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Students and Staff throughout the world.
First
Certificate in English and Business Administration
Rationale
The First
Certificate in English (FCE) is one of the exams
available from University of Cambridge ESOL examination. Its
possession proves one's adequacy in the English language,
and its successful completion means that one is able to interact
socially efficiently.
Once
awarded Cambridge ESOL FCE certificates are valid for life.
FCE
is an exam for people who can use everyday written and spoken
English at an upper-intermediate level. It is an ideal exam
for people who want to use English for work or study purposes.
Updated
FCE and CAE from December 2008
In
order to ensure our exams meet the needs of users, FCE and
CAE have recently undergone a review and the examinations
have been updated. The first session of the updated FCE and
CAE exams will take place in December 2008.
Download
the Handbook for Teachers for the updated FCE.
More
information about Top Tips for FCE, a new revision guide which
is now available for candidates to buy from centres and bookshops
and can also be ordered on the Cambridge ESOL eShop.
Bulletin
5, (PDF 134Kb) contains a summary of the updated FCE and
CAE specifications together with an overview of the review
process.
Bulletin
6, (PDF 116Kb) provides a more detailed description of
the Reading papers, along with a rationale for the changes
and advice on preparing students for the exams.
Bulletin
7, (PDF 121Kb) provides a more detailed description of
the Writing papers, along with a rationale for the changes
and advice on preparing students for the exams.
Bulletin
8, (PDF 121Kb) provides a more detailed description of
the Use of English papers, along with a rationale for the
changes, and advice on preparing students for the exams.
Bulletin
9, (PDF 934Kb) provides a more detailed description of
the Listening papers, along with a rationale for the changes
and advice on preparing students for the exams.
Bulletin
10, (PDF 938Kb) provides a more detailed description of
the Speaking papers, along with a rationale for the changes
and advice on preparing students for the exams.
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.
Supporting you
As
with all of Cambridge ESOL's certificates, there is a lot
of support to help you prepare for your exam.
Most
candidates prefer to take the preparation courses run by language
schools and universities.
You
can access a variety of support materials from the Resources
area of our website. These include a short booklet, Information
for Candidates, and sample exam papers, which include sound
files for the Listening test materials.
Many
publishers have produced a wide choice of books and other
aids to help you prepare for taking FCE. Ask your local bookshop
for details.
To
help you prepare for FCE, we provide teachers with their own
website so they can download sample exam papers, handbooks,
and other teaching support material.
"Management"
(from Old
Frenchménagement "the directing", from Latinmanu agere "to lead by the hand") characterises the
process of leading and directing all or part of an organisation,
often a business,
through the deployment and manipulation of resources (human,
financial, material, intellectual or intangible). Early twentieth-century
management writer Mary
Parker Follett defined management as "the art of getting
things done through people."
One
can also think of management functionally, as the action of
measuring a quantity on a regular basis and of adjusting some
initial plan,
and as the actions taken to reach one's intended goal. This
applies even in situations where planning does not take place.
From this perspective, there are five management functions: planning, organizing, leading, co-ordinating and controlling.
For others though, this definition, while useful, is far too
narrow. The phrase "management is what managers do" is also
prevalent, conveying the difficulty with which management
is defined, the shifting nature of definitions, and the connection
of managerial practices with the existence of a managerial
cadre or class.
Management
is known by some as "business administration", although this
then excludes management in places outside business, eg charities
and the public sector. University departments that teach management
are nonetheless usually called "business
schools". The term "management" may also be used as a
collective word, describe the managers of an organization,
for example of a corporation.
Making
career choices and decisions – the traditional focus
of careers interventions. The changed nature of work means
that individuals may now have to revisit this process more
frequently than in the past.
Managing
the organizational career – concerns the career management
tasks of individuals within the workplace, such as decision-making,
life-stage transitions, dealing with stress etc.
Managing
'boundaryless' careers – refers to skills needed by
workers whose employment is beyond the boundaries of a single
organisation, a workstyle common among, for example, artists
and designers.
Taking
control of one's personal development – as employers
take less responsibility, employees need to take control
of their own development in order to maintain and enhance
their employability.
Now
that the job-for-life covenant between employer and employee
has been superseded by an insecure and uncertain job market,
career management has become a necessary survival skill rather
than being an activity pursued by Ivy League alumni or people
born with a silver spoon in the mouth. Job security is now
based on knowledge, skills and added-value rather than length
of service or loyalty to an employer. Career management is
nothing more than a small investment of time, money and energy
to protect the major source of revenue—one's job.
The
Academic Module is intended for those who wish to
enrol in universities and other institutions of higher
education .
The
General Training Module is intended for those planning
to undertake non-academic training or to gain work
experience, or for immigration purposes.
IELTS
is accepted by most Australian, British, Canadian, Irish,
New Zealand and South African academic institutions,
by an increasing number of academic institutions in
the USA, and by various professional organizations.
It is also a requirement for migration to Australia
and Canada.
In
this section of the exam, two candidates are interviewed by
two examiners. The test has four parts. In the first one,
the candidates are asked personal questions, whereas in part
two they are given a pair of photographs to compare and contrast.
