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Everything you need to know about the exam and how to prepare with lingaly.

FCE Exam Format (B2 First)

The FCE consists of 4 skills assessed across 5 papers. Here's a summary of each part:

Reading & Use of English: 7 parts, 52 questions, 75 minutes. Tests grammar, vocabulary and reading comprehension.

Writing: 2 parts, 80 minutes. One compulsory essay + one choice task (article, letter, email, review, report).

Listening: 4 parts, 30 questions, ~40 minutes. Short extracts, monologues, multiple speakers and interviews.

Speaking: 4 parts, ~14 minutes. In pairs, with 2 examiners.

lingaly uses a probabilistic engine (BKT + IRT + Monte Carlo) to personalize your preparation:

Select your exam and target date. Your first session calibrates the engine with real exercises.

Adaptive engine: each session automatically selects which competencies to work on based on your real data.

108 competencies: we break down the exam into 108 linguistic and cognitive competencies that the engine tracks individually.

Result prediction: we simulate your exam hundreds of times to estimate your readiness index.

Each competency is practiced, measured and tracked individually:

84 knowledge competencies (grammar, vocabulary, cohesion) + cognitive reading processes

Productive writing competencies (4 Cambridge subscales x linguistic components)

Cognitive listening processes (inference, scanning, connection, evaluation)

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