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The Cambridge First Certificate Examination in English has
five papers:- Reading; Speaking; Writing; Listening and Use of English. Each
paper is worth twenty per cent of the total result. This means that if you get
a bad mark in one paper, it is still possible to pass the exam by getting an
above average mark in another paper. The pass grades are ‘A’ (80-100 marks), ‘B’
(75-79 marks) and ‘C’ (60-74 marks). The
fail grades are ‘D’ (55-59 marks) and ‘E’ (54 marks or below). Certificates
are only issued by Cambridge for A, B and C grades. You need at least 60 marks
to pass the exam.
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The reading paper has three parts, and there is a text to read in each
part with questions which are related to the text. All together there
are thirty questions, and the type of texts could be chosen from newspapers, magazines, holiday
brochures, advertisements, advertising leaflets, letters, text extracts
from books (fiction or non-fiction). So it’s a good idea to read
anything and everything you can in English before the exam. You have one
hour in the exam to answer all of the questions.
1. Multiple Choice
Part 1 consists of a text followed by eight multiple choice questions.
Each question has four options, A,B,C or D. This part tests the
understanding of content and text organisation.
2. Gapped Text
Part 2 consists of one text from which seven sentences have been
removed. You have to decide from where in the text each sentence has
been removed and put the sentence back in the correct place. Each
sentence may be used only once, and there is one extra sentence that you
do not need to use. This tests your understanding of how texts are
structured.
3. Multiple Matching
Part 3 consists of one long text or up to six shorter texts, preceded by
fifteen questions. You need to find specific information which matches
the questions. To do this, you need to understand detail, attitude or
opinion in the question and find a section of text where that idea is
expressed. |
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You must answer two questions in this paper. You have one hour and
twenty minutes, and you are asked to write between 120 and 150 words in
part 1, and between 120 and 180 words in part 2.
The paper is divided into two parts, and you must answer the question in
part one. It is always a transactional letter or email, although sometimes it is
formal and sometimes informal. In part one you are given information and
prompts in the question, so you basically have to expand the information
in the form of a letter or email in order to answer the question.
In part two you have a choice. There are four questions and you have to
answer one. The choices are :
• A letter (if the letter in part one was formal, this
will be informal. If part one was informal, this letter will be formal.
It maybe a letter applying for a job, for example).
• An article (for a school magazine, college newspaper
etc.).
• A report.
• An essay.
• A short story
• A review
• A question on set books (not covered on this course)
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Grammar - everybody’s favourite! There are four different parts in this
paper, and 42 questions altogether. You have 45
minutes to answer all the questions. Here are the four different parts:
Part 1 Multiple choice cloze. A text with 12 gaps. You have to choose
which is the best word for the gap from a selection of four words. The
focus here is mainly on vocabulary (words with meaning like nouns, verbs,
adjectives, adverbs).
Part 2 Open cloze text. Similar to multiple choice cloze, but without
the choice. 10 gaps in a text, and you have to think of a word to fill
the gap. This mainly tests grammar but there could be some missing
vocabulary too (think about auxiliary verbs, articles ‘the’, ‘a’, ‘an’,
prepositions, pronouns, phrasal verb particles, conjunctions etc).
Part 3 Word formation. Here you have a text with ten gaps. You
are given a root word and you have to change it to a verb, adjective,
adverb, noun etc. in order to complete the text. This tests vocabulary,
prefixes, suffixes and compounds.
Part 4 - ‘Key’ word transformations. There are eight of these
questions and you have to make a sentence which has a similar meaning as
the one before, using the ‘key’ word which is given in the question. You
have to complete the sentence with between 2 and 5 words. This part
tests grammar and vocabulary. |
 
There are four parts to the listening exam, and thirty questions in all.
You hear the listening texts twice and the exam lasts for about forty
minutes. Expect to hear some different accents (Irish, Australian,
American, London, Scottish, Welsh etc.), and different texts (phone
calls, lectures, radio programmes, quizzes, interviews, plays etc.). As
with reading, it is a good idea to expose your ears to as much English
as possible, and as much variety as possible, before the exam.
Part One
There are eight short extracts in the first part, and they are not
connected. You have to answer a multiple choice question about each one.
Each question has 3 options, A, B or C. You may be asked about how the speakers are related, how the speaker is
feeling (angry, upset, exited etc.), the general subject of the text or
the purpose of the conversation.
Part Two
Here you have to complete sentences and fill in missing information while
you are listening to a monologue or conversation which lasts for about
three minutes. Remember, you hear every text twice.
Part Three
You hear different people speaking about a related topic, and you have
to match the speakers to written information on your question sheet. The
different people speak for about thirty seconds each. There are 5 people
and 6 options. There is one extra option that you do not need to use.
Part Four
This is a fairly long monologue or conversation which lasts about three
minutes. You have to select answers to questions related to the text.
There are 7 multiple choice questions and each question has 3 options,
A,B or C. The questions follow the order of what you hear in the
recording.
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The speaking test has four parts and lasts for about fourteen or fifteen
minutes. There are usually two exam candidates and two examiners. One
examiner asks the questions and explains the tasks, the other sits in a
corner and listens to your English.
Part One - Introductions
This lasts for three minutes, and the examiner will ask questions about
where you are from, if you work or study, your family, hobbies and
interests, future plans, likes and dislikes etc. This part of the test
is supposed to help you to relax and stop being nervous.
Part Two - Describing photographs
This part lasts for four minutes, but this time you speak for a minute about two
photographs. You compare and contrast the photographs, give your opinion
and try to relate the photographs to your own experience. Your partner
then comments on your photographs, and /or what you have said, for about
twenty seconds. Then your partner speaks for a minute about two
different photographs, and you comment after for about twenty seconds.
Part Three
This part lasts for about three minutes, and you should only speak to
your partner. The examiner will tell you what to do, and you may have to
discuss a photograph, talk about a map, solve a problem, put things in
order, choose the best, worst, most popular etc.
Part Four
This section continues the theme or topic from part three, and it is
really a chat between you, your partner and the examiner. The examiner
will ask you some questions related to part three and develop and widen
the conversation. This part lasts for four minutes.
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 El
presente material es de utilidad para la preparación de FCE. El material online es una pequeña parte de
un completo Curso de FIRST CERTIFICATE disponible en CD Rom
y del que puedes descargar gratuitamente una
versión de evaluación. Si deseas
conocer si tu nivel actual es adecuado para preparar el examen, puedes
realizar también una prueba de nivel.
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