ICFE (International Certificate in Financial English) is a new examination developed by Cambridge ESOL together with ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants), a leading international accountancy body.
Cambridge ICFE is the right exam for you if you have a good working knowledge of English and want to develop those skills to work in accountancy or finance. For the finance professional who already has an established and successful career, it can be used to validate their English language skills in a finance context.
It is set at Levels B2 and C1 of the Council of Europe’s Common European Framework and assesses language skills in an international finance and accounting context.
British Council Ukraine offers a Financial English course which leads to ICFE qualification. The course requires Level B2 (British Council Level 12) and features specific ICFE exam preparation classes. It also covers a variety of finance-related themes including financial reporting, auditing and taxation. Check out course dates and how to book a placement test.
ICFE exams are given twice a year in May and November. The examination takes about 3 hours in total and consists of four parts:
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Reading (75 min) |
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Writing (75 min) |
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Listening (40 min) |
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Speaking (16 min) |
The Test of Speaking is conducted face-to-face by qualified oral examiners. Successful candidates are expected to be able to use the language in practical situations, to participate in meetings and discussions of a financial nature and understand financial documents including financial statements, journal articles, letters, reports and proposals.
Written papers will be marked in the UK by Cambridge ESOL examiners. Test results are usually reported within six weeks of the test date.
Please visit the official ICFE website for the test papers, audio materials and ICFE Handbook which are available for download even now.
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