2. WHAT DO THE ACRONYMS STAND
FOR?
The First Certificate in English (FCE) is a
general proficiency examination at level B2
in the Council of Europe's common
European Framework of Reference .
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3. First Certification in English
WHEN CAN I TAKE THE
CERTIFICATION?
Cambridge English paper-based exams:
•Sat 19 May
Oral exams
1st April-11th May
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4. WHAT IS THE HIGHEST SCORE?
Results
Score
Pass at Grade A
Level C1
80 to 100
Pass at Grade B
75 to 79
Pass at Grade C
60 to 74
Level B1
45 to 59
Fail
0 to 44
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5. First Certification in English
TYPES OF EXERCISES
The exam is divided into 5 sections:
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6. HOW LONG DOES THE EXAM LAST?
APPROXIMATELY
FIVE HOURS
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7. READING
•
•
•
•
•
Time allowed:
1 hour
Number of parts: 3
Number of questions: 30
This section is worth 20% of the total score
Lengths of texts: 550–700 words per text: about 2,000
words to read in total
• Texts may be from:
newspaper and magazine
articles, reports, fiction, advertisements, letters,
messages, informational material (e.g. brochures,
guides, manuals, etc.)
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8. READING
PART 1: MULTIPLE CHOICE
- It’s a text with some multiple-choice questions. Each
question has four options (A, B, C or D) and you have to
decide which is the correct answer.
-What do I have to practice?
How to understand the details of a text, including opinions
and attitudes.
-How many questions are there?
8. 2 marks each
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10. First Certificate in English
First ertification in English
READING:
PART 2: GAPPED TEXT
-It’s a text with some empty spaces (gaps). After the text
there are some sentences taken from the text. You have to
choose the correct sentence for each gap.
-What do I have to practice?
How to understand the structure and follow the development
of a text.
-How many questions are there?
7. 2 marks each
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12. First Certificate in English
READING
PART 3: READING FOR
SPECIFIC INFORMATION
It’s a series of questions and a long text or several short
texts to read. For each question, you have to decide which
text or part of the text mentions some specific information.
-What do I have to practice?
How to find specific information in a text or texts.
-How many questions are there?
15. 1 mark each
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14. WRITING
• Time allowed:
1 hour 20
minutes
• Number of parts: 2
• Number of questions:
Part 1: one compulsory question
Part 2: one question from a
choice of five
• This section is worth 20% of the
total score.
• Types of task:
article, email,
essay, letter, report, review, story
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Assessment:
•Content.
•Communicative
achievement.
•Organization.
•Language.
0-5
15. WRITING
PART 1: LETTER / E-MAIL
- You have to write a letter or email using this information.
You may have to apologize, compare, describe, explain,
express opinions, justify, persuade, recommend, and/or
suggest something.
-How many questions are there?
One compulsory question.
-How much do I have to write?
120–150 words
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17. WRITING
PART 2: ARTICLE, ESSAY, LETTER, REPORT,
REVIEW OR STORY
-You have to write will be one of the following: an article,
essay, letter, report, review or story.
-What do I have to practice?
Writing different types of text: articles, essays, letters,
reports, reviews
-How many questions are there? One task to be selected
from a choice of five.
How much do I have to write?
120– 180 words
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19. First Certificate in English
USE OF ENGLISH
• Time allowed:
45
minutes
• Number of parts: 4
• Number of questions: 42
• This section is worth 20% of
the total score
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20. First Certificate in English
USE OF ENGLISH
PART 1: GAP FILLING. MULTIPLE CHOICE CLOZE
- It’s a text in which there are some missing words
or phrases
(gaps). After the text there are four possible answers for each
gap and you have to choose the correct answer (A, B, C or
D).
-What do I have to practice?
Vocabulary.
-How many questions are there?
12. 1 mark each
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22. First Certificate in English
USE OF ENGLISH
PART 2: GAP FILLING: WORD PRODUCTION
- It’s a text in which there are some missing words
(gaps). You have to find the correct word for each gap.
-What do I have to practice?
Grammar and vocabulary.
-How many questions are there?
12.1 mark each
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24. USE OF ENGLISH
PART 3: GAP FILLING:
WORD FAMILIES/ WORD FORMATION
It´s a text containing ten gaps. Each gap represents a word. At
the end of the line is a ‘prompt’ word which you have to
change in some way to make the correct missing word and
complete the sentence correctly.
What do I have to practice?
Vocabulary, word building.
How many questions are there?
10.1 mark each
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26. First Certificate in English
USE OF ENGLISH
PART 4: KEY WORD TRANSFORMATIONS
- We have a sentence followed by a key word and a
second sentence which has a gap in it. You have to use
the key word to complete the second sentence so that it
means the same as the first sentence.
-What do I have to practice?
Grammar and vocabulary.
How many questions are there?
8. 2 marks each
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28. LISTENING
• Time allowed:
about 40
minutes
• Number of parts: 4
• Number of questions: 30
• This section is worth 20% of
the total score
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29. LISTENING
PART 1: LISTENING. MULTIPLE CHOICE FOR
DIFFERENT SITUATIONS
Eight questions to test candidates’ ability to listen
for gist in a series of unrelated texts.
Choose A, B or C.
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31. LISTENING
PART 2: LISTENING. SENTENCE COMPLETION
This part tests candidates’ ability to listen for
specific words or phrases focusing on detail and
specific information.
The test is presented in the form of 10 questions.
Candidates need to listen and complete the
questions.
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33. LISTENING
PART 3: LISTENING. MULTIPLE MATCHING
This part focuses on the skill of listening for
general gist, detail, purpose, attitude, opinion,
etc. Candidates listen to five short texts with
different speakers, which are related in some
way.
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35. LISTENING
PART 4: LISTENING. MULTIPLE CHOICE.
In this part, the predominant focus is on testing
the candidates’ ability to listen for opinion, main
idea, gist and specific info, and based on one
long test. 7 questions
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37. SPEAKING
• Time allowed: 14 minutes
per pair of candidates
• Number of parts:
4
• This section is worth 20% of the
total score
• You have to talk:
- with the examiner
- with the other candidate
- on your own
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38. SPEAKING
Part 1: Interview (3 minutes)
You usually take the speaking exam together with
one other student.
Each of you will be asked basic questions about
your home town, family, work or study, leisure and
future plans.
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39. SPEAKING
Part 2: Individual tasks (4 minutes):
Each of you will be asked to compare two colour
photographs and explain your personal feelings
about them (you will be asked to speak for 1
minute, without any interruption).
You will also be asked to give your opinion about
the other student's photographs (you will be
expected to speak for about 20 seconds).
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40. SPEAKING
Part 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. Sometimes you will be asked
to agree on the conclusion, and sometimes you
will be told that you may make different decisions.
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41. SPEAKING
Part 4: Three-way discussion (4
minutes):
You will be asked to discuss (together with the
other student and the examiner) some ideas that
are connected with the joint task.
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42. IF YOU NEED MORE INFORMATION:
http://www.cambridgeesol.org
.
http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/exams-and-qualifications/first-for-schools.
http://olpt.s3.amazonaws.com/online-practice-fce/index.html
http://www.ompersonal.com.ar/firstcertificate/contenidotematico.htm
http://www.flo-joe.co.uk
http://firstcertificate.wordpress.com/2007/12/08/fce-june-2007-samplepapers-with-keys/
http://firstcertificate.file.wordpress.com/2007/12/sample-paper-w-fec.pdf
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