In part three, the candidates engage in discussion, and in
part four, the candidates and the interviewer discuss an issue
on a certain topic.
In
this section of the exam, two candidates are interviewed by
two examiners. The test has four parts. In the first one,
the candidates are asked personal questions, whereas in part
two they are given a pair of photographs to compare and contrast.
In part three, the candidates engage in discussion, and in
part four, the candidates and the interviewer discuss an issue
on a certain topic
Speaking
and listening: 28 popular discussion topics + relevant vocabulary
"Prepare
for Discussion": complete work-scheme: [1] odd
one out [2] texts for dictation [3] dialogues [4] questions
[5] crosswords, which targets the vocabulary needed for
each of the 28 popular topic areas
Tales
of The Unexpected - 122 stand-alone episodes, each running
for 25 minutes. These stories with a twist in the ending
are well acted, entertaining and can be obtained cheaply
on DVD - excellent for listening comprehension and vocabulary
development.
BBC
Radio 4's Listen Again page offers a massive selection
of audio files and podcasts on every topic you can think
of.
Songs
by Ewan MacColl and Peggy
Seeger to use as a stimulus for discussion and for presentation
of topic-based vocabulary, with links to audio CD recordings,
songbooks & sheet music.
Ewan
MacColl [1915-1989] helped to bring about the British folk
song revival of the 1950s, which remained strong until the
early 1970s. He proceeded to build on the British tradition
of ballads rather than American folk roots (e.g. spirituals,
blues, hobo, skiffle) - he was to find a partner with a good
knowledge of American ballads. This link provides access to Ewan's own compositions, including the
songs from the radio ballads in which he captures the speech
rhythms and vocabulary of British people - railway workers,
road builders, miners, fishermen, gypsies, teenagers and boxers.
The radio ballads were a landmark in radio drama and song
composition. They also provide excellent material for language
learning at higher levels.
Among
Ewan's most famous song compositions are: 'The First Time
Ever I Saw Your Face' (written for his wife - Peggy Seeger),
'Dirty Old Town' (written about Salford, Manchester - an industrial
suburbia in the north of England) and 'The Manchester Rambler'
(written for the Great Trespass - which gave walkers from
the city rights of way and access to countryside). Ewan songs
are mainly about love and social / political topics. Ewan's
first love was the theatre - he helped to found Theatre Workshop
with his first wife, Joan Littlewood. He was to have two later
marriages and a total of five children. His second wife was
Jean Newlove - assistant to dance movement teacher, Rudolph
Laban, and mother of Hamish and (the late) Kirsty
MacColl.
Peggy
Seeger, born in 1935 and still writing and performing her
own songs, was married to Ewan MacColl from the late 1950s
until his death in 1989. They produced three children: Neill,
Calum and Kitty MacColl - two talented musicians and a capable
singer. Peggy herself is from a famous musical family. Her
mother, Ruth Crawford Seeger, was both a folk music collector
and one of the foremost 20th-century female classical composers.
Her father, the musicologist Charles Seeger, was also father
(by an earlier marriage) to the American folk-singer Pete
Seeger.
Peggy
is accomplished on several instruments, notably banjo, guitar,
Appalachian dulcimer, English concertina and autoharp. Perhaps
the best known of her early song compositions is 'Gonna be
an engineer'. However, this link also provides access to Peggy's
more recent song compositions: more on women's rights, some
moving love songs, lyrics on a full range of social issues
including anti-war and pro-environment campaigns. The link
too provides a full index of Peggy's song titles and access
to suppliers of her CD albums and songbook.
Use
of English
The
Use of English includes four tasks, whose types vary, including
multiple choice filling, open gap filling, word formation
and key word transformation. This part of the exam lasts for
45 minutes. The error correction task from previous years
was removed for the 2008 syllabus.
Assimilation
practice: - Some English consonant sounds,
including many alveolar ones, change into (or towards)
different phonemes when followed by certain other sounds.
Speakers assimilate to avoid awkward sound combinations
which would lead to loss of oral fluency with utterances
sounding broken up and clumsy. Some native English speakers,
including those who have been to top schools, are ignorant
of the differences between written and spoken English
and attempt to speak as they write. The remedy for this
is
Assimilation Practice: - the links below
provide learners with two-word phrases within which assimilation
occurs.
History
of Brighton Royal Pavilion: includes practice of phrasal
verbs, gerund & infinitive constructions, connectors,
reported speech, passive voice [***Interactive]
The
Writing part consists of two parts. One is a mandatory task
and the other is chosen from a set of four optional tasks.
The first task is usually a transactional letter, which has
a stricter format, and the second one's type ranges from discursive
compositions to articles, whose format is less stringent.
One of the four options includes two questions based on a
set of pre-set books. This part of the exam lasts for 90 minutes.
Writing
began as a consequence of the burgeoning needs of accounting.
