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BUSINESS ENGLISH EXAMS

BEC

To succeed in international business and commerce, you need good knowledge of English. If you can show that you have relevant language skill, you will have a great advantage in the job market and much greater flexibility if you want to work abroad.

Cambridge BEC - Business English Certificates - offer a widely recognised qualification in English for business purposes. If you pass BEC, you will receive certificate issued by University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations, showing the grade you have achieved. You will also receive a detailed statement showing how you performed in each skill.

WHY DO BEC?
For employers the provide evidence that holders of the certificate have the specified English language ability, and offer the added assurance that they are able to use their skills in a business context.

For learners who expect to mainly use their English at work, the exam offers them a way to prove their ability without having to learn large amounts of vocabulary that they are unlikely to use in real life.

There are three levels of the qualification: BEC Preliminary, BEC Vantage and BEC Higher which correspond to Council of Europe levels B1, B2 abd C1 repectively and the Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE) Levels Two, Three and Four.

WHAT THE EXAM INVOLVES
BEC is suitable for people aged 16 and above who are either preparing for a career in Business or already work. BEC assesses all four language skills - listening, speaking, reading and writing - in a business context.

Skill/ Exam     BEC Preliminary    BEC Vantage    BEC Higher   
Reading    90 minutes    60 minutes    60 minutes   
Writing    90 minutes    45 minutes    70 minutes   
Listening    40 minutes    40 minutes    40 minutes   
Speaking    12 minutes    14 minutes    16 minutes   

Each skill represents 25% of the marks available for the whole exam.

For more information about the format of the exams, see the official Cambridge ESOL handbook.

GETTING THE RESULTS
All written papers are sent to Cambridge to be marked and results are released approximately eight weeks after exam date. Rgey will first be sent to the British Council and we will then forward them to your home address.

Two classes of passing grade are available, Pass with Merit and Pass, and two classes of failing grade, Narrow Fail and Fail. Passing candidates are awarded a certificate.

FEES

BEC Preliminary    250 Lt   
BEC Vantage    450 Lt   
BEC Higher    570 Lt   

For more information please contact our Examinations Services by email or telephone +370 5 210 0428.

CALENDAR: DATES AND PRICES   

HOW TO REGISTER   

HOW TO PREPARE   

COUNCIL OF EUROPE LANGUAGE LEVELS   

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