2 Close... some valid points in the argument here...
"The UK CAA does permit CAA Flight Examiners to informally assess Skills Test candidates English language proficiency but can only tick the box to state that they are Level 6"
How can they do this without proper training and understanding of the ICAO scale that gives specific criteria for Level 6. It's like asking me to renew a class rating on a particular type of aircraft. Well we took off OK, we navigated from A to B and we landed OK. And we are still alive. So you must be OK. I didn't see him forget to call an ATC unit, made an incursion of uncontrolled airspace, read back the pressures wrongly several times, ignored calls from ATC to give his exact position, flew the wrong way up a valley, called short finals at 15 miles........etc etc etc...
We have had the same situation whereby pilots (non-english native with UK and our national licence) have been given Level 6 by the UK CAA and then got huffy when we say...well actually.. you are not level 6 because we are trained to rate you at specific levels and here is the evidence. We have spoken to many pilots who acknowledge the tick box policy of the CAA and this is shoddy to say the least not to say unprofessional AND dangerous.
English native speaking pilots with a national licence where I work are still required to do at least the speaking part of our national test, and then if they are not Level 6, they must do the listening test and be rated accordingly. All our raters (pilots and Controllers) are trained well and thouroughly. Why is it so difficult for some organisations to comprehend this. Again, you wouldn't just complete your 45-hour PPL and jump straight into the left hand seat of an A320.
Incidentally Controllers can only be rated at 5 because we use ELPAC. So English native speaking ATCs can only achieve a 5.