IELTS, CAE, or FCE? Which exam should you take?

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IELTS, CAE, or FCE? Are you thinking about taking a formal English exam for work, study or your personal development? 

Not sure which one to take? Here I talk about two of the most common tests taken by people who wish to work or study in English-speaking countries -- the IELTS and the Cambridge CAE (Certificate of Advanced English). 

I also talk about Cambridge's FCE test. I compare and contrast the exams in detail to help you decide which test is right for your needs.

I will tell you:

- Who takes these English exams?

- Which test is easier/more difficult?

- For what practical purposes do people take these exams?

- What are the exams themselves like and how do they compare?

TRANSCRIPT:

Hi everyone. I'm Jade. What we're going to talk about today is comparing Cambridge exams with the IELTS exam. 

These are exams that you might be thinking of taking as part of your journey with learning English for various reasons. And we'll look at the different exams; we'll look at the reasons to take Cambridge exams or IELTS exams. 

And then, we'll generally compare what's in the two exam systems.

So the Cambridge exams, we'll be talking about these two. This one is the First Certificate of English, and that's around intermediate level. And this is a harder exam. This is an advanced level exam also from Cambridge. 

So there are four different levels in this Cambridge exam series. And this compares to just one IELTS test that tests the same -- a much broader span, okay?  So what does that mean? 

If you take the IELTS test, and you're someone with an intermediate or a lower intermediate level, the test will be really hard for you because it covers such a wide level of English whereas if you take the right test for your level in the Cambridge exams, what you're doing in the test is closer to what you already know. So that's a key difference between them.

Something else to say about IELTS as well is that there are two kinds of IELTS exams. One is IELTS Academic, and that test is designed for people who want to go to university in an English-speaking country or want to do a course that's going to be in English. 

And the other IELTS test is IELTS General Training. And that one is different because you don't have to do some of the writing questions which are based on university things. They're not in this test. So it's just a little bit more practical.

So why take these tests in the first place? People take these tests for different reasons. One reason, as I mentioned before, is if you want to go to university in England or maybe in Australia. You will need to have a test result that shows your level of English. 

So in that case, what test do you take? You either need to have the IELTS Academic test or you need to do the CAE test. You can take either exam. This FCE exam is too low -- the level is too low, so it's not useful for you if you want to go to university. 

In the UK, IELTS is the most popular. But for American universities, a lot of people do a different test, but I'm not talking about it today, which is the TOEFL test.

Then, what if your purpose for taking one of these tests is for work? Well, it depends, really, on the job that you're doing. FCE would be okay if your purpose is work. 

I've known people who come to England with the purpose of learning English and to have a job here -- like a service job or work with an English family and look after their children and things like that. 

And I've known them to usually choose to do the First Certificate because you can go to a language school; you can learn enough English to get by and enough English for your daily life and things like that. It's useful. So you can do that in those kinds of jobs.

You could also do IELTS General. I mean, IELTS General will test you to a higher level. So it really depends on your job whether this will be useful for you. 

Some people like to have it on their CV and show what score of English they have. So for them, it's useful.

And some people say for professions -- for example, lawyers and doctors, things like that. 

They say the IELTS Academic is better for these people. From my experience of the two tests, what I would say is that IELTS Academic just has a different writing question in it, and that different writing question is academic language. 

It's comparing graphs and things like that. So it really depends what suits you and what you feel is necessary or needed for your job. 

To do IELTS Academic but not intend to go to university or be using academic English would be a bit of a waste of effort for you because you would need to learn how to write these graph questions and this kind of extra work for you, which is probably never going to be useful in your life. 

So yeah. Again, it depends.

And then some people decide to take one of these tests just for the sake of doing the test, for no other reason. 

They just, you know -- learning may be a hobby for them, but they want to know how they are progressing, so they decide they want to take a test. 

You could do, in that case, IELTS General because it would give you a score that you know where you are, and you can maybe set a goal next year to improve or something like that. 

And it would give you the general skills that you needed to come and live and work in an English speaking country. So you could do that. As a first step, one that's not as hard, and the level is not as high, you could do the FCE exam. 

You could do that. Or if you have really, really studied hard, and your English is quite advanced, then you could do the CAE exam just for personal development. 

And last one I want to talk about is visa requirements. 

If you're coming to an English-speaking country from some other country, and you want to stay for a while, in that case, you will need to do IELTS or FCE. IELTS General Training or Academic if you want to go to university, or FCE if it's the lower level. So let's talk now about the similarities between the tests.

These tests are -- they're well-known tests. And that's because they are secure English language tests. 

If you go and do these tests, you need to go to a test center, and you need to prove your identity. So these are respected tests. People have heard of these tests. 

They're recognized, and they count for something, basically. Each test tests the same skills: reading, writing, listening, speaking. 

