This book series is the result of the British Council-funded project that started in 1998. Testing procedures were developed according to modern European standards, and a large number of piloted and calibrated tasks were produced according to a professional item production system. 
The British Council has decided to make these calibrated tasks available to a wider public in order to help teachers and students understand the levels and demands of modern European examinations, and it believes that these tasks are valuable for those who wish to take ANY modern English examination. 
This new publication is unique because all tasks included in the book were tested in about 250 Hungarian secondary schools with 4000 students nationwide.

The series also helps   teachers to understand basic testing principles and good practice. The authors provide useful guidelines for designing tests for classroom usage and exam preparation as well.

The four volumes:

• Reading and Use of English
• The Speaking Handbook
• The Writing Handbook
• Listening

The Speaking Handbook is accompanied by a DVD, the Listening by 2 CDs.

In the volumes you can find:

• Hundreds of tasks with keys 
• Review of the process of understanding and producing language 
• Useful advice for assessment and evaluation 
• Summary of different testing methods and approaches 
• Guidelines to test design