Trinity GESE Grade 5 (B1) exam guide

Checked against Trinity and GOV.UK: 5 November 2026

What the GESE Grade 5 test is

GESE Grade 5 is Trinity College London's B1 speaking and listening exam. As a Secure English Language Test (SELT), it is used as evidence of B1 English for UK settlement (ILR) and British citizenship applications. There is no reading or writing: you talk with an examiner for about 10 minutes.

You can take it at a Trinity SELT centre, or online by video call with a Trinity examiner. At a centre, bring proof of identity.

The two phases

The Topic phase

Before the exam you choose a topic you know well and fill in a topic form with five discussion points. The examiner uses your form to lead a discussion about your topic, asking about your points in any order. This is your chance to show what you can say about something you have prepared.

The Conversation phase

The examiner then moves to a general conversation on two of the six Grade 5 subject areas. You don't know in advance which two, so prepare for all six:

• Festivals
• Means of transport
• Special occasions
• Entertainment
• Music
• Recent personal experiences

See sample questions and answers for each subject area.

Your topic form

• Choose a personal topic you know well, such as your job, a hobby or your home town. It must not be one of the six Conversation subject areas.
• Write five discussion points, each a short phrase. The examiner takes them in any order and covers at least four.
• Someone else may help you write the form, but the ideas must be yours.
• Bring the completed form to the exam. The Topic phase cannot go ahead without it.

Don't learn a script. Prepare ideas, not sentences. Examiners mark down answers that sound recited, so practise speaking freely from your five points.

More help: topic ideas and a worked example.

Ask the examiner questions

This is the part many candidates forget. In each phase you are expected to ask the examiner at least one question:

• Topic phase: a question about your topic, for example “Have you ever tried cooking Nigerian food?”
• Conversation phase: a question about the subject being discussed, for example “Which festival do you enjoy most?”

The examiner may not invite you to ask, so plan to ask without being prompted.

What the examiner listens for

The examiner gives each phase a grade from A (highest) to D for how well you completed the task. Together they decide your overall result: Pass, Pass with Merit or Pass with Distinction, or a fail. The examiner is listening for:

• Communication: full answers with reasons, keeping the conversation going, and asking your questions.
• The Grade 5 language functions: talking about the future (informing and predicting), expressing preferences, talking about events in the recent and indefinite past, giving reasons, saying how long something has lasted, and quantifying.
• Accuracy and range of grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation.
• Fluency: speaking naturally rather than reciting.

Grade 5 grammar to use

• The present perfect with for, since, ever, never and just: “I've lived in Leeds for six years.” “Have you ever been to Scotland?”
• Reasons with because: “I prefer the train because it's more relaxing.”
• Will for informing and predicting: “I think more people will work from home.”
• Preferences: “I prefer…”, “I'd rather…”
• Quantity: “a lot of”, “not very much”, “many”.

Small mistakes are normal. Keep going, correct yourself if you can, and ask the examiner to repeat a question if you didn't understand it. Asking for clarification is a skill, not a weakness.

Results and using them

• Trinity emails provisional results by 9am the day after the exam, and a link to your digital certificate 4 to 7 days after it.
• For UK immigration, Trinity recommends that only certificates less than two years old are accepted. Check the date rules for your application on GOV.UK.
• Some people don't need an English test at all, for example because of their nationality, age or a degree taught in English.

Changes from 26 March 2027: Trinity says most people applying for ILR (settlement) from that date will need a B2 speaking and listening test instead of B1, with some exceptions. B1 is still used for British citizenship. Check GOV.UK for the rules that apply to you before you book. See which English test you need for ILR and citizenship.