An overview of the changes to the Cambridge English: First & Advanced exams that are occurring in January 2015 and what these changes may mean for us as teachers and our learners.

1. The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
nglish
ertificates in
dvanced
irst
David Petrie
Friday 10th October 2014 / Monday 13th October 2014

2. The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014

3. Influence of
the exam
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014

4. Influence of
the exam
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014

5. The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014

6. The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014

7. Reading & Use of English
2008 Reading: (60 min)
Part 1 – 8 question multiple
choice
Part 2 – 7 question text
insertion
Part 3 – 15 question multiple
matching
2008 Use of English:
(45 mins)
Part 1 – 12 question multiple
choice cloze
Part 2 – 12 question open cloze
Part 3 – 10 question word
formation
Part 4 – 8 question Key Word
Transformations
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014

8. Reading & Use of English
2008 Reading: (60 min)
Part 1 – 8 question multiple
choice
Part 2 – 7 question text
insertion
Part 3 – 15 question multiple
matching
2008 Use of English:
(45 mins)
Part 1 – 12 question multiple
choice cloze
Part 2 – 12 question open cloze
Part 3 – 10 question word
formation
Part 4 – 8 question Key Word
Transformations
2015 Reading & Use of
English: (75 mins)
Part 1 – 8 question multiple
choice cloze
Part 2 – 8 question open cloze
Part 3 – 8 question word
formation
Part 4 – 6 question Key Word
Transformations
Part 5 – 6 question multiple
choice
Part 6 – 6 question text
insertion
Part 7 – 10 question multiple
matching
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014

9. Reading & Use of English
2015 Reading & Use of English (75 mins)
Part 1 – 8 question multiple choice cloze
Part 2 – 8 question open cloze
Part 3 – 8 question word formation
Part 4 – 6 question Key Word Transformations
Part 5 – 6 question multiple choice
Part 6 – 6 question text insertion
Part 7 – 10 question multiple matching
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014

10. Reading & Use of English
2008 2015
Lexical / lexico-grammatical Part 1
Grammatical / lexico-grammatical Part 2
Lexical / lexico-grammatical Part 3
Lexical and grammatical Part 4
Detail, opinion, gist, attitude, tone, purpose, main
idea, meaning from context, text organisation
(exemplification, comparison, reference)
Part 5
Text structure, cohesion & coherence Part 6
Specific information, detail, opinion & attitude Part 7
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014

11. Reading & Use of English
2008 2015
Lexical / lexico-grammatical Part 1 Vocabulary: e.g. Idioms, collocations, fixed phrases,
complementation, phrasal verbs, semantic precision
Grammatical / lexico-grammatical Part 2 Awareness and control of grammar with some focus
on vocabulary
Lexical / lexico-grammatical Part 3
Vocabulary, in particular the use of affixation,
internal changes and compounding in word
formation
Lexical and grammatical Part 4 Grammar, vocabulary and collocation.
Detail, opinion, gist, attitude, tone, purpose, main
idea, meaning from context, text organisation
(exemplification, comparison, reference)
Part 5
Detail, opinion, attitude, tone, purpose, main idea,
gist, meaning from context, implication, text
organisation (exemplification, reference)
Text structure, cohesion & coherence Part 6 Cohesion, coherence, text structure
Specific information, detail, opinion & attitude Part 7 Detail, opinion, specific information, implication
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014

12. Writing
2008 Part One 2015 Part One
Letter / email Essay
120-150 Words 140 – 190 words
3 or 4 content points
2 content points & candidate’s
own idea
Approx. 160 words of input Shorter, question based input
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014

13. Writing
2008 Part Two 2015 Part Two
Five possible questions
(including 2 “book” questions)
Three possible questions
(no “book” questions)
article, essay, letter,
report, review, story
article, email/letter,
report, review
120 - 180 words 140 – 190 words
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014

14. Listening
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014

15. Listening
In part three, the multiple matching, there are
now 8 possible options to choose from, as
opposed to 6 previously.
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014

16. Speaking
2008 2015
Part 1 3 mins 2 mins
Part 2
4 mins
(1 min answer / 20 second response)
4 mins
(1 min answer / 30 second response)
Part 3
3 mins
visual based prompt
discuss & decide
2 min & 1 min
text based prompt
discuss (2 mins) & decide (1 min)
Part 4 4 mins
4 mins
Now with added speculation...
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014

