BEC

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BEC BULATS
by Angel Phu Zita Yip Examinations Services
Officer
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Outline of the seminar

• About British Council
• Introduction to Cambridge ESOL and Business
  English Certificate BEC
• Why take BEC exams?
• Levels and papers
• Grades and Results

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Outline of the seminar

• Introduction to BUsiness LAnguage Testing Service
  BULATS
• Why take BULATS?
• Contents of BULATS
• Levels, grades and papers
• Support materials/questions
  and answers

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About British Council

• Founded in 1934
• United Kingdoms international cultural relations
  organisation
• Around 7,500 people in 109 countries
• Hong Kong office started in 1948

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Work of British Council

• Teaching English
• Providing the latest information about the United
  Kingdom
• Promoting British education and training

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Work of British Council

• Working closely with governments on reform and
  good governance
• Demonstrating the innovation, creativity and
  excellence of British science, arts, literature
  and design

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About Examinations Services

• Running examinations since 1989
• Covering academic, entrance, vocational and
  professional subjects
• Offers English language examinations from
  Cambridge ESOL for children through to adults

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Introduction to Cambridge ESOL

• largest testing agency for British English
• full range of examinations taken worldwide
• recognition of Cambridge ESOL certificates
• department of the university
• exams for learners of English since 1913

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Business English Certificate - BEC

• internationally recognised, certificated exams
• three levels
• tests English language in four skills
• no specialist business knowledge

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Business English Certificate - BEC

• set in context of international business
• working/preparing to work in international
  business
• ability to communicate for essential business
  needs

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Why take BEC exams?

• international recognition for work and study
• certificated exams
• wide business context
• value for study and business career

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Why take BEC exams?

• Used by hundreds of employers
• - as staff development programme
• - as a qualification when recruiting staff
• Used by many universities
• - as a entry requirement to business- related
  courses in English

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Levels
Cambridge ESOL Levels
Council of Europe Levels
Mastery
C2
CPE
Effective Proficiency
BEC Higher
C1
CAE
BEC Vantage
FCE
Vantage
B2
BEC Preliminary
PET
B1
Threshold
A2
Waystage
KET
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Papers
Preliminary
Vantage
Higher
Reading
1 hr 30 mins
1 hr
1 hr
Writing
45 mins
1 hr 10 mins
Listening
40 mins
40 mins
40 mins
Speaking
12 mins
14 mins
16 mins
combined Reading and Writing Test (2
candidates)
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Reading

• variety of input and output
• tests different types of reading

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Writing

• Part 1
• Internal company communication
• Part 2
• Piece of business correspondence (Preliminary)
• Piece of business correspondence, report or
  proposal (Vantage)
• Report or proposal or correspondence
  (Higher)

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Listening

• all texts heard twice
• 30 minutes listening

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Speaking

• Part 1 Conversation with interlocutor
• Part 2 Mini-presentation
• Part 3 i) Two-way conversation ii) Further
  prompting from interlocutor

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Grades Results
BEC Preliminary Passing Grades Pass with
Merit  80 and above Pass                
65 to 79 Failing Grades Narrow
Fail        60 to 64 Fail               
59 and below
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Grades Results

• BEC Vantage Higher
• Passing Grades Grade A           80 and above
• Grade B           75 to 79
• Grade C           60 to 74
• Failing Grades   Grade D           55 to 59
• Grade E           54 and below
• Passing candidates will receive a certificate
  approximately 3 months after the exam

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Statement of Results Downloadable from our
website approx 6 weeks after the exam
Business English Certificates ENGLISH AS A
FOREIGN LANGUAGE Statement of results
Session March 2002
Candidate Name
Reference No To be quoted on all correspondence
Place of entry
Qualification Business English Certificate -
Vantage PAPER PROFILE Result
B Pass
Listening
Exceptional
Reading
Speaking
Good
Writing
Borderline
Weak
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Grade Statistics (International)
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Grade Statistics (International)
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Grade Statistics (International)
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Exam Dates Fees

• 2 times a year
• in May November
• Registration
• in March September
• BEC Preliminary HK850
• BEC Vantage HK1,300
• BEC Higher HK1,350

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BUsiness
LAnguage
Testing
Service
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Why take BULATS?

• a multilingual assessment tool for companies and
  organisations
• rapid, reliable and cost effective
• assesses language skills of employees, trainees
  and job applicants

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BULATS provides

• information about language ability of staff or
  job applicants
• on-demand and flexible tests
• quick results
• available in 7 working days after the test
• instant result for the computer test

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A tool for

• assessing job applicants
• reporting staff language skills against
  international benchmarks
• placing learners on suitable language courses
• evaluating language training

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The four BULATS tests and test fees

• Standard test HK385
• Computer test HK365
• Writing test HK385
• Speaking test HK495

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The Standard test

• Two parts (110 minutes)
• 1) Listening
• 2) Reading Language knowledge
• Test format Multiple choice Gap-fill

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The Computer test

• Two parts (75 minutes)
• 1) Listening
• 2) Reading Language knowledge
• Test format Multiple choice Gap-fill
• Adaptive test
• Installed at your premises

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Computer Adaptive Testing
?
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
. .
Candidates level
30 40 50 60 70 80
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The Writing test

• Two parts (45 minutes)
• - short message / letter (50-60 words)
• - report / letter (180-200 words)
• Two examiners mark separately

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The Speaking test

• Three parts (12-15 minutes)
• - Interview
• - Presentation
• - Information exchange
• Record interview
• Two examiners mark separately

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Test sessions at British Council

• Open sessions at British Council
• - applications open for the public
• - once a month
• Closed sessions for
• companies or language schools
• - in house
• - on demand

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BULATS levels
ALTELevels CEF Ability BEC levels BULATSScores (100)
5 C2 Mastery Very Advanced 90-100
4 C1 Effective proficiency Advanced BEC Higher 75-89
3 B2 Vantage Upper Intermediate BEC Vantage 60-74
2 B1 Threshold Lower Intermediate BEC Preliminary 40-59
1 A2 Waystage Elementary 20-39
0 A1 Breakthrough Beginner 0-19

• ALTE level system of 0 5 with finer
  distinctions of , - and
• Score 0-100 is only available in standard test
  and computer test

ALTE Association of Language Testers in
Europe CEF Common European Framework
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Any practice materials?
FREE Sample papers available on British
Council website www.britishcouncil.org.hk www
.bulats.org www.CambridgeESOL.org/BEC
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Specified examination BULATS BEC

• Funding Scheme for
• Workplace English Training
• Continuing Education Fund

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Further Information
British Council Examinations Services Tel 2913
5170 Fax [phone] E-mail examinations_at_british
council.org.hk Address 3 Supreme Court Road,
Admiralty, Hong Kong Cambridge ESOL BEC
www.CambridgeESOL.org/BEC BULATS
www.bulats.org Keep up to date with what's new
via the British Council website www.britishcouncil
.org.hk