The Standard Test can be used as a pencil and paper alternative to the Computer Test to assess 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
|
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 |
||