And the test structure itself also shares a lot of similarities. That's what we'll talk about in a minute. And also -- there's a little word or letter missing. 

"University." You can take this test, and it can be useful for university entrance. So when we come back, we're just going to broadly compare the tests and the different parts of the tests. We'll look more closely at that. 

Let's generally compare what's in the two exams, now.

So IELTS academic and IELTS General Training, they have the same test structure. And in the test, there are four different papers. There's a reading paper; it's minutes, and there are three different parts. There's a writing test; it's minutes, and there are two parts. 

There's a listening test; it's minutes long, and there are four parts. And there's a speaking test, and that will be between and minutes. And there are three parts in the speaking test. How does this compare to CAE? In the CAE exam, there are five papers. 

So I'm sure some of you are already decided you're not doing CAE now because it's one extra paper. Well, hold on a sec. The reading test is minutes, and there are four parts. 

The writing test is minutes, and there are two parts. There's a use of English test that's minutes, and it's four parts. 

This is testing your vocabulary and also your grammar in various different exercises. And then, there's a speaking test which is minutes, and it's four parts.

So the main difference is that CAE, when you put it all together, is longer, and some of the parts of the test are longer as well. And also, in CAE, there are more questions in the different parts of the test. 

But it's going to change in , and they're going to put the reading test together with the use of English test. So then, there will be just four parts -- just four tests. Four test? Four parts of the test, same as IELTS. 

And it will be shorter. So they're changing it to be a bit more like the IELTS. So yeah. It just generally means the test structure is similar. 

Let's talk about key differences in the test. Well, the main differences are in certain areas of the test. So we've got the writing test. Let's talk about that. In IELTS Academic -- that's the one you do if you want to go to university -- you need to write -- there are two parts.

One question is a discursive essay, so you need to show the pros and cons of something or the advantages and disadvantages of something and give opinions. 

So that's one part. And the second part is a question where you compare some graphs, something like that. Or you look at a table and you write something about the information in the table. That's IELTS Academic. In IELTS General Training, you don't get this graph question. It's not there. 

But instead, you need to write a practical letter. Sometimes it could be, like, a letter to your landlord about something, something like that. Practical writing task, and you still do the discursive essay about giving an opinion, comparing a system or an idea or something like that. 

And then how does this compare to CAE? In the CAE exam, you do a discursive essay, the same kind of thing. But it's a little bit different because you have the short text to read first.

 You don't get a short text to read in IELTS; you just get the question. Then, the second part of the writing test, it's less predictable because, again, you read something, and then you respond by writing a review or an article or a letter or maybe, like, some marketing kind of writing about something. 

So what it's testing is your ability to use different styles of English and different register -- like, different registers, formal language, informal language.

So it's a bit more challenging, but also you could say more interesting as a writing task. It's more varied. So they're the biggest differences here. And also, writing is longer for the CAE because, as you can imagine, you need to read something, and you need to create potentially an original piece of writing, whereas in IELTS General Training. 

For example, it's writing a letter. And if you practise that a lot of times, you'll know what you're doing. So IELTS General Training is more predictable than CAE. 

Anyway. The other differences are in the speaking test. So when you do the CAE exam, it's the examiner; it's you; and it's somebody else. You've got a partner. And when you're assessed, it's not just your performance and how you answer the questions; it's how you interact with your partner; it's how you include your partner -- ask your partner questions and move the discussion between you, how the interaction between you flows, you could say.

As well as parts of the test where you just speak by yourself. And that's different to IELTS because in the IELTS speaking test, it's just the examiner and then you, and you speak just together. 

Now, some people will have a preference for just doing the test by themselves because it's like, well, "I've prepared", you know? And you're probably thinking, "What if I have a partner who's, like, rubbish or something? What do I say?" But you're not negatively marked if your partner doesn't perform well. 

Your mark is based on you being a good partner who's sharing opportunities for talk, basically. Yeah, and some people will prefer to do an exam with a partner because maybe they feel it takes less pressure off you as an individual. So you can decide what you think sounds better for you. And also, CAE is different because to answer your questions, you get pictures, and you have to compare pictures and things like that.

So the way you're asked questions in the CAE is a little bit different to IELTS as well. So as a general survey of the tests, I would say choose a test based on your purpose. 

So maybe you want to go back and watch the beginning of the video again just to remind yourself of your purpose. But then, know that actually, in the structure of the tests, they're not actually that different, especially once we get to the exam update to CAE in . 

And just as a final point, IELTS has a really broad span, so it could be hard for you if you are not yet at a high level. Other than that, they're both respected and well-regarded tests, so yes. Okay. I'm finished. I wish you luck in your exam, whatever exam you choose to take. I hope you get a high score. So I'm going to finish this video now. Thank you. 

—THE END—

***所有文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本站立场*** 

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