English Examinations 
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

This page is intended to offer good, ordinary advice to people who want to know about examinations in English.  For this reason the English used here is as simple and direct as possible.  The page is not intended to give English teachers or examiners material to argue about, and although it comes from Severnvale Academy, Shrewsbury, U.K. it is only partly intended as an advertisement for our school - if we think other English language schools may do some things better, we say so.  But of course we believe that the way we teach English is best - or we would teach it some other way!

To make a computer translation of parts of this page, try this link to Altavista's babelfish site

1. Do I need to do an English exam?
   You only need to do an exam if your boss or school or parents (etc.) say you must.  But there can also be good reasons for doing one, even if you haven't got the pressure of need.
   • If you're doing an English course, why not do an exam at the end of it?  There will be no better time (see Question 2, below)
   • "A bit of paper" (that is, a certificate) can always be useful.  You never know what's going to happen in your career.
   • Motivation.  Many people (most people?) find that the feeling that they have to pass a test gives them greater motivation to work.  If you think this is true for you, don't hesitate: the money you spend on entering and doing the exam will be money very well spent, even if you don't pass it.  Just think that you have bought motivation!

    

2. Are there any good reasons for not doing exams?
   Yes, there can be good reasons for saying that you don't want to do an exam:
   • Some people are not motivated by the idea of doing an exam - it has the opposite effect.  
   • Some people are motivated at the thought of doing an exam, but more by nervousness than excitement.  Being nervous is not the best condition for learning a language.
   • There can be a difference between knowing English well and being able to do well in an exam in it.  And some exams are better than others: with the good exams, if you know English well you will do well in the exam; with the bad ones, knowing how to do the exam is more important than knowing English.  The more time you spend learning exam techniques, the less time you spend learning the English you're going to need in real life!
     
     
3. When is the best time to do an exam?
   If you have only time to do one level, definitely at the end of an English course, and it's best to do it while you are still in an English-speaking country.  It's not that you forget your English when you go home,  but an exam which includes speaking or listening tests (most exams include listening) will be much easier if you do it while you are still hearing English every day.
   
   
4. Do I need to follow an exam course?
   Yes, it's a good idea, but be careful!  Some exam courses have a very narrow focus, and if these are long courses they are often bad even for the one job they are trying to do well - getting you through the exam.  One problem is that a continuous diet of test exercises is easy and comforting: it's easy because there are many things you don't have to think about (for example in a test of grammar you don't usually have to worry about difficult vocabulary) and it's comforting because you concentrate, so you feel you are working hard.  But the ease and comfort are - unfortunately - not really helping you to develop your language in the interesting but complex, demanding ways you need.
   Another problem is that too much practice at a limited range of tasks makes you bored in the end, and being bored is the very worst condition for learning language well.  It's natural to want more confidence in doing the kinds of questions you have to answer, but if you spend too much time getting that confidence you are taking time away from learning really useful English (which is useful in exams too!)   
   For a long exam preparation course (10 weeks, say) you need one which will give you a good basic diet of general English, with only a little exam work at first, intensifying as the exam gets nearer.
   If you are doing a short preparation course, however (say for just the two or three weeks before an exam) then you obviously need a much higher proportion of intensive practice - but even then some general English is a good idea.
   In any preparation for an exam, never lose sight of the basic truth: Good English + a little Exam Technique has far more chance of success than Poor English + a lot of Exam Technique   
   
   
5. Which are the best exams to do?
   There is only one factor which really matters when making this choice: let's call it "currency" or "currency value".   This simply means that the certificate or 'score' you get when you pass an exam must have value where you want to use it.  It's no use going to a university or an employer in, for example, Whereland and saying, "...and I have a Gold-top-Super-Whizz Certificate in English , Grade 15," if the person you want to impress is going to answer, "What's that? I've never heard of it.  We only accept TOEFL and IELTS."  So the first thing is to find out which exams have the best "currency value" in the country you want to work or study in, for the kinds of things you want to do.  Unfortunately this can sometimes be difficult to find out, and the world is so big that we can't really help you.  There is usually some information on the official website of the testing services (see the table below) but basically you have to ask - ask anyone and everyone, including your language school, your own school at home, and anyone you've worked for.
   Other factors are more practical, and we have made the following table to help you see for yourself.
   
   Note: None of these exams requires that you have passed one level (or any other test) before taking a new level.

