FCE

What is FCE?
The Cambridge First Certificate in English is the third level of Cambridge ESOL exams. It is upper intermediate level exam, set at level B2 of the Council of Europe's Common Framework for modern languages, and recognises the ability to deal confidently with a range written and spoken communications.

Who is FCE for?
FCE is designed for learners, whose command of English is adequate for many practical everyday purposes, including business and study. Successful candidates will have a wide grasp of vocabulary, and should be able to construct an argument and use appropriate communication styles for a variety of situations. They also need to show awareness of register and of the conventions of politeness and degrees of formality as they are expressed through language.

Why choose FCE?
FCE recognised by many universities and other educational institutions as proof of intermediate level English skills, and these institutions accept it as meeting part of their entrance requirements.

Because the examinations are based on realistic tasks, an FCE certificate is an important asset anyone who wants to work and study, or in international business.

What does the exam involve?
Five papers: Reading, Writing, Use of English, Listening, Speaking

Reading (1hour)
The Reading paper assesses candidates' ability to read and understand texts taken from fiction and non-fiction books, journals, newspapers and magazines. Candidates are expected to be able to show understanding of gist, detail and text structure, and deduce meaning.

Writing (1 hour 20 min.)
The Writing paper assess candidates´ ability to write non-specialised text types such as letters, articles, reports, compositions and reviews of 120-180 words covering a range of topics and target readers and also set texts.

Use of English (45 min.)
In the Use of English paper, candidates are expected to demonstrate their knowledge and control of the language system by completing various tasks at text and sentence level. These include filling gaps, transforming words and phrases, and identifying errors in texts.

Listening (40 min. aprox.)
The listening paper assesses candidates´ ability to understand the meaning of spoken English, and to extract gist and meaning from spoken text. The texts are taken from a variety of text types including interviews, discussions, lectures and conversations.

Speaking (15 min.)
The Speaking Test assesses candidate's ability to interact in conversational English in a range of contexts. It contains four parts, including an interview section, individual long turns of about one minute, a collaborative task and a discussion. Candidates are provided with a stimulus material such as photographs and drawings.

FCE Speaking test

You usually take the speaking exam together with one other student.
The exam lasts about 14 minutes and has four parts:

1. Interview (3 minutes)
You will be asked questions about your home town, family, work or study, free time and future plans.

2. Individual tasks (4 minutes)
You will be asked to compare two photographs and explain your personal feelings/thought/opinions about them (you will need to speak for 1 minute, without any interruption).

You will also need to give your opinion about the other student's photographs (you will need to speak for about 20 seconds).

3. Joint task (3 minutes)
You will be shown some pictures. You will be asked to discuss these with the other student and to make a decision.

You might get asked to agree on a conclusion/decision or you might be told to make different decisions.

4. Three-way discussion (4 minutes)
You will be asked to discuss, with the student and the examiner, various ideas that are connected with a joint task.