BEC & BULATS

by Angel Phu & Zita Yip

Examinations Services Officer

Outline of the seminar

• About British Council

• Introduction to Cambridge ESOL and

Business English Certificate BEC

• Why take BEC exams?

• Levels and papers

• Grades and Results

Outline of the seminar

• Introduction to BUsiness LAnguage Testing Service BULATS

• Why take BULATS?

• Contents of BULATS

• Levels, grades and papers

• Support materials/questions and answers

About British Council

•Founded in 1934

•United Kingdom’s international cultural relations organisation

•Around 7,500 people in 109 countries

•Hong Kong office started in 1948

Work of British Council

•Teaching English

•Providing the latest information about

the United Kingdom

•Promoting British education and

training

Work of British Council

•Working closely with governments on

reform and good governance

•Demonstrating the innovation, creativity

and excellence of British science, arts,

literature and design

About Examinations Services

•Running examinations since 1989

•Covering academic, entrance, vocational

and professional subjects

•Offers English language examinations

from Cambridge ESOL for children

through to adults

Introduction to Cambridge ESOL

• largest testing agency for British English

• full range of examinations taken worldwide

• recognition of Cambridge ESOL

certificates

•department of the university

•exams for learners of English since 1913

Business English Certificate - BEC

• internationally recognised, certificated exams

• three levels

• tests English language in four skills

•no specialist business knowledge

Business English Certificate - BEC

•set in context of international business

•working/preparing to work in international

business

•ability to communicate for essential

business needs

Why take BEC exams?

international recognition for work and study

certificated exams

wide business context

value for study and business career

Why take BEC exams?

Used by hundreds of employers

- as staff development programme

- as a qualification when recruiting

staff

Used by many universities

- as a entry requirement to business-

related courses in English

Levels

Cambridge ESOL Levels Council of Europe Levels

VantageBEC Vantage B2

Effective ProficiencyBEC Higher C1CAE

FCE

B1 ThresholdBEC Preliminary PET

MasteryC2CPE

A2 WaystageKET

Papers

Preliminary Vantage Higher

Reading1 hr

30 mins*

1 hr 1 hr

Writing 45 mins 1 hr 10 mins

Listening 40 mins 40 mins 40 mins

Speaking 12 mins** 14 mins** 16 mins**

* combined Reading and Writing Test ** (2 candidates)

•variety of ‘input’ and ‘output’

• tests different types of reading

Reading

Part 1

• Internal company communication

Part 2

• Piece of business correspondence (Preliminary)

• Piece of business correspondence, report or proposal

(Vantage)

• Report or proposal or correspondence (Higher)

Writing

Listening

•all texts heard twice

•30 minutes listening

Speaking

•Part 1 Conversation with interlocutor

•Part 2 Mini-presentation

•Part 3 i) Two-way conversation

ii) Further prompting from

interlocutor

Grades & ResultsBEC Preliminary

Passing Grades

Pass with Merit  80% and above

Pass                 65% to 79%

Failing Grades

Narrow Fail        60% to 64%

Fail                59% and below

Grades & ResultsBEC Vantage & Higher

Passing Grades Grade A           80% and above

Grade B           75% to 79%

Grade C           60% to 74%

Failing Grades   Grade D           55% to 59%

Grade E           54% and below

Passing candidates will receive a certificate approximately 3 months after the exam

Reference No

To be quoted on all correspondence

Business English CertificatesENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGEStatement of results

Session March 2002

Candidate Name

Place of entry

QualificationBusiness English Certificate - Vantage PAPER PROFILE Result B Pass

Exceptional

Good

Borderline

Weak

Listening

ReadingSpeaking

Writing

Statement of Results

Downloadable from our website approx 6 weeks after the exam

Grade Statistics (International)

BEC Preliminary

Narrow Fail9%

Fail15%

Pass with Merit24%

Pass52%

Pass with Merit

Pass

Narrow Fail

Fail

Grade Statistics (International)

BEC Vantage

Grade E16%

Grade C44%

Grade D9%

Grade A10%

Grade B21%

Grade A

Grade B

Grade C

Grade D

Grade E

Grade Statistics (International)

BEC Higher

Grade E18%

Grade C48%

Grade D9%

Grade A8%

Grade B17%

Grade A

Grade B

Grade C

Grade D

Grade E

Exam Dates & Fees

2 times a year

- in May & November

Registration

- in March & September

BEC Preliminary HK$850

BEC Vantage HK$1,300

BEC Higher HK$1,350

BUsiness

LAnguage

Testing

Service

Why take BULATS?

• a multilingual assessment tool for companies and organisations

• rapid, reliable and cost effective

• assesses language skills of employees, trainees and job applicants

BULATS provides…

• information about language ability of staff

or job applicants

• on-demand and flexible tests

• quick results available in 7 working days after the testinstant result for the computer test

A tool for …

• assessing job applicants• reporting staff language skills against

international benchmarks• placing learners on suitable language

courses• evaluating language training

The four BULATS tests and test fees

• Standard test: HK$385

• Computer test: HK$365

• Writing test: HK$385

• Speaking test: HK$495

The Standard test

• Two parts (110 minutes)1) Listening

2) Reading & Language knowledge

• Test format: Multiple choice & Gap-fill

The Computer test• Two parts (75 minutes)

1) Listening

2) Reading & Language knowledge

• Test format: Multiple choice & Gap-fill

• Adaptive test• Installed at your premises

Computer Adaptive Testing

. .

YesYes

YesNo

NoYes

Candidate’s level

30 40 50 60 70 80

?

The Writing test

• Two parts (45 minutes)

- short message / letter (50-60 words)

- report / letter (180-200 words)

• Two examiners mark separately

The Speaking test

• Three parts (12-15 minutes)

- Interview

- Presentation

- Information exchange

• Record interview

• Two examiners mark separately

Test sessions at British Council

• Open sessions at British Council

- applications open for the public

- once a month

• Closed sessions for

companies or language schools

- in house

- on demand

BULATS levels*ALTELevels

CEF ** Ability BEC levelsBULATSScores (100)

5 C2 MasteryVery Advanced

90-100

4 C1 Effective proficiency

Advanced BEC Higher 75-89

3 B2 VantageUpper Intermediate

BEC Vantage 60-74

2 B1 ThresholdLower Intermediate

BEC Preliminary 40-59

1 A2 Waystage Elementary 20-39

0 A1 Breakthrough Beginner 0-19

* ALTE – Association of Language Testers in Europe** CEF – Common European Framework

• ALTE level system of 0 – 5 with finer distinctions of +, - and = • Score 0-100 is only available in standard test and computer test

Any practice materials?

FREE Sample papers available on

British Council website:www.britishcouncil.org.hkwww.bulats.orgwww.CambridgeESOL.org/BEC

Specified examination – BULATS & BEC

• Funding Scheme for Workplace English Training

• Continuing Education Fund

Further InformationBritish Council

Examinations ServicesTel: 2913 5170Fax: 2913 5172E-mail: examinations@britishcouncil.org.hkAddress: 3 Supreme Court Road, Admiralty, Hong Kong

Cambridge ESOL

BEC: www.CambridgeESOL.org/BECBULATS: www.bulats.org

Keep up to date with what's new via the British Council website

www.britishcouncil.org.hk