LISTENING TEST
The Listening Test is same for both, the Academic and the General modules. The candidates are required to listen to a tape, which is played only once, and answer a series of questions. This test is in four sections with 10 questions in each (total of 40 questions) and it lasts for about 30 minutes with an additional 10 minutes at the end to transfer answers onto the answer sheet. Questions are usually:
- multiple choice
- short answer
- sentence completion
- notes/diagram/flow chart completion
Reading Test
This test is taken in 1 hour and it has 3 sections with 40 questions based on one reading script per section (ie: 3 reading scripts). Candidates are given a question paper and an answer paper. All answers must be put onto the reading answer sheet before the end of one hour. A range of questions will usually come from the following list:
- Notes/diagram/summary/flow chart completion
- Multiple choice, short answers, completing sentences
- Identifying paragraphs or parts of the text, based on the questions asked
- Identification of appropriate opinions from – yes/no/not given OR true/false/not given classification
- matching lists or phrases
In the Academic module, the material is taken from journals, magazines, books or newspapers. Material is selected assuming that the candidate is not a specialist with knowledge on the subject and hence, all the topics will be of general interest. At least one script will contain a logical argument. One script may include a graph, diagram or an illustration. A short glossary is generally provided if there are any words or terms of a technical nature, which candidates would not be expected to know.
In the General Module, the material is taken from notices, advertisements, official documents, booklets, newspapers, instruction manuals, leaflets, timetables, books and magazines.
- The 1st section is concerned with social survival in an English speaking country,
- the 2nd section is concerned with survival in an educational, training or welfare context and
- the 3rd section tests the candidates’ abilities with a longer and a more complex text.
WRITING TEST
This test is taken in 1 hour and the candidates are required to complete 2 tasks.
- For Task 1, the candidate will be asked to describe in his or her own words, the factual information given to the candidate in pictorial or graphic form. This could be a line graph, a pie chart, a bar chart, a table or a picture describing a process or a combination of any of the above forms. Candidates is required to write a minimum of 150 words.
- For Task 2, the candidate is asked to write an essay of minimum 250 words on a general academic topic.
In the General Module of Writing Test:
- Under Task 1 candidate is required to write a letter in response to a given situation. Candidates must write a minimum of 150 words and
- In Task 2 the candidate is required to write an essay of minimum of 250 words on a general topic.
SPEAKING TEST
The Speaking Test is same for both, the Academic and the General modules. The test is conducted one on one basis with 1 examiner and 1 candidate and the entire test is recorded. It is divided into 3 sections.
Section 1 begins with some general introductory questions and is followed by some questions on personal information similar to the type of questions one would ask when meeting someone for the first time. Later, the examiner will asks few more questions on 2 topics of general interest. This section consists of about 4 – 5 minutes.
Section 2 is a monologue,where the examiner will give the candidate a card with a subject and a few guiding questions on it. The student is required to talk for 1 to 2 minutes on this subject and the examiner may extend a minute or decide on the exact length. The candidate is given an optional 1 minute to prepare for his/her talk and is provided with some paper and a pencil in order to make some brief notes. At the end, the examiner may ask 1 or 2 brief questions to finish off this section which will consist of about 3 to 4 minutes.
Section 3 In this section, the examiner will ask some more questions generally related to the subject spoken in section 2. These questions will demand some more analysis and information from the candidate and this session may take from 4 to 5 minutes.