| Paper 1 | Reading | 1 hour 30 minutes |
| Paper 2 | Writing | 2 hours |
| Paper 3 | Use of English | 1 hour 30 minutes |
| Paper 4 | Listening | 40 minutes (approximately) |
| Paper 5 | Speaking | 19 minutes |
Paper 1 Reading
This paper consists of four parts with 40 questions, which take the form of three multiple-choice tasks and a gapped text task. Part 1 contains three short texts, Part 2 contains four short texts and Parts 3 and 4 each contain one longer text. The texts are taken from fiction, non-fiction, journals, magazines, newspapers, and promotional and informational materials. This paper is designed to test candidates' ability to understand the meaning of written English at word, phrase, sentence, paragraph and whole text level.
Paper 2 Writing
This paper consists of two writing tasks in a range of formats (e.g. letter, report, review, article, essay, proposal). Candidates are asked to complete two tasks, writing between 300 and 350 words for each. Part 1 (Question 1) consists of one compulsory task based on instructions and a short text. Part 2 (Questions 2-5) consists of one task which candidates select from a choice of four. Question 5 has a task on one of each of three set texts. Assessment is based on achievement of task, range and accuracy of vocabulary and grammatical structures, organisation, content and appropriacy of register and format.
Paper 3 Use of English
This paper consists of five parts with 44 questions. These take the form of an open cloze, a word formation task, gapped sentences, key word transformations and two texts with comprehension questions and a summary writing task. The paper is designed to assess candidates' ability to demonstrate knowledge and control of the language system by completing these tasks which are at text and sentence level.
Paper 4 Listening
This paper consists of four parts with 28 questions, which take the form of two multiple-choice tasks, a sentence-completion task and a three-way matching task. Part 1 contains four short extracts and Parts 2 to 4 each contain one longer text. The texts are audio-recordings based on a variety of sources including interviews, discussions, lectures, conversations and documentary features. The paper is designed to assess candidates' ability to understand the meaning of spoken English, to extract information from a spoken text and to understand speakers' attitudes and opinions.
Paper 5 Speaking
The Speaking Test consists of three parts, which take the form of an interview section, a collaborative task and individual long turns with follow-up discussion. The test is designed to elicit a wide range of language from both candidates. Candidates are examined in pairs by two examiners, an Interlocutor and an Assessor. The Assessor awards a mark based on the following criteria: Grammatical Resource, Lexical Resource, Discourse Management, Pronunciation and Interactive Communication. The Interlocutor provides a global mark for the whole test. .