   EXAM	LEVEL(S) (see Severnvale's Levels table)	FEES (about)	CURRENCY (see, above)	WHERE	WHEN	RESULT(S)	OFFICIAL WEBSITE LINK
   Cambridge Key English Test (KET)	Elementary	£30-£35  in UK (local centre charges vary)	Probably best known in Europe 19,859 did it in 1997	Selected centres worldwide	Normally March, May, two in June, Nov. and Dec.	Pass with merit Pass Narrow fail Fail	KET
   Cambridge Preliminary English Test (PET)	Low-Intermediate	£30-£35 in UK (local centre charges vary)	Probably best known in Europe 52,753 did it in 1997	Selected centres worldwide	Normally March, May, two in June, Nov. and Dec.	Pass with merit Pass Narrow fail Fail	PET
   Cambridge First Certificate in English (FCE)	Upper Intermediate	£45-£55 in UK (local centre charges vary)	Worldwide, but perhaps best known in Europe. 258,930 did it in 1997	Selected centres worldwide	March, June, December	A, B, C, = Pass grades D, E = Fail grades Result valid indefinitely	FCE
   Cambridge Advanced Certificate in English (CAE)	Low Advanced	£48-£58 in UK (local centre charges vary)	Accepted as showing adequate English for university entrance in many English-speaking & European countries 48,512 did it in 1997	Selected centres worldwide	June, December	A, B, C, = Pass grades D, E = Fail grades Result valid indefinitely	CAE
   Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE)	High Advanced or Proficient Note that the form of this exam will change, from December 2002	£55-£65 in UK (local centre charges vary)	Accepted as showing adequate English for university entrance in many English-speaking & European countries 61,434 did it in 1997	Selected centres worldwide	June, December	A, B, C, = Pass grades D, E = Fail grades Result valid indefinitely	CPE
   IELTS -  International English Language Testing System	Advanced	£70 in UK (local centre charges vary)	Accepted as showing adequate English for university entrance in many English-speaking countries	200 centres in more than 100 countries	Local centres schedule tests to suit local needs	No exact score, but a Test Profile shows candidate's ability in 4 different areas (speaking, writing...) Result valid 2 years	IELTS
   TOEFL - Test of English as a Foreign Language NB in many countries this test is computer-based	Wide range test, but probably not  much value doing it below Intermediate.	$110	No information given on website, but it appears very widely recognised in universities and by employers, worldwide and in Europe.  In East too, to some extent.	Selected Centres worldwide - see website	Depends on local centre, but computer-based test can be taken with very little notice at most times	Not pass - fail, but a TOEFL score between 310 and 677 for the paper-based test; 40 and 300 for the computer-based test.  Employers, universities, etc. decide their own required score. Result valid 2 years	TOEFL (site contains some sample materials)
   TSE - Test of Spoken English (run by same group as TOEFL)	Test is 20 mins, spoken onto tape, so allows wide variety of level provided questions are understood.	$125	No information given on website.  Not nearly as well-known as TOEFL	Selected Centres worldwide (see website)	About once a month on specified dates (see website)	Not pass - fail, but a TSE score between 20 and 60.  Employers, universities, etc. fix their own required score. Result valid 1 year	TSE (site contains sample questions)
   TOEIC - Test of English for International Communication	Wide range test, but probably not  much value doing it below Intermediate Click for sample material	$65	Claims to be 'the most widely used test in the world' Specially important in Japan & Korea 1.7 million took it in 2000	16 centres in USA At least one in most other countries	6 times a year in USA Varies in other countries (UK is over 20 times a year)	Not pass - fail, but a TOEIC score between 10 and 990.  Employers, universities, etc. fix their own required score. Result valid 1 year	TOEIC TOEIC USA
   Business English Certificates (BEC) Levels 1, 2, 3 Run by UCLES (= Cambridge)	1-Low-Intermediate 2-Upper Intermed. 3-Advanced	1. £28-£40 2. £45-£55 3. £50-£60 (local centre charges vary)	Not widely known yet, but gaining currency value	Many centres throughout the world	6 times a year, dependent on availability at local centre	Basic pass-fail system but complicated! See website	BEC



6. Can I find Exam practice materials on the internet?
   For most of the exams given above, you can.  Of course it's nearly always possible to find materials you pay for, but if you are trying to find out which exam to do, what you really need is free samples first. The difficulty here is to find a free website with listening materials - all the above exams test listening - and if you can find one you may need to download a 'plug-in' for your browser.  Here are a few sites we've been able to find so far.  If you've found any yourself, please use our form to send us the address 
   

   KET	http://www.cambridge-efl.org/support/dloads/lms.cfm
   PET	http://www.cambridge-efl.org/support/dloads/lms.cfm
   FCE	http://www.cambridge-efl.org/support/dloads/ums.cfm http://www.ofcourse.info/ (free, and includes a little listening plus related material on learning styles) http://www.flo-joe.co.uk/fce/students/tests/tsindex.htm (Papers 1 and 3 only - but shows the level needed) http://www.pass-english-exams.com (high quality multimedia materials including downloadable demo versions)
   CAE	http://www.cambridge-efl.org/support/dloads/ums.cfm http://www.flo-joe.co.uk/cae/students/tests/pt1index.htm (Papers 1 and 3 only - but shows the level needed) http://www.pass-english-exams.com (high quality multimedia materials including downloadable demo versions)
   CPE	http://www.cambridge-efl.org/support/dloads/ums.cfm http://www.pass-english-exams.com (high quality multimedia materials including downloadable demo versions)
   IELTS	http://www.ielts.org/practise.htm  (free examples of reading/writing/speaking, but no listening)
   TOEFL	http://www.toefl.org/tstprpmt.html#practice (needs a plug-in, but organises it for you)
   TSE	http://www.toefl.org/tstprpmt.html#practice (as above)
   TOEIC	http://www.faceweb.okanagan.bc.ca/toeic/  http://www.4tests.com/exams/examdetail.asp?eid=74
   BEC 1. 2. 3.	http://www.summertown.co.uk/bec.html (sample materials for BEC 1 & 2 - Adobe reader (free) needed) http://www.cambridge-efl.org/support/dloads/bus.cfm (sample materials for BEC 1 2 & 3 - Adobe reader (free) needed) http://www.pass-english-exams.com (high quality multimedia materials including downloadable demo versions)

If you have a question you would like to ask about examinations in English, why not send us your question on our form?

This page last updated March 5, 2003 , webmaster