The Listening Part of the FCE is approx. forty minutes in duration and consists of four parts:
- Part 1: a series of short, unrelated 30-seconds recordings. Each recording can be either a monologue or an exchange between interacting speakers. You have to listen to the recordings and answer a multiple-choice question for each. There are in total eight extracts, each with a question with three options. You will be tested in your ability to listen for things such as gist, details, opinion, attitude, etc. You will get 1 mark per correct answer.
- Part 2: a 3-minute long monologue or recording with two or more speakers. There are 10 questions consisting of incomplete (gapped) sentences. You will have to listen and complete the sentences using no more than three words. Your ability to listen for details, specific information and stated opinion is being tested in this part. You will get 1 mark per correct answer.
- Part 3: a series of statements and short related monologues, each approx.30 seconds. There are five multiple-matching questions and you will have to choose the correct option from a list of six. Your ability to listen for general gist, detail, function, purpose, etc. is tested in this part. You will get 1 mark per correct answer.
- Part 4: a 3-minute long monologue or recording with two or more speakers. You have to listen to the recordings and answer a multiple-choice question for each. There are in total seven questions, each with three options. In this part you will be tested on your ability to listen for opinion, attitude, gist, main idea and specific information. You will get 1 mark per correct answer.
The FCE Listening Paper counts for 20% of the overall mark.
