FCE for Schools - Cambridge Exams - British Council

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	FCE for Schools \| Cambridge English: First for Schools

Cambridge English: First for Schools follows exactly the same format as Cambridge English: First and the level of the question papers is identical. The only difference is that the content and treatment of topics in Cambridge English: First for Schools have been particularly targeted at the interests and experience of school pupils. Exam has five parts, each part carries 20% of the total marks.

	Examination content:

		Reading (1 hour )

	Students need to be able to understand a range of texts, including how they are organised and the opinions and attitudes expressed in them. The texts will be from sources familiar to school-aged learners such as magazines, articles, fiction and advertisements, but targeted at the interests of students. Reading carries 20% of the total marks.

		Writing (1 Hour 20 MINUTES)

Students are required to produce two pieces of writing. The first piece is compulsory and will be a letter or email of between 120–150 words. For the second, they may choose from an article, essay, letter, report, review or short story of between 120–180 words. Among the 5 options there is always a task based on one of the two prescribed reading texts; the FCE for Schools set texts for your actual term can be found on the Cambridge ESOL website.

Set texts for Cambridge English: First for Schools until December 2012:

William Shakespeare: Macbeth (The ELT Graphic Novel, Heinle Cengage Learning)
Joe Simpson: Touching the Void (Macmillan or any edition)

Set texts for Cambridge English: First for Schools until December 2013:

Mary Shelley: Frankenstein The ELT Graphic Novel (HEINLE Cengage)
Anthony Bourke & John Rendall:A lion called Christian (Scholastic)

Writing carries 20% of the total marks.

		USE OF ENGLISH (45 MINUTES)

	Students’ use of English will be tested by tasks which show how well they can control their grammar and vocabulary. There are 4 parts with 42 questions.

		Listening ( ABOUT 40 minutes)

	Requires being able to follow and understand a range of familiar spoken materials such as news programmes, public announcements and other sources but targeted at the interests of school-aged learners. Listening has 4 parts with 30 questions and carries 20% of the total marks.

		Speaking (14 minutes per pair of candidates)

	A face-to-face test taken with one or two other candidates and an examiner. Students have to show how well they can produce spontaneous spoken language, talking with either the examiner, the other candidate(s), or by themselves.

For more information about FCE for Schools and useful resources visit the Cambridge ESOL candidate support website – FCE for Schools.

Are you a teacher and want to register your pupils for Cambridge exams? You and your colleagues can join our loyalty programme for teachers and enjoy its benefits from only 10 registered candidates per year. For more information email to: jana.pavlova@britishcouncil.cz