TOLES Higher
Where legal English starts to work like a real legal career.
TOLES Higher is the next step for anyone who’s outgrown Foundation-level vocabulary and is ready to work with more demanding legal material. It suits lawyers moving into corporate or projects work, and equally suits procurement, risk, and compliance professionals ready to go beyond the basics.
Higher
THE higher EXAM
All about the exam
The exam runs 90 minutes and adds a listening component to reading and writing, testing you against extracts drawn from real documents, based on examples suggested by leading law firms.
Our 18-hour course, online or in person, works through those same document types in depth, with structured listening practice built in alongside reading and writing, so nothing on exam day is unfamiliar.
The Higher Exam is the second step in your successful professional development with TOLES. It builds on the language skills and knowledge of practical legal vocabulary acquired at Foundation level and moves learners to the next stage, exposing them to more complex authentic legal documents and scenarios while continuing to focus on grammatical accuracy.
exam dates
Choose your exam date.
Westminster enrols students for the TOLES exam, so you can prepare with us and sit your exam through us, without arranging the two separately. The exam fee is paid to TOLES and is separate from the Westminster course fee.
19 November 2026
higher
21 January 2027
higher
18 March 2027
higher
20 May 2027
higher
24 June 2027
higher
19 August 2027
higher
18 November 2027
higher
▪ Price £165.00 for 2026 exams ▪ Price £185.00 for 2027 exams
results & scoring
How your Foundation result is scored
TOLES is not a pass or fail exam. Results for all three TOLES exams are expressed as a percentage. Your certificate shows your score as a percentage, together with an explanation of what that score means within a score band. It acts as a genuine guide to your level of legal English at the time you take the exam.
BAND ONE
81–100%
EXCELLENT legal English skills at Higher exam level. This candidate:
81–100%
EXCELLENT legal English skills at Higher exam level. This candidate:
- can deal confidently and ably with all of the examination requirements listed in the syllabus;
- is competent to deal with written or spoken legal English at intermediate level, and has good strategies for coping with new language;
- with support, can deal well with certain authentic legal documents, professional emails and carefully conducted conference situations, such as telephone or video conversations;
- is ready to progress to the TOLES Advanced examination.
BAND TWO
61-80%
VERY GOOD legal English skills at Higher exam level. This candidate:
61-80%
VERY GOOD legal English skills at Higher exam level. This candidate:
- can deal well with many of the examination requirements listed in the syllabus and would benefit a lot from the opportunity for further practice;
- has made very good progress in dealing with written or spoken legal English at an intermediate level;
- is close to being able to deal with certain authentic legal documents and professional emails, and has a strong understanding of the language used in conference situations, such as telephone or video conversations;
- is almost ready to progress to the TOLES Advanced examination.
BAND THREE
41-60%
SATISFACTORY legal English skills at Higher exam level. This candidate:
41-60%
SATISFACTORY legal English skills at Higher exam level. This candidate:
- is challenged by the examination requirements listed in the syllabus but is definitely on the way to reaching intermediate level skills;
- has a fundamental understanding of written and spoken legal English at intermediate level, and will continue to improve with practice;
- has some understanding of certain authentic legal documents and the language used in conference situations, but continues to require a lot of support;
- requires significant further study at intermediate level before progressing to the TOLES Advanced examination.
BAND FOUR
1-40%
LESS THAN SATISFACTORY legal English skills at Higher exam level. This candidate
1-40%
LESS THAN SATISFACTORY legal English skills at Higher exam level. This candidate
- can deal with a few of the examination requirements listed in the syllabus but is weak in some, or all, key areas;
- needs to make a better start at understanding and actively using language at Higher exam level, and requires a significant amount of further study;
- requires considerable support when dealing with authentic legal documents and the language used in conference situations;
- requires considerable further study at Higher exam level before progressing to the TOLES Advanced examination.
Certificate
Getting your result and your certificate
You will get your TOLES exam result within 7 business days of taking an online exam. You will get your TOLES certificate sent to you within 30 days of taking an online exam.