17. Reading & Use of English
2008 Reading: (75 min)
Part 1 – 3 texts with 2 multiple
choice questions each
Part 2 – 6 question text insertion
Part 3 – 1 text with 7 multiple choice
questions
Part 4 – 15 question multiple
matching
2008 Use of English:
(60 mins)
Part 1 – 12 question multiple choice
cloze
Part 2 – 12 question open cloze
Part 3 – 10 question word formation
Part 4 – 5 question gapped sentences
Part 4 – 8 question key word
transformations
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014

18. Reading & Use of English
2008 Reading: (75 min)
Part 1 – 3 texts with 2 multiple
choice questions each
Part 2 – 6 question text insertion
Part 3 – 1 text with 7 multiple choice
questions
Part 4 – 15 question multiple
matching
2008 Use of English:
(60 mins)
Part 1 – 12 question multiple choice
cloze
Part 2 – 12 question open cloze
Part 3 – 10 question word formation
Part 4 – 5 question gapped sentences
Part 5 – 8 question key word
transformations
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014

19. Reading & Use of English
2008 Reading: (75 min)
Part 1 – 3 texts with 2 multiple
choice questions each
Part 2 – 6 question text insertion
Part 3 – 1 text with 7 multiple choice
questions
Part 4 – 15 question multiple
matching
2008 Use of English:
(60 mins)
Part 1 – 12 question multiple choice
cloze
Part 2 – 12 question open cloze
Part 3 – 10 question word formation
Part 4 – 5 question gapped sentences
Part 5 – 8 question key word
transformations
2015 Reading & Use of
English: (90 mins)
Part 1 – 8 question multiple choice
cloze
Part 2 – 8 question open cloze
Part 3 – 8 question word formation
Part 4 – 6 question Key Word
Transformations
Part 5 – 7 question multiple choice
Part 6 – 4 texts with 4 cross text
multiple matching questions
Part 7 – 6 question text insertion
Part 8 – 10 question multiple
matching
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014

20. Reading & Use of English
2015 Reading & Use of English: (90 mins)
Part 1 – 8 question multiple choice cloze
Part 2 – 8 question open cloze
Part 3 – 8 question word formation
Part 4 – 6 question Key Word Transformations
Part 5 – 7 question multiple choice
Part 6 – 4 texts with 4 cross text multiple matching questions
Part 7 – 6 question text insertion
Part 8 – 10 question multiple matching
1 min
35 secs
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014

21. Reading & Use of English
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014

22. Reading & Use of English
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014

23. Writing
2008 Part One 2015 Part One
article / letter / report / proposal Essay
180-220 Words 220 – 260 words
3 or 4 content points
Choose 2 content points from 3
options. “notes” also available
Up to 150 words of input Length not specified
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014

24. Writing
2008 Part Two 2015 Part Two
Five possible questions
(including 2 “book” questions)
Three possible questions
(no “book” questions)
article, competition entry,
contribution, essay, information
sheet, letter, proposal
report, review, story
letter, proposal
report, review
220 - 260 words 220 – 260 words
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014

25. Listening
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014

26. Listening
In part four, the focus has been expanded from:
“Gist, attitude, main points, interpreting context”
to also include:
“opinion, purpose and speaker feeling”.
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014

27. Speaking
2008 2015
Part 1 3 mins 2 mins
Part 2
4 mins
(1 min answer / 20 second response)
Choose 2 of the 3 pictures
4 mins
(1 min answer / 30 second response)
Choose 2 of the 3 pictures
Part 3
3 mins
visual based prompt
discuss & decide
2 min & 1 min
text based prompt
discuss (2 mins) & decide (1 min)
Part 4 4 mins
5 mins
Now with added speculation...
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014

28. The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014

29. meaning
behind
words
greater
lexical
focus / range
essay
writing skills
focus
on
function
critical
thinking
skills
discourse
patterns &
structures
discussion
&
decision
deeper text
evaluation
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014

30. Influence of
the exam
The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014

31. The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014

32. The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014

33. The Changing F A C E of Cambridge Exams
David Petrie
Friday 10th October & Monday 13th October 2014