the ability to express an opinion are assessed.

ISE Digital uses an adaptive system, where tasks gradually become more complex, and topics are closer to real life - education, work, public affairs, digital environment. This reduces stress and improves the accuracy of level determination.

2. Speaking & Listening: Live Dialogue Instead of Formal Questions

The oral module is conducted in the form of an online interview with an examiner from Trinity College London. The format includes:

• Short acquaintance and discussion of everyday topics (small talk, presentation of oneself),
• Exchange of views on a given topic – the candidate formulates a position and arguments,
• Listening task and discussion of the materials heard,
• A mini-discussion, where the ability to listen, clarify, agree or object correctly is tested.

This format is close to academic and business communication: not only vocabulary is tested, but also the ability to maintain communication, which is the most important indicator of language proficiency.

How will the result be assessed?

ISE Digital covers levels B1 to C2 on the CEFR Common European Scale (levels A1 to A2 are under development). Each level has its own set of tasks and criteria. The result is expressed not by a numerical score, but by qualification:

• Pass,
• Merit (good result),
• Distinction (excellent).

Each module is assessed separately, the certificate fixes the final qualification for each of them.

Valuation Technologies

ISE Digital combines automated and expert verification.

• The primary analysis of written works is performed by an algorithm — it assesses the volume, grammatical accuracy, and lexical complexity.
• The final decision is made by the examiner who has been prepared at Trinity College London.
• All oral interviews are recorded and checked independently by several experts to eliminate subjectivity.

Who is ISE Digital for?

ISE Digital is designed for anyone who wants to prove their English proficiency for study, work or personal development. It is already accepted by a number of British colleges, language schools and university preparatory programs (Foundation and Pre-Sessional), in the future, Trinity College London is negotiating with universities in the EU, Canada and Australia on the recognition of the test for academic purposes.

For corporate clients, Trinity offers separate packages: companies can check the language level of employees when hiring or promotion within the company.