COURSE DESCRIPTION
The three levels of the TOLES exams mean that every international lawyer and law student can begin to study for a legal English certificate, whatever their current level of ordinary and/or legal English.
ACCREDITING BODY
TOLES (UK) https://toleslegal.com/about/
INTRODUCTION
TOLES stands for Test of Legal English Skills. It is the World’s leading legal English proficiency test for lawyers, law students, and potential law students.
The TOLES exams allow international lawyers and law students to prove their proficiency in specialised legal English. Please note that TOLES is intended to assist working lawyers and there are other legal English courses and exams which are more academic, more fluency based, and therefore more suitable for international law graduates who plan to take an LLM or a Ph.D. in law.
The TOLES exams test the specific vocabulary and grammar necessary to understand and draft cross-border contracts in English and the English needed to feel confident when dealing with international commercial liabilities, financial matters, and clients. Law firms and organizations that have already entered candidates for the TOLES exams include The Law Society of England and Wales, Linklaters, KPMG,
The Court of Justice of the European Union, The European Central Bank, Freshfields, and many others.
DESCRIPTION
TOLES means ‘Test of Legal English Skills’.
The TOLES exams allow international lawyers and law students to prove their level of specialised legal English. This is different language from the English needed to pass a general English language exam, and it is also significantly different from the English needed to do an LLB or an LLM.
The TOLES exams test the specific vocabulary and grammar necessary to understand and draft cross-border contracts in English and the English needed to feel confident when dealing with international commercial liabilities and financial matters.
The TOLES exams were established in 2000 and are jointly owned by Cambridge Law Studio Limited and Global Legal English Limited.
The TOLES exam certificates do not expire; they are valid for life.
HOW CAN THE TOLES EXAM HELP YOUR LEGAL CAREER?
Studying for the TOLES exams will help you in your legal career from the moment that you begin.
If you are already working as a lawyer, studying for the TOLES exams will give you a lot of the English vocabulary you need to do your job with more accuracy, efficiency, and confidence.
If you are a law student, you will know that many countries around the world produce many more law graduates than there are jobs. A great way to improve your CV and to add value to what you can offer to an employer is to have strong commercial legal English skills.
From the moment you read your first TOLES practice exam paper or start one of our online preparation courses, you are learning the English needed to succeed in international commercial law.
The three levels of the TOLES Exams:
1. The TOLES Foundation Exam
• First level TOLES exam
• Elementary/lower intermediate legal English exam
• 90-minute online exam
• Tests English legal vocabulary
• Tests essential elementary/lower intermediate English grammar
2. The TOLES Higher Exam
• Second level TOLES exam
• Intermediate legal English exam
• 90-minute online exam
• Tests English legal vocabulary
• Tests essential intermediate/upper-intermediate English grammar
3. The TOLES Advanced Exam
• Third level TOLES exam
• Upper-intermediate/advanced legal English exam
• 120-minute online exam
• Tests English legal vocabulary
• Tests high intermediate/advanced English grammar
WHO RECOGNIZES THE CERTIFICATE
Many employers around the world recognize the TOLES exams as being a practical and valuable measure of a lawyer’s specific legal English skills. The exams are now over two decades old, and many commercial law firms, companies, and banks are aware of the additional English skills that TOLES candidates have.
TOLES is not a replacement for a general English language exam. We recommend that you add TOLES to your other English language qualifications rather than see TOLES as a substitute.
We know that TOLES exam candidates are better prepared for typical interview questions than job candidates who rely on knowledge taken only from their law degree. This is a major benefit of studying for TOLES.
WHY SHOULD I TAKE A TOLES EXAM
You should take a TOLES exam because the knowledge you will gain by studying for your exam will give you valuable knowledge, improve your CV and boost your confidence when you are working in legal matters that require fluent and accurate legal English.
We take our direction from working lawyers and law firms and not from any academic institution.
We listen to experienced commercial lawyers and we build our study material and our exams around their recommendations.
Much of the knowledge needed to pass a TOLES exam cannot be found in a British or American law degree. This is an important ‘something extra’.
Our aim is to provide law firms, banks and corporations with lawyers who have the exact knowledge required to do the job, and not just a theoretical, academic knowledge of legal English and English law.
The course is targeted towards:
The course is targeted towards working professionals in the legal, banking, corporate and accounting sectors and individuals who wish to have a firm grasp of Legal English for business purposes. It is suitable for anyone that dealt with contracts in English on a regular basis.
COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES
- To learn English Legal terminology and attain reading and writing proficiency in English.
- To demonstrate linguistic accuracy.
- To demonstrate an understanding of legal terms in English.
- To demonstrate accuracy in English grammar.
- To enrich legal vocabulary and contract terminology.
ASSESSMENT
TOLES online is open to everyone who wishes to take an exam.
The exams are hosted on a secure platform, and are carefully ‘proctored’, which means that candidates are observed during the exam via their laptop camera and are also recorded. These recordings are checked after each exam session to ensure that our strict exam conditions have been met.
This means that exam candidates can take an exam on any of the available dates throughout the year without needing to attend a specific venue.
- Written proctored unseen exam
- Time allowed: 90 minutes
- Skills tested: Legal reading and writing
- Focus: Practical legal vocabulary in authentic situations; consolidation of basic grammar.
- Appropriate level of general English: Elementary-Advanced.
FIND AVAILABLE EXAM DATES
Find the upcoming exam dates for all exam levels on the TOLES website: Register for your online exam
EXAM PRICE
140 British Pounds
ONGOING PROGRESSION
TOLES Higher and TOLES Advanced
SELF STUDY
This is a self-study course. You will find within the LMS the following documents to help you with your studies:
- A sample Foundation TOLES exam
- The Lawyer’s English Language Coursebook – Online version (read only)
