What is meant by "intermediate" etc??

[wildfk]

I need to relate my school's students to some sort of international grading level.
For instance How can I relate books in one series to another..e.g. Interchange series to Elementary, Pre-intermediate, intermediate and Upper intermediate???

[systematic]

As a language teacher you will know that the traditional levels you mentioned are standard international terms, often based on the EU Threshold Levels, and that texbooks are designed at these levels for different target learners from Young Learners, Teens, Young Adults, and mature Students.

The syllabusses of books of all publishers are closely matched in these respects and a change of texbook series at the passage from one level to another is absolutely possible, but not necessarily recommended if the students were happy with the series.

Visit the websites of major publishers such as Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, and Longman to learn more.

[wildfk]

As a language teacher you will know that the traditional levels you mentioned are standard international terms, often based on the EU Threshold Levels, and that texbooks are designed at these levels for different target learners from Young Learners, Teens, Young Adults, and mature Students.

The syllabusses of books of all publishers are closely matched in these respects and a change of texbook series at the passage from one level to another is absolutely possible, but not necessarily recommended if the students were happy with the series.

Visit the websites of major publishers such as Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, and Longman to learn more.

So gone on....how do I equate Interchange with the criteria you just talked about?

[systematic]

I said:

Visit the websites of major publishers such as Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, and Longman to learn more.

New Interchange, is, according to the publisher, the world’s most successful series for adult and young adult learners. I have used Interchange, but the book is not one of my favourites. Depending on what your students prefer and if you prefer to teach British English, you may like to examine othe titles by CUP, or even look at the catalogues of Oxford University Press and Longman.

In further answer to your original enquiry, you can safely be assured that the levels you mentioned are compatible across all textbooks; the teachers' manual for Interchange (and indeed the manuals for all other textbooks), clearly explain the syllabus content and language levels in order to provide a readily understandable explanation of what to expect by the terms Absolute Beginner, Elementary, Pre-Intermediate, Intermediate, Advanced, etc. Most teachers will know this already however, from their basic training.

All leading textbooks now come with vast on-line resources and dedicated forums. For Interchange please start here:
http://www.cambridge.org/elt/ic3/

If you are a genuine teacher, the publishers will give you free inspection copies of their textbooks for your evaluation with a view to adoption by your class(es). To take a look and compare them you could either try getting several of them, or investing an hour or two browsing in your local educational bookshop

[wildfk]

I see nothing in my interchange that refers to "intermediate' etc so apart from teaching the course or trying it out I don't see that it relates to my question, I need a quick reference so I don't have to fiddle around when ordering books....I also don't find the catgories particularly consistant.

[systematic]

This was your original question:

I need to relate my school's students to some sort of international grading level.For instance How can I relate books in one series to another..e.g. Interchange series to Elementary, Pre-intermediate, intermediate and Upper intermediate???

Interchange comes in the following levels:

Intro = beginner/false beginner
level 1 = pre intermediate
Level 2 = intermediate
Level 3 = advanced

Its website from which the information is taken, is here: http://www.cambridge.org/elt/elt_projectpage.asp?id=2500829
Do remember that it is American English and the target learner is Young Adult/Adult; it is therefore not suitable for use for children in Primary and Secondary education.
A General English course such as Interchange may not contain the preparation elements and practice for a particular exam. Before choosing a textbook series, you must first decide which of the popular international grading systems you are going to base the aim of your course on. There are dedicated course books which address specific international exams. As these grading systems are language region specific (American English , British English), it is imperative that the correct coursebook series is adopted.

Follow the links and advice that you have been given if you need to correlate with your choice for an alternative textbook series.

[wildfk]

Unfortunately...I've found that changing from interchange to other books this correlation didn't work....a recent example was International Express which involved a far higher level of ability.

I really don't think that publishers, guidelines are worth the paper thet are written on and they also don't relate to other publishers.
so an independent quick reference is needed here.

[systematic]

Publishers' guidlines are based on the summaries provided by the authors themselves. In my opinion, texbook authors are reasonably competent people (if not, I will need to change my vocation ).

Unfortunately...I've found that changing from interchange to other books this correlation didn't work....a recent example was International Express which involved a far higher level of ability.

Correct, ability is your keyword here, not the English language levels which you were discussing in your earlier posts; International Express is focussed on adult professional learners. Its key features include mature lifestyle topics and its authentic international contexts reflect the real needs and interests of working adults. It comes in the following traditional levels:
- Elementary
- Pre-Intermediate
- Intermediate
- Upper-Intermediate

I do think maybe that your priorities are to (in order):

1. Identify your target learners' age and academic level (vocational, academic, or professional).
2. Identify your teaching situation (mainstream school, vocational college, university, language institute, etc.).
3. Establish the number of lesson hours available and the possible homework load.
4. In function of points 1,2, 3, set the required achievable target language level (e.g. TOEFL, IELTS, or any one of the internationally recognised academic standards - mostly which are products of Cambridge University).
5. Research and draw up a short list of possible course books using the advice you have been given on this forum. Note that in addition to the information provided in the catalogues, and examination of copies of the SB, you may well also need to examine the TB, not the SB of each coursebook to ascertain its possible adoption by your class(es) with perfect accuracy.

Once you have established all those critera, you will have a clear overview of your needs, and also of how you can best combine and apply your own teaching skills. I will then be happy to make further suggestions.

[orangutan]

Personally I find it quite useful to refer to this comparative table of proficiency levels according to different institutions (in the UK and Europe):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_Language_Testers_in_Europe

If I understand correctly, Intermediate corresponds to Level 2 or B1 (and Upper Intermediate to Level 3 or B2).

[odyssey]

The following page also gives some useful alignments:
http://www.englishclub.com/esl-exams/levels-corresponding.htm

[systematic]

Both of the above links are interesting and the comparison tables are well known. However, the OP's enquiry was about comparing levels across coursebooks and establishing some kind of correlation, and not specifically about comparing exams.