First cerificate final version

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 .

IES Parque de Lisboa

First Certification in English

WHEN CAN I TAKE THE
CERTIFICATION?
Cambridge English paper-based exams:
•Sat 19 May
Oral exams
1st April-11th May


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

First Certification in English

TYPES OF EXERCISES

The exam is divided into 5 sections:


HOW LONG DOES THE EXAM LAST?

APPROXIMATELY
FIVE HOURS


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.)

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


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.
How to understand the structure and follow the development
of a text.
7. 2 marks each



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.
How to find specific information in a text or texts.
15. 1 mark each


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

Assessment:
•Content.
•Communicative
achievement.
•Organization.
•Language.
0-5

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.
One compulsory question.
-How much do I have to write?
120–150 words


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.
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


USE OF ENGLISH
• Time allowed:
45
minutes
• Number of questions: 42
• This section is worth 20% of
the total score


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).
Vocabulary.
12. 1 mark each



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.
Grammar and vocabulary.
12.1 mark each


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



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.
Grammar and vocabulary.
How many questions are there?
8. 2 marks each


LISTENING
• Time allowed:
about 40
minutes
• Number of questions: 30
• This section is worth 20% of
the total score


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.


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.


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.


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


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

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.


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).


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.


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.


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


SOCIAL NETWORKS
https://www.facebook.com/CambridgeESOL

There are links to videos, podcasts and games.
This is fun.

SOCIAL NETWORKS
http://www.youtube.com/CambridgeEnglishTV

https://twitter.com/cambridgeesol

In the social networks we can find useful tips and
information about teaching, learning and researching the
English language.

First cerificate final version

More Related Content

What's hot

Viewers also liked

Similar to First cerificate final version

More from soledadhs

Recently uploaded

First cerificate final version