YOUR FIRST CERTIFICATE EXAM

Students often ask these questions at the beginning of a First Certificate Exam course:

-  What do I have to do in the exam?
-  How many papers are there?
-  How long are they?
-  How many marks do you get for each paper?

Find the answers in this information about the exam. You will also find OM PERSONAL ADVICE here.

PAPER 1 - READING (1 hour 15 mins) > 40 marks

This paper tests your understanding of written English. There are four parts, each with a different reading task and text(s). You are tested on your understanding of the main idea, of points of detail, and of text organisation, together with your ability to find specific information quickly. Each of the four parts has a different reading task.

Part I - Matching task: You will have to match 6-7 paragraph headings, summary sentences or pictures to the correct paragraphs of a text. You need to understand the main idea of each paragraph. You will need to understand much, but not necessarily ALL, of the detail of the text. 

Part II - Reading task: You must answer 7 or 8 multiple-choice questions on a text.

Part III - Reading task: In this exercise you have to fill 6 or 7 gaps in a text with either individual sentences or whole paragraphs which have been removed.

Part IV - Matching task: You will have to find answers to 13-15 questions in the different parts of the text. This exercise may also consist of several small texts. There may be a couple of general questions at the end.

OM PERSONAL ADVICE: 

a) UNFAMILIAR WORDS: There may be some words you don't understand in the texts. Consider whether they are similar to another words you already know in English, or to words in your native language, and what kind of words they are (e.g. nouns, verbs, adjectives).

b) TEXT READING: Read through the texts carefully to understand as much as you can. If you don't know certain words or phrases, don't worry. You may understand them better later on, or they may not be important for answering the questions.

c) QUESTIONS: The questions will require a knowledge only of the vocabulary which a typical FCE candidate should know, so you should be able to answer them even if you don't understand every word. It is important to read the questions first and then try to find the answers as quickly as possible. This will prevent you from spending time reading unnecessary information.

d) MULTIPLE-CHOICE EXERCISES: To help you make the right choice, cross out the answers that you know are not right.

PAPER 2 - WRITING (1 hour 30 mins) > 40 marks

You have to do two pieces of writing. The first piece is a compulsory letter; for the second there is a choice of topics. This choice may include another letter, a report, article, application, story or composition, or something based on one of the optional set books (read below). Your writing is marked on your success in carrying out the instructions, as well as organisation, accuracy and range of grammar and vocabulary.

FCE SET BOOKS: IMPORTANT NOTE.

From January 2015 onward, set texts have been discontinued in the FCE - Cambridge English First Certificate exam.

SET BOOKS FOR JANUARY 2014 TO DECEMBER 2014
One or both of the following texts may be read as preparation for the two optional set text tasks.

THE GO-BETWEEN ― L. P. Hartley
THE PERFECT STORM ― Sebastian Junger