Exam Format
Vocabulary
Grammar
Strategy
Surprise!
100

How many papers are there in the exam and what are they called?

4: Reading and Use of English, Writing, Listening and Speaking

100
Name 10 personality adjectives.

shy  bossy  selfish  arrogant   friendly   caring    

sensible    sensitive   easy-going   honest , etc.

100

Provide four forms which can be used to

describe the future and say when

they are used.

Be going to: future intentions, predictions

Will: predictions, spontaneous decisions, promises

Present continuous: future plans/ arrangements

Present simple: timetabled events

Future Perfect Simple: actions/situations that will have finished before a specific time in the future

Future Perfect Continuous: actions that will be in progress at a specific time in the future

100

What should you do if you don’t

understand the words in part 2

of the listening paper?

Think of the part of speech which is missing and insert an appropriate word, e.g. plural noun, positive adjective, etc.

Don’t leave any empty spaces.

100

Name 10 sports.

athletics   baseball   gymnastics   surfing   golf    boxing    football   rugby   diving    cycling ,etc.

200

How many tasks do you have to do in the Writing

 paper and what text types can you be asked to write?

Two

Part 1: essay  

Part 2: formal/informal letter/e-mail, article, review,         report

200

Name 10 different film genres.

action   adventure   animation   comedy   crime  

 disaster   horror   historical drama   musical  

 romantic comedy   science-fiction   war  western, etc.

200

Name the main past tenses and 

describe when we use them.

Past simple: completed past actions, time is specified or understood

Present Perfect: recently finished/on-going/result in present

Past Continuous: continuous past actions

Past Perfect: an event which happened before another past event

200

What should you do if your 

partner speaks too much or doesn’t 

speak enough during the speaking exam?

Too much: interrupt politely, e.g. Can I say/add something?

Not enough: ask for his/her opinion, e.g. What do you think? Do you agree with me?

200

Complete the sentence with an appropriate verb form.

Last week I __________(see) my best friend for the first time in ages because she _______________ (just return) from Germany.

Last week I ___SAW_______(see) my best friend for the first time in ages because she __HAS/HAD JUST RETURNED___ (just return) from Germany.

300

How long does the speaking test take and how many parts are there?

14 minutes

4 parts

300

Name 10 features of different types of scenery.

dune   mountain   hedge   coast   hill   

valley   field   forest  jungle    waterfall, etc.

300

Rewrite these sentences using another 

grammatical structure without changing the meaning:


1. When I was a child, I used to play in the park after school.


2. It annoys me when you bite your nails!


3. I didn’t ask for her phone number and I regret it.

1. When I was a child, I would play in the park after school.

2. I wish you wouldn’t bite your nails!

3. I wish I had asked for her phone number.

300

What can help you identify the correct sentence to insert in Part 6 of the Reading & UOE Paper?

Look carefully at the sentences before and after the gap.

Try to find, synonyms, pronouns and linking expressions which help the text hang together.

300

Name 3 things you need to remember to take with you on the exam day.

Valid photographic ID, statement of entry, pen, pencil, rubber

400

What percentage of your exam mark does the Reading and Use of English paper represent?

40%

400

Transform these verbs into nouns and adjectives:

entertain    relax     care     compete

entertainer/entertainment      entertaining

relaxation                             relaxing

care/carer                            careful/careless

competitor/competition         competitive                          

400

Rewrite these sentences using another

grammatical structure. Don’t change the meaning.


1. People say that he is guilty.


2. People believed that it was true.


3. People think he has left the country.


1. It is said that he is guilty./ He is said to be guilty.

2. It was believed that it was true./ It was believed to be true.

3. It is thought that he has left the country. He is thought to have left the country.

400

What should you include in your plan before you start writing in the Writing paper and how much time should you spend on this?

Layout, paragraphs, key points and supporting examples, useful linking expressions, impressive vocabulary and grammatical structures.

Not more than 10 minutes.

Make sure you don’t lift too much language from the exam question.

400

Where do you write your answers to the listening paper while you are listening?

On the question paper.

500

What are the names of the areas examiners assess when correcting the writing paper? What do they refer to?

Content, Communicative Achievement, Organisation and Language.

Content: all key points included, expanded and relevant.

Communicative Achievement: appropriate layout and register for task and text type. 

Organisation: paragraphing, linking expressions, how the text flows and hangs together.

Language: range and variety of grammatical structures and lexis.

500

put up with      look into      talk into      find out      go up

Think of phrasal verbs you could

 use to substitute the following:


tolerate     investigate    persuade

discover    increase 

500

Complete the sentences with an appropriate

 modal/semi-modal and main verb:



1. Until the 1960s, men in Britain_____________ military service.

2. It ___________________  him but I’m not sure. (now)

3. He _________________ the crime yesterday. He’s such an honest person.

1. had to do

2. might/could be

3. can’t have committed

500

What do you need to remember when doing 

Part 4 of Reading and UOE?

Don’t change the meaning of the original sentence.

Pay attention to the tense you use.

Use between two and five words (contractions count as two words).

Don’t change the word given.

Write something! There are two points available.

500

Name 4 features of formal writing.

Full forms    passive forms   latinate verbs   indirect questions   more complex sentences     formal connecting words    inversion , etc.

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