Top tips for passing the FCE (First Certificate in English)

Understanding the exam itself and knowing how to tackle each of the papers is crucial for success. Below are our top tips for passing the FCE.

1.       Familiarise yourself with the structure and timing of the exam

2.      Understand exactly what is being tested in each part of the exam.

3.       Never leave an answer blank

4.       The FCE tests your language skills as well as your language level

5.       Don’t panic if there’s a text about an unfamiliar topic

Use of English

Multiple choice cloze

ü  Read the text first, ignoring the gaps, in order to have a general understanding of it

ü  Pay close attention to the words before and after the gaps.

ü  When you’ve finished, read through the text with your answers to check that it makes good sense.

Open cloze

ü  this part tests grammar, so the words you need to fill the gaps will be prepositions, auxiliary and modal verbs, conjunctions, articles, quantifiers, pronouns and so on

Word formation

ü  Read the whole text through first to get a general understanding of it.

ü  Work out which part of speech you need of the gap (e.g., adjective, adverb)

ü  Bear in mind that you might need to make more than one change

Key Word Transformations

ü  don’t change the key word

ü  only use between 2 and 5 words

ü  make sure you keep the meaning the same.

Remember, correct spelling is important in this part of the exam.

Reading

ü  Read the text quickly to get a general understanding of it.

ü  Remember that you’re not expected to understand every single word in the text. Where possible, try to quickly work out the meaning of unfamiliar words from the context, but don’t waste time.

ü  Make sure you read both the questions and the options and underline key words and phrases.

ü  Be careful of distractors

Writing

ü  You have to write an essay and also one of the following: a formal or an informal letter, a review, a report or a short story. Each of these is a distinct kind of text and will require a particular kind of language

ü  Make sure you include all the points in the instructions.

ü  Don’t repeat the input language. Use your own words!

ü  Obey the word limit!

Listening

ü  In the time you have before each recording begins, quickly read through the questions and options and underline key words and phrases.

ü  In the Sentence Completion task, try to predict what kind of information you will be listening for, e.g. a name, a number, an amount of time, a type of activity.

Speaking

The speaking paper has 4 parts and is done with another candidate.

Part 1 (Interview) – Here you answer simple questions about your job or studies, your hometown, you hobbies and so on. Make sure you extend your answers.

Part 2 (long turn) – Here you are given two pictures and asked to contrast them and answer a question about them. Say what they have in common and what the differences are, then answer the question. Don’t describe them!

Part 3 (collaborative task) – Here both candidates are given a task (for example, choosing ways for a local café to attract more customers) and some written prompts (e.g. showing live football, having an international food menu and so on). It’s important to interact well with your partner, making sure you work together to complete the task using language to express opinions, respond to suggestions, show agreement and disagreement etc.

Part 4 (Discussion) – Here you will have the chance to show that you can discuss the issues and ideas from Part 3 in more depth. Make sure you give full, extensive answers to the examiner’s questions.

Read more at

http://eltlearningjourneys.com/2015/09/15/top-tips-for-passing-the-fce-first-certificate-in-english/

Ljiljana Mitrovic, English teacher