British Council-BEC Exam
Transcript of the podcast
A: Hey, didn’t you have your exam yesterday
B: Yes, I did
A: So, what was it like? It was a BEC exam, wasn’t it
B: Yes. It was. It was the BEC Vantage
A: What does that mean
B: Well, it’s the middle one. There are three BEC exams; the Preliminary, the Vantage and the Higher
A: So what level is that, compared to FCE for example
B: Well, it’s like the FCE. It’s an Upper Intermediate level
A: So what did you have to do? Was there a speaking test? Were you nervous
B: Hang on! One question at a time
A: Sorry
B: There are four exams; Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking
A: And how are they marked? I mean, do you have to pass all of the papers in order to pass the exam? Or do they work out an average score
B: Each paper is worth 25% of the total mark. So if you don’t do too well in one paper, you can make up the marks on another paper
A: How long did the exam last
B: The Reading paper was the longest; that was an hour. Then the writing lasted 45 minutes and the Listening was 40 minutes
A: What about the Speaking
B: That was 14 minutes but it felt like 5. The time flew
A: Tell me about the Speaking exam. Were you nervous
B: At first yes but my partner was much more nervous so I ended up calming him down
A: What do you mean, your partner
B: You do it in twos. There are two candidates and two examiners too. Well one examiner speaks to you. The other one just sits and makes notes
A: What did you have to talk about
B: Well, there are three sections. First of all they asked us a few questions about ourselves, our personal life and then about work related things
A: Oh no
B: No, that was fine. They didn’t ask anything difficult. The next part is harder because you have to do a sort of mini presentation
A: About what
B: Well they give you a few things to choose from and a minute to prepare
A: A minute
B: Yeah
A: And how long is the presentation
B: That’s about a minute too. It was ok actually. I spoke about what is important when you are selecting applicants for a job. That was quite easy for me. In the last section you have to discuss something with your partner
A: What
B: Well, we were fairly lucky there too, I think. We had to imagine we were attending a trade fair in a foreign country. So we had to discuss travel plans and accommodation. Stuff like that
A: All very business orientated then
B: Oh yeah! That’s the whole point. The BEC exams are 100% geared towards people working in businesses. Everything you do is relevant. It makes it more useful
A: And something good to put in your file. We’ll include it in your job appraisal. We’ve got our meeting on Friday so remind me then