Around the 4th millennium BC, the complexity of trade and
administration outgrew the power of memory, and writing became
a more dependable method of recording and presenting transactions
in a permanent form (Robinson, 2003, p. 36)
Why
write? - a history of writing
and the alphabet from the British Library
TechTact.org - A website for tactful technical writing
Writing
- external links
BBC
Skillwise: writing - a community web site, offering
general writing tips and practice for learners of English.
Royal
Literacy Fund - help with essay writing for advanced
learners hoping to attend UK universities.
Listening
The
Listening section consists of a set of questions based on
four spoken texts. The texts vary from news announcements
to speeches and stories. This section lasts approximately
40 minutes.
Active
listening is an intent
to " listen for meaning", in which the listener checks with the speaker
to see that a statement has been correctly heard and understood.
The goal of active listening is to improve mutual understanding .
Active
Listening International Online Training Program
On Intractable Conflict: Conflict Research Consortium,
University of Colorado, USA
Empathic
listening skills How to listen so others will feel
heard, or listening first aid (University of California).
Download a one hour seminar on empathic listening and
attending skills.
In
the reading section, the candidate is expected to answer a
set of questions based on the context of three texts, which
are approximately 350-700 words in length each. Types of questions
include multiple choice, multiple matching or gap filling.
This part of the exam lasts 60 minutes.
www.happymind.co.uk - well written articles (e.g. on philosophy, psychology,
health, technology and futurology) suitable for 20s-30s
age range. These texts explore the idea of using science
to promote happiness and well-being. The aim of www.happymind.co.uk,
edited by my niece Katherine Power, is to encourage intelligent
debate, rather than promote a specific position. The articles
are not written ostensibly to teach English, but contain
challenging (though useful!) vocabulary input and themes
which should lead naturally to class discussion.
Advanced
Reader for learners of English interested in children's
education - an autobiographical account by my second cousin,
Irene Ellen Power Clifford, of her work in London Primary
Schools from 1919 to 1953, her attempts to mitigate the
poverty of the 1930s and the disruption of World War II
and to promote more modern teaching methods. Irene's account
could prove very useful for teachers or teaching assistants
with English as a second language, who hope to enlarge
their vocabulary prior to a job placement in a British
School. Teaching methods may have changed, though there
is something in human-beings (and the psychology of managing
them!) which remains constant. Individual chapters can
be accessed from the list below:
Volcanoes
by the Sea
Read the story. Click the "LISTEN" button at the
bottom of the page to hear the story. When you are done,
click the "NEXT" button.
A
detail from Madonna des Kanonikus Georg van der
Paele by Jan
van Eyck .
It
is a means of language
acquisition , of communication, and of sharing information and ideas. Effective readers use decoding skills
(to translate printed text into the sounds of language),
use morpheme , semantics , syntax and context cues to identify the meaning of unknown
words, activate prior knowledge ( schemata
theory ), use comprehension , and demonstrate fluency during reading.
Other
types of reading may not be text-based, such as music
notation or pictograms. By analogy, in computer
science , reading is acquiring of data from some sort of computer storage.
Although
reading print text is now an important way for the general
population to access information, this has not always
been the case. With some
exceptions , only a small percentage of the population
in many countries were considered literate before the Industrial
Revolution .
Complete First Certificate
is a new course for the 2008 revised FCE exam. Informed
by the Cambridge Learner Corpus and providing a complete
FCE exam paper specially prepared for publication by
Cambridge ESOL, it is the most authentic exam preparation
course available.
Check
the availability and buy your books from our Bookshop.
Cambridge
Grammar for First Certificate Second edition provides
complete coverage of the grammar needed for the Cambridge
FCE exam, and develops listening skills at the same
time. It includes the full range of FCE exam tasks from
the Reading, Writing, Listening, and Use of English
papers, and contains helpful grammar explanations and
a grammar glossary. It has been fully updated for the
new exam to be introduced from December 2008.
Check
the availability and buy your books from our Bookshop.
Free
IELTS exam preparation can be difficult to find on the Internet.
The IELTS (International English Language Testing System)
test provides an evaluation of English for those who wish
to study or train in English. It is very similar to the TOEFL
(Test of English as a Foreign Language) required by North
American universities and colleges. IELTS is a jointly managed
test by the University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations, British
Council and IDP Education Australia. The test is accepted
by many professional organizations in Australia, New Zealand
and other countries, including: the New Zealand Immigration
Service, the Australian Department of Immigration and other
services. If you are interested in studying and / or training
in these countries, this is the test best adapted to your
qualification needs.
We
have gathered together the best of the free IELTS exam preparation
materials. Check them out for yourself. (If you find any more
sites you think we should add or if you find any bad links
then email us at the address listed on the bottom of this
page.)
Easy
Reading Exercises:
Hunting
Whales
Read the story. Click the "LISTEN" button at the
bottom of the page to hear the story. When you are done, click
the "NEXT" button.
Volcanoes
by the Sea
Read the story. Click the "LISTEN" button at the
bottom of the page to hear the story. When you are done, click
the "NEXT" button.
Computers
in the Classroom Read the story. Click the "LISTEN" button at
the bottom of the page to hear the story. When you are done,
click the "NEXT" button.
