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main ideas of complex communication, interact with some degree of fluency and spontaneity without great difficulty, engage in discussion in both familiar and unfamiliar situations, interact spontaneously without too much trouble, and communicate in detail, appropriate to the purpose and audience. Many higher education institutions and professional employers accept B2 First for admissions or recruitment purposes.
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In 1975, driven by evolving principles of communicative language teaching and testing, the exam was revised. The qualification was further updated in 1984 and 1996. Following the 1996 revision, the exam covered a greater range of writing, listening and speaking micro-skills. Its
Speaking test format
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It is an upper-intermediate qualification used to demonstrate that a candidate can use everyday written and spoken
English for work and study purposes. By taking up and passing the B2 First (formerly known as the FCE and First Certificate Exam), the candidate certifies that they can understand the
498:
A special version of the exam was also made available to prisoners of war detained in
Britain and occupied Europe. The test was made available to 1,500 prisoners of war in Britain, 900 of them Italians. In Germany, the test was offered at seven prisoners-of-war camps, with Indian prisoners of war
495:. The December 1943 exam pass list includes candidates from the Polish Army, the Polish Institute of Air Force Technology (RAF), the Netherlands Fleet Air Arm, and the Czechoslovak RAF Squadron. On one day in 1948 over 2,500 men and women of the Polish Resettlement Corps took the exam.
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encouraged to take the exam and/or School
Certificate exams. After the war, the exam proved to be the most popular Cambridge English exam of the time, with over 4,000 candidates in 1947, compared to 2,028 candidates for the Certificate of Proficiency in English, now known as
523:. B2 First and B2 First for Schools both have the same exam format (e.g. number of papers, number of questions, time allowance), but use different topics and content, targeted at the interests and experiences of adult and school-aged learners respectively.
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In
January 2015, another set of revisions was introduced. The main changes were: the overall exam is now 30 minutes shorter; there are four exam papers, instead of five; and the Reading and Use of English papers have been combined into a single paper.
456:
There are
Cambridge English Qualifications for schools, general and higher education, and business. B2 First is offered in two versions, B2 First for Schools, for school-aged learners, and B2 First, for general and higher education adult learners.
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By 1943, the exam included a choice between "either prescribed texts or a paper in translation from and into
English". By 1944, 18 languages were catered for in the translation paper, including Polish, Arabic, Hebrew, Czech, Persian and Swedish.
858:
Studies in
Language Testing (SiLT), Volume 28, Hawkey, R. (2009) Examining FCE and CAE: Key issues and recurring themes in developing the First Certificate in English and Certificate in Advanced English exams. Cambridge University
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scores replaced the candidate profile and standardised scores used for pre-2015 results. All candidates (pre- and post-2015) receive a
Statement of Results, with those scoring high enough also receiving a certificate.
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Pre-2015 Statement of
Results also had a Candidate Profile, which showed the candidate's performance on each of the individual papers against the following scale: exceptional, good, borderline and weak.
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and occupied Europe into the UK had created a growing need for language assessment. One hundred and forty-four students sat the first LCE exam on 21 June 1939. The exam was divided into three sections:
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Both versions of the exam (B2 First and B2 First for Schools) are made up of four papers, which cover all the key language skills (Reading and Use of Language, Writing, Listening, and Speaking).
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The Speaking paper is taken face-to-face. Candidates have the choice of taking the Reading and Use of English paper, Writing paper and Listening paper on either a computer or on paper.
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B2 First is targeted at CEFR Level B2 but also provides reliable assessment at the level above B2 (Level C1) and the level below (B1). The following scores are used to report results:
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B2 First (previously known as the Lower Certificate in English (LCE), First Certificate in English (FCE) and Cambridge English: First) was originally launched in 1939.
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B2 First shows that learners have the language skills needed to communicate confidently in an English-speaking environment. It is targeted at Level B2 of the
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B2 First is available in two versions: B2 First for adult learners, and B2 First for Schools, is designed for school-aged learners. Both are part of the
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The candidate's overall score is averaged from the individual scores for each skill (Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking) and the use of English.
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English Composition and Language (2 hours for a free composition on a choice of subjects and various tests on the correct use of simple English)
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used two candidates and two examiners and the five papers were equally weighted, each representing 20% of the available marks.
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Pre-2015, the Statement of Results had the following information, reflecting the total combined score from all four papers:
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Since 2015, the Statement of Results and the Certificate have the following information about the candidate's performance:
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Scores between 122 and 139 are also reported on the Statement of Results but candidates will not receive a certificate.
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Hawkey, R. & Milanovic, M. (2013) Cambridge English Exams: The First Hundred Years, Cambridge University Press
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Pre-2015 candidates who achieved a score of 45 or more (out of 100) received a certificate.
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Prescribed Texts (2 hours on Dickens, Swift, Shaw and/or the Oxford English Coursebook).
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It may require cleanup to comply with Knowledge (XXG)'s content policies, particularly
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The certificate also contains the UK National Qualifications Framework (NQF) level.
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http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/images/167506-cambridge-english-scale-factsheet.pdf
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for each skill (Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking) and Use of English
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1000:"LanguageCert B2 Communicator: Guía Completa 2020 | KSE Academy®"
914:"Cambridge English Scale results reporting | Cambridge English"
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B2 First demonstrates language proficiency at Level B2 of the
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Many of those who took the exam served on active duty during
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A score on the Cambridge English Scale for the overall exam
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A major contributor to this article appears to have a
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477:Oral (Dictation, Reading Aloud, and Conversation)
435:, is an English language examination provided by
764:(CEFR) and is used for study and work purposes.
665:A grade (A, B, C, Level B1) for the overall exam
564:A grade (A, B, C, Level B1) for the overall exam
468:The arrival of thousands of refugees from the
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219:introducing citations to additional sources
57:Learn how and when to remove these messages
889:"B2 First exam format | Cambridge English"
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668:A score (out of 100) for the overall exam
390:Learn how and when to remove this message
372:Learn how and when to remove this message
175:Learn how and when to remove this message
109:Learn how and when to remove this message
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209:Relevant discussion may be found on the
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593:Cambridge English Scale Score (140–190)
449:B2 First is one of the examinations in
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762:Common European Framework of Reference
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308:Please improve this article by adding
136:contains content that is written like
869:Cambridge English First Handbook 2015
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1064:University of Cambridge examinations
826:"Cambridge English Qualifications"
671:A CEFR level for the overall exam.
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964:Cambridge English Scale Factsheet
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202:relies largely or entirely on a
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46:or discuss these issues on the
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688:Score (total mark of 100)
546:Scoring from January 2015
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429:Cambridge English: First
988:Retrieved 16 March 2018
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539:Cambridge English Scale
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871:cambridgeenglish.org
157:neutral point of view
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1029:Website for B2 First
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798:C1 Advanced
1043:Categories
1010:25 October
809:References
693:CEFR Level
598:CEFR Level
362:March 2018
332:newspapers
321:"B2 First"
299:references
271:March 2018
241:newspapers
230:"B2 First"
165:March 2018
145:improve it
99:March 2018
43:improve it
211:talk page
91:talk page
49:talk page
982:Archived
873:Archived
835:16 March
772:See also
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618:173–179
607:180–190
446:(CEFR).
431:and the
425:B2 First
403:B2 First
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533:Scoring
461:History
413: (
346:scholar
255:scholar
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713:75–79
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248:books
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925:2018
900:2018
837:2018
415:1939
411:1939
325:news
234:news
738:B1
727:B2
716:B2
705:C1
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610:C1
301:to
217:by
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