FCE
Lyceum Chernomorsky is proud to state that it has been preparing students for internationally popular Cambridge Exams since 2006. Up until now, about seventy students have taken part in Cambridge Exams and most of them have passed successfully. As there were not enough candidates in Odessa before, our first testees had to take the exams in Kiev. However, British Council decided to organise the exams in Odessa as well thanks to the increasing number of the students preparing for Cambridge Exams in Lyceum Chernomorsky. Besides, British Council has presented our school two significant certificates lately: the first one certifies that Lyceum Chernomorsky is the only school in Odessa which regularly prepares its students for Cambridge Exams. The second one indicates that our school has gained a silver membership of British Council and Cambridge Exams which gives a lot of advantages in the process of preparing for the exams. As Lyceum Chernomorsky, we are looking forward to being a golden member within two years.
After giving brief information about Lyceum Chernomorsky’s attitudes towards world-wide Cambridge Exams, let’s have a look at the exams in detail. The following information has completely been taken from the official website of Cambridge ESOL Exams without any changes or additions.
FCE (FIRST CERTIFICATE IN ENGLISH)Is FCE for you?
Can you...
understand texts from a wide variety of sources?
use English to make notes while someone is speaking in English?
talk to people about a wide variety of topics?
understand people talking in English on radio or television programmes?
If this describes your skills now, or describes the level of skills you are working towards, then FCE is the right exam for you.
What will FCE do for you?
Cambridge ESOL is a department of the world-famous and historic University of Cambridge. Attaining one of its certificates is an achievement and a reward in itself. However, there are many other benefits to taking FCE:
An FCE certificate is valid for life
FCE is truly international, recognised around the world for business and study purposes thousands of employers, universities and government departments officially recognise FCE as a qualification in upper-intermediate English.
FCE gives you a pathway to higher qualifications such as the Certificate in Advanced English (CAE) and Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE)
FCE's 'Can Do' skills give you the confidence to use English in real situations.
What will taking FCE help you do?
FCE is at Level B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) — an internationally recognised benchmark of language ability. The framework uses six levels to describe language ability from A1 to C2. 'Can Do' statements have been used to describe these levels in terms of real skills with language.
For example, at B2 level, typical users can be expected to:
understand the main ideas of complex pieces of writing
keep up a conversation on a fairly wide range of topics, expressing opinions and presenting arguments
produce clear, detailed writing, expressing opinions and explaining the advantages and disadvantages of different points of view.
Your preparation for FCE will give you these kinds of practical language skills.
What does FCE involve?
FCE has five papers:
Reading: 1 hour
You will need to be able to understand information in fiction and non-fiction books, journals, newspapers and magazines.
Writing: 1 hour 20 minutes
You will have to show you can produce two different pieces of writing such as a short story, a letter, an article, a report, a review or an essay.
Use of English: 45 minutes
Your use of English will be tested by tasks which show how well you control your grammar and vocabulary.
Listening: 40 minutes
You need to show you can understand the meaning of a range of spoken material, including news programmes, speeches, stories and anecdotes and public announcements.
Speaking: 14 minutes
You will take the Speaking test with another candidate or in a group of three, and you will be tested on your ability to take part in different types of interaction: with the examiner, with the other candidates and by yourself.