FCE

FCE (First Certificate in English) – B2

FCE tests ability to use English in everyday situations.

There are 4 papers.

Paper 1: Reading and Use of English

Paper 2: Writing

Paper 3: Listening

Paper 4: Speaking

Paper 1: Reading and Use of English 📖

The Reading and Use of English paper is divided into 2 sections, with 7 parts.

Reading

Part 1: Multiple-choice cloze task with 8 gaps, each with 4 options.

Part 5: Read a longer text. Answer 6 multiple-choice questions.

Part 6: Read a gapped text, then fill 6 gaps with missing sentences from a list.

Part 7: Read a text or several short texts, then answer 10 matching questions.

Use of English

Part 2: Open cloze task. Complete 8 gaps with one word each.

Part 3: Word formation task. Complete 8 gaps, after transforming given words.

Part 4: Key word transformations. Rewrite 6 sentences, using given word.

The Reading and Use of English test last 75 minutes.

Paper 2: Writing ✍️

The Reading and Use of English paper has 2 parts.

Part 1: Write an essay, in response to 2 points given and an additional one chosen by the student.

Write 140 to 190 words.

Part 2: Choose one of 4 tasks. For example, a review, a report, a letter, an email or an article.

Write 140 to 190 words.

The Writing test lasts 80 minutes.

Paper 3: Listening 🔊

The Listening paper has 4 parts.

Part 1: Listen to 8 short conversations or monologues. Answer multiple-choice questions.

Part 2: Listen to a longer conversation or monologue. Answer gap fill questions.

Part 3: Listen to a longer conversation or monologue. Answer multiple-choice questions.

Part 4: Listen to 5 short monologues. Answer multiple matching questions.

The listening test lasts 40 minutes (and 8 minutes for transferring answers).

Paper 4: Speaking 💬

The speaking paper has 4 parts.

There are 2 or 3 students in each group and 2 examiners.

Part 1: The examiner will ask you questions about yourself.

Part 2 : Individual Long Turn. Each student speaks for about one minute, based on a visual prompt.

Part 3: Collaborative task, with one or 2 other students and 2 examiners. Discuss and make decisions, based on visual prompts.

Part 4: Group Discussion.. Students talk about topics related to the Collaborative Task.

The Speaking test lasts 14 minutes (for each pair of students).