A little while ago, following the re-issue of a professional licence, I contacted the CAA by telephone to ask about the new entry which said "Language Proficiency: English". A somewhat lengthy discussion followed about what it meant, why it was there, what level I was assessed at and how it could be changed, and it emerged that I was the proud possessor of a Level 4 in CAA records. Further discussion revealed that this assessment would (initially, at least) have little or no practical effect upon me as a licence holder and that appropriate re-assessment to Level 6 would, as a previous poster has said, "work itself out in the wash", probably by having an LPC signed-up by an Examiner who carried the necessary Level 6 which was required to assess and upgrade me. Just as this rather protracted but nevertheless friendly and light-hearted conversation was nearing its end, I asked the person to whom I was speaking whether he himself held an English Language assessment, to which he replied that he did and was actually authorised to make informal assessments at Level 6.
Now, rather as Gerard Hoffnung implied on that famous occasion, I expect you are way ahead of me (the CAA man certainly was) ... however, for me, the penny fell slowly and I asked if he would, on the basis of our rather extended chat about EU Directives, ICAO requirements, UK legislation, the pitfalls therein and the general meaning of life, like to consider upgrading my English Language Level from 4 to 6 - his refreshingly helpful response was that he had already changed my CAA record to show Level 6 on precisely that basis. What a decent chap!
I think that was the one and only time in the 40-odd years I have held a licence that I have passed a test with the CAA by telephone ...
JD
