Business English Exam Preparation

There are three BEC exams - BEC Preliminary, BEC Vantage and BEC Higher - which test English language ability used in the context of business. They are ideal if you are preparing for a career in business. The BEC exams are linked to the Council of Europe's Common European Framework of Reference for Languages , and to the UK Qualifications and Curriculum Authority's National Standards for Literacy, within the National Qualifications Framework (NQF).

DCI offers programmes for the Vantage and Higher levels of BEC. A placement test is compulsory to assess the student's level. The course is open to students who have an interest or a background in Business, Accounting, Finance, Marketing, etc or to those students who may need to learn business English terminology for their job. Our courses involve a thorough and comprehensive preparation of all the exam papers in order to give students the competence and confidence required to succeed in the exam.

What does the exam involve? The BEC Exam consists of the following papers:

a) BEC Preliminary:

•  Reading and Writing (1 hour 30 minutes)

•  Listening (approx. 40 minutes)

•  Speaking (approx. 12 minutes per pair of candidates)

b) BEC Vantage:

•  Reading (1 hour)

•  Writing (45 minutes)

•  Listening (approx. 40 minutes)

•  Speaking (approx. 14 minutes per pair of candidates)

c) BEC Higher:

•  Reading (1 hour)

•  Writing (1 hour and 10 minutes)

•  Listening (approx. 40 minutes)

•  Speaking (approx. 16 minutes per pair of candidates)

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