Expand+Course Description
Students seeking a general qualification as a proof of language proficiency may opt for one of our general Cambridge exam programmes.

These are among the most popular and widely-recognised English examinations in the world, a...

Hide-Course Description
Students seeking a general qualification as a proof of language proficiency may opt for one of our general Cambridge exam programmes.

These are among the most popular and widely-recognised English examinations in the world, accepted by both employers and many educational institutions alike.

FCE - First Certificate English
As the basic formal certificate recognised by public institutions, this examination equates to a B2 level on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching and Assessment (CEFR). It is generally taken by students who have an achieved an upper-intermediate level of English.

CAE - Certificate in Advanced English
For students at an advanced level of English language learning, this examination equates to a C1 on the CEFR. Along with IELTS, certain educational institutions accept this certificate for entry to college courses.

Help and guidance is provided to each student wishing to enrol for an official Cambridge Examination.

For more details on educational institutions and bodies that accept both CAE and CPE for entry to their courses, please refer to the official Cambridge website.

Students will be carefully trained to complete each exam task in the specific allotted time and will practice transferring answers from exam booklets to the official exam answer sheet.

All our exam programmes are structured in a way that builds students’ confidence through continual practice of exam-specific tasks, combined with regular designated exam practice days followed by detailed feedback provided to each student.

Individual logs are kept of each student’s scores to highlight stronger skills and pinpoint weaker areas for further development. The aim of this is to show progression and to form the basis for assigning supplementary work to improve on these areas.

What will students achieve at the end of the programme?
Upon successful completion of the IBAT English programme:
• General IBAT College certificate of achievement (student name, course level, number of hours attended and the teacher's reference on the student's progression)

Upon successful completion of the official Cambridge examination:
• An internationally-recognised Cambridge FCE or CAE Certificate which confirms the student's level and does not expire.

Expand+Our programmes focus on the five main exam areas:
• Reading
• Writing
• Listening
• Speaking
• Use of English (vocabulary and grammar)

The courses begin with a general introduction to the overall structure of the examination, followed by a gr...

Hide-Our programmes focus on the five main exam areas:
• Reading
• Writing
• Listening
• Speaking
• Use of English (vocabulary and grammar)

The courses begin with a general introduction to the overall structure of the examination, followed by a gradual development of the sub-skills:

Reading
• Reading for detailed and specific information
• Deducing unknown vocabulary from context
• Justifying an answer
• Interpreting an author’s overall opinion of a given topic
• Focus on the specific text-related task types: ◦Multiple-choice (FCE complete text – CAE 3 theme-related short texts + complete text)
◦ Gapped text (FCE sentence insertion- CAE – paragraph insertion)
◦ Multiple-matching

Writing
• Part 1 - Compulsory task: Formal and informal letter and e-mail writing

• Part 2 - Choice of 1 out of 4 - emphasis on writing essays, proposals, reports, short stories, reviews, articles, letters and e-mails (formal and informal)

• Text organisation (introduction and conclusion)
• General coherence - linking ideas and sentences appropriately

Listening

• Listening for gist and specific information - dates, times, prices etc. Task types: sentence completion, multiple-choices and multiple matching
• Constant exposure to exam-style recordings e.g. monologues, two-way conversations, group discussions etc.
• Emphasis is placed on the different native English-speaking accents
• Recording scripts are subsequently analysed for vocabulary content

Speaking
• Examination of academic vocabulary and expressions for recurring discussion topics
• Part 2: Focus on analysis and description of visual prompts (photographs)
• Part 3: Focus on interactive skills while collaborating and discussing visual aids, with the aim of responding to a given situation
• Engaging in certain language functions such as speculating, justifying an opinion, negotiating and reaching consensus
• Particular focus is placed on language accuracy and fluency
• Regular simulations of the complete speaking exam in student pairs

Use of English
• Familiarisation with and regular practice of each of the task types: Multiple-choice cloze, Open cloze, Word formation, Gapped sentences, Key word transformations, summary writing
• Particular attention is paid to the following: ◦Analysis of parts of speech and parts of a sentence
◦ Lexical-grammatical focus– idioms, collocations, word semantics, synonyms, varying registers
◦ Attention placed on language etymology – affixation (prefixes and suffixes) for word formation
◦ Grammar – tenses and articles are among the most common issues for speakers of certain languages
◦ Summary writing skills (for CPE level).