The Standard Test

 

The BULATS Standard Test assesses the ability to understand spoken and written language, and knowledge of language systems. The tasks are based on the kinds of skills and activities needed in the workplace. For example:

• taking down phone messages
• understanding notices
• understanding longer texts
• correcting errors in a text.

The Standard Test is as a pencil and paper test which assesses listening and reading skills, and knowledge of grammar and vocabulary. It lasts 110 minutes: 50 minutes for listening and 60 minutes for reading and language knowledge. Candidates are presented with an extensive range of different tasks and question types, as outlined below:

Skill	Part or Section	Type of task	Number of questions
Listening	1	Understanding short conversations or monologues.	10
	2	Taking down phone messages, orders, notes, etc.	12
	3	Listening for gist: identifying topic, context or function. Short monologues / dialogues.	10
	4	Listening to extended speech for detail and inference. Monologue / dialogue.	18
Reading and Language Knowledge	1	Understanding notices, messages, timetables, adverts, leaflets, graphs, etc.	7
	2	Grammar and Vocabulary. Gapped sentences with multiple choice task.	6
	3	Long text. Newspaper or magazine articles, adverts, leaflets, etc.	6
	4	Grammar. Medium length text open cloze.	5
	5	Reading for specific information. Four short texts with matching tasks.	7
	6	Grammar and Vocabulary. Medium length text with multiple choice cloze.	5
	7	Grammar. Medium length text open cloze.	5
	8	Grammar and Vocabulary. Gapped sentences with multiple choice task.	6
	9	Reading for gist and specific information. Long text. Newspaper or magazine article, report, etc.	6
	10	Medium length text, error correction task.	7
Total			110

See a sample Standard Test

See how BULATS results are reported