FCE - Examination Report Jun 2000 0100-0102.pdf - First Certificate in English - McKill

First Certificate in English

Examination Report

Syllabuses 0100 and 0102

JUNE 2000

CONTENTS

Page

Introduction

Paper 1 - Reading

Paper 2 - Writing

Paper 3 - Use of English

Paper 4 - Listening

Paper 5 - Speaking

Feedback Form

INTRODUCTION

The First Certificate in English examination appeared in its revised format for the first time in

December 1996.

This Report is intended to provide a general view of how candidates performed on each

paper and to offer guidance on the preparation of candidates. Candidates took either FCE

Syllabus 100 (Tuesday) or FCE Syllabus 102 (Saturday).

The overall pass rate for 0100 was 74.76% and for 0102 was 76.50%.

The following table gives details of the percentage of candidates at each grade.

0100

0102

GRADE

PERCENTAGE

7.96

7.34

25.90

26.23

40.90

42.94

10.01

9.73

15.23

13.77

Grading

Grading took place during July 2000 (approximately six weeks after the examination).

The five FCE papers total 200 marks, after weighting. Papers 1-5 are each weighted to 40

marks. The candidate’s overall FCE grade is based on the total score gained by the

candidate in all five papers. Candidates do not ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ in a particular paper, but rather

in the examination as a whole.

The overall grades (A, B, C, D, and E) are set according to the following information:

statistics on the candidature;

statistics on the overall candidate performance;

statistics on individual items, for those parts of the examination for which this is

appropriate (Papers 1, 3 and 4);

the advice of the Principal Examiners, based on the performance of candidates, and on

the recommendation of examiners where this is relevant (Papers 2 and 5);

comparison with statistics from previous years' examination performance and candidature.

Results are reported as three passing grades (A, B and C) and two failing grades (D and E).

The minimum successful performance which a candidate typically requires in order to

achieve a grade C corresponds to about 60% of the total marks. Every candidate is provided

with a Statement of Results which includes a graphical display of the candidate’s

performance in each component. These are shown against the scale Exceptional – Good –

Borderline – Weak and indicate the candidate’s relative performance in each paper.

Awards

The Awarding Committee meets after the grade boundaries have been confirmed. It deals

with all cases for special consideration, e.g., temporary disability, unsatisfactory examination

conditions, suspected collusion, etc. The committee can ask for scripts to be re-marked,

check results, change grades, withhold results, etc. Results may be withheld because of

infringement of the regulations or because further investigation is needed. Centres are

notified if a candidate’s result has been scrutinised by the Awarding Committee.

Notification of Results

Statements of results slips are issued through centres approximately two months after the

examination has been taken. Certificates are issued about six weeks after the issue of

statements of results slips. Requests for a check on results may be made through centres,

within one month of the issue of statements of results.

UCLES produces the following documents which may be of use in preparing candidates for

FCE:

Regulations (produced annually, for information on dates, etc.);

FCE Handbook (for detailed information on the examination and sample materials);

Examination Report (produced after each administration);

Past Paper Pack (available approximately 10 weeks after each examination session,

including Question Papers for Papers 1 - 4, sample Speaking Test materials, answer

keys, cassette, and Paper 2 mark schemes and sample scripts).

Users of this Examination Report may find it useful to refer simultaneously to the

relevant Past Paper Packs. These, together with further copies of this report are available

from:

EFL Information

University of Cambridge Local Examination Syndicate

1 Hills Road

Cambridge

CB1 2EU

Tel: +44 (1)223 553355

Fax: +44 (1)223 460278

email: efl@ucles.org.uk

www.cambridge-efl.org.uk

Feedback on this Report is very welcome and should be sent to the Reports Co-ordinator,

EFL, at the above address. Please use the feedback form at the end of this report.

PAPER 1 - READING

Part

Task Type and Focus

Number of

Questions

Task Format

Multiple-matching

Main focus: main points

Syllabus

0100

Syllabus

0102

A text preceded by multiple-

matching questions.

Candidates must match a

prompt from one list to a

prompt in another list, or match

prompts to elements in the text.

Multiple-choice

Main focus: detail

A text followed by four-option

multiple-choice questions.

Gapped text

Main focus: text structure

A text from which paragraphs

or sentences have been

removed and placed in jumbled

order after the text. Candidates

must decide from where in the

text the paragraphs or

sentences have been removed.

Multiple-matching,

multiple-choice

Main focus: specific

information

As Part 1

Marking

Candidates record their answers on a separate answer sheet, which is scanned by

computer. Questions in Parts 1, 2 and 3 carry two marks each. Questions in Part 4 carry

one mark each. The total score is adjusted to give a mark out of 40.

Candidate performance

In general, candidates coped very competently with the four task formats of the papers. The

difficulty levels of the two papers, as ascertained from pretesting, were comparable.

Statistical evidence showed that the questions in all four parts provided a very reliable

assessment of candidates' relative ability levels.

Syllabus 0100 (Tuