Who is this exam for?
This exam is for candidates who use or will use an upper intermediate level of English for their personal, social, educational or working life.
Candidates will be expected to understand and respond appropriately to the purpose, information and points of view in spoken and written communication of the kind required in a variety of study, work, everyday and leisure-related contexts in daily life.
How is this exam structured?
The exam has a written paper (2 hours) and an oral test (12 - 15 minutes). The written paper is divided into five tasks which are linked to a theme to which the candidates can relate.
Tasks 1 and 2: Listening (written paper)
Tasks 1 and 2 consist of two listening texts on which candidates will be asked to undertake some of the following tasks:
- follow directions or instructions
- note down in short phrases key information heard on the tape
- write down one to four-word responses to questions and statements about the text
- complete sentences based on the information in the text
- complete a table or fill in a grid, diagram, map or picture
- mark statements about a picture or text as true or false
Task 3: Reading and Integrated Reading & Writing (written paper)
a) The first task will involve reading and processing information to complete a task such as identifying the general idea of the text, or taking brief notes.
b) The second task will involve reading, locating and synthesizing relevant information before making an appropriate response. Written responses might include responding to a competition in the form of an essay, completing a questionnaire which includes a section for additional comments and opinion, writing a report, contextualised summary, public notice or letter.
Task 4: Reading (written paper)
Candidates read up to three texts of not more than 800 words in total and will be asked to undertake some of the following tasks:
- compare, select and extract information from texts and transfer it to a diagram, map, picture, table or grid
- put a sequence of pictures, illustrations or sentences in order according to information in the text
- mark statements about a picture or text as true or false
- match texts with visuals
- match texts with headings or titles
- note down or list information about the text
- write down phrase or short sentence in response to questions and statements about the text
- multiple choice for response to questions/statements
- infer the meaning of words in the text
Task 5: Writing (written paper)
Candidates will be required to write one of the following:
- an informal letter or another form of writing which might be descriptive, narrative or explanatory
- a discursive essay response to a specific statement and/or question, e.g. Tourists spoil the places they visit. Discuss.
Oral Test
Oral tests are conducted by an interviewer. Each candidate is assessed for effective communication, interaction, vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. Candidates are assessed in pairs and are expected to ask and respond to each other’s questions, as well as to respond to questions and prompts from the interviewer.
Candidates should demonstrate that they can:
- talk about different aspects of their personal, social, educational and working lives
- take part in conversation and express and discuss statements of fact, accounts and explanations
- take part in discussion and express and discuss ideas, points of view with explanations and developed arguments; express advantages and disadvantages and give advice