Cambridge Speaking Paper - FCE - CAE - CPE

FCE speaking test

Charline (French)
Grammar and Vocabulary 3.0
Discourse Management 3.0
Pronunciation 3.5
Interactive Communication 3.0

Alice (Italian)
Grammar and Vocabulary 3.5
Discourse Management 3.0
Pronunciation 3.5
Interactive Communication 3.5

CAE speaking test

Magali
Grammatical Resource 3.0
Lexical Resource 3.0
Discourse Management 3.5
Pronunciation 3.0
Interactive Communication 3.5

Andrea
Grammatical Resource 3.5
Lexical Resource 3.5
Discourse Management 3.5
Pronunciation 3.5
Interactive Communication 4.0

Speaking tests are conducted by trained examiners. The quality assurance of Speaking Examiners (SEs) is managed by Team Leaders (TLs) who are in turn responsible to a Professional Support Leader (PSL), who is the professional representative of Cambridge English Language Assessment for the Speaking tests in a given country or region. All of the examiners (PSLs, TLs and SEs) must prove each year, through a certification process, that they are competent to assess. In addition, they are regularly monitored during live testing sessions.

Although candidates take the test in pairs or groups of three, throughout the test they are assessed on their individual performance and not in relation to each other. They are awarded marks by two examiners: an assessor and an interlocutor.

The interlocutor awards a mark for the performance as a whole, using the Global Achievement scale.
The assessor awards marks for five individual criteria:

• Grammatical Resource
• Lexical Resource
• Discourse Management
• Pronunciation
• Interactive Communication.

You can find more information on the assessment criteria and a guide on how to use them in Assessing speaking performance.

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New words of 2010 added to Oxford Dictionary

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IELTS Speaking - 5 Minute Functions

To be awarded that top grade in IELTS Speaking you’ll need to show the examiner you have a breadth of vocabulary and don’t repeat the same words or expressions again and again.

Watch our ’5-Minute Functions’ video below to find out the various phrases you can use to talk about your likes and dislikes. Then practise using these phrases by answering some of the questions below.

Access this webpage here and go to IELTSspeaking.co.uk for other videos.

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Phrasal Verbs - Ask somebody out

From Oxford Advanced Learner's dictionary

Ask somebody out:

to invite somebody to go out with you, especially as a way of starting a romantic relationship
He's too shy to ask her out.

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Dating Idioms - Do you have a crush on idioms?

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How to - Such and So

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Phrasal verb - Take off

From Oxford Advanced Learner's dictionary

Take off:

1 (of an aircraft, etc.) to leave the ground and begin to fly
The plane took off an hour late.related noun take-off

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10 Funniest English idioms

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Phrasal Verbs - Grow up

From Oxford Advanced Learner's dictionary

Grow up:

1 (of a person) to develop into an adult
She grew up in Boston (= lived there as a child). / Their children have all grown up and left home now.

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Phrasal Verbs - Switch off

From Oxford Advanced Learner's dictionary

Switch something  off/on:

to turn a light, machine, etc. off/on by pressing a button or switch

Please switch the lights off as you leave. / How do you switch this thing on? / The electricity has been switched off. / We only switched on halfway through the programme.

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