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).

It’s a good idea to expose your ears to as much English as possible, and as much variety as possible, before the exam. Listen to songs, interviews, podcasts, English news, film soundtracks and TV series in English.

Part One – 8 questions

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. 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 – 10 questions

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 – 5 questions

You hear five 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.

Part Four – 7 questions

This is a fairly long monologue or conversation which lasts about three minutes. You have to select answers to questions related to the text. The questions may be true or false, yes or no, multiple choice etc.

The speaking test has four parts and lasts for about 14 minutes. There are usually two exam candidates and two examiners. One examiner asks the questions and explains the tasks. The other examiner only listens to your English.

Part One – Conversation

This lasts for two 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 – Talking about photographs

This lasts a total of four minutes. 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 30 seconds. Then your partner speaks for one minute about two different photographs, and you comment after for about 30 seconds.

Part Three

This part lasts for four minutes and you should only speak to your partner. The examiner will tell you what to do and give you a paper with written information. You should discuss the information with your partner. The focus is on some, but not all of the following: exchanging ideas, agreeing or disagreeing, sustaining an interaction, justifying your opinion, suggesting, speculating, evaluating and reaching a decision through negotiation.

There will be a 2-minute discussion followed by a 1‑minute decision-making task. The total time for Part 3 is 4 minutes.

Part Four

This section continues the theme or topic from part three. The examiner will ask you some questions related to part three to develop and widen the conversation. This part lasts for four minutes.