More than ever, a good knowledge of English is needed to succeed in international business and commerce. If you can show you have relevant language skills you'll have a great advantage in the jobs market and much greater flexibility if you want to work abroad.
An internationally recognised business qualification can help you show that you have learned English to an appropriate standard and can use it in a professional context.
This examination is your first step in the world of business. BEC Preliminary is a pre-intermediate-level, at Level B1 and it tests four language skills.
BEC Preliminary has three papers:
Paper 1 – Reading and Writing (90 minutes)
This paper has seven tasks including multiple choice, matching, form filling and other. In the writing part, the candidate is supposed to produce a piece of company and business communication. Reading and writing are 25% each of the total marks.
Paper 2 - Listening (40 minutes)
In the Listening component there are four tasks of the following types: multiple choice, gap-filling and form-filling based on the text that can be a dialogue, phone conversation or discussion. Listening is 25% of the total marks.
Paper 3 – Speaking (12 minutes)
The candidates are tested in pair and during the test each candidate responds to questions, gives a 'mini-presentation' lasting approximately one minute, takes part in a collaborative task with the other candidate and takes part in a discussion with the other candidate. Speaking is 25% of the total marks.
The minimum successful performance which a candidate typically requires in order to pass the exam corresponds to about 70% of the total marks. It is not necessary to achieve a satisfactory level in each paper in order to pass the exam. Successful candidates obtain a certificate with one of the passing grades - "Pass with Merit" or "Pass". The failing grades are "Narrow Fail" and "Fail".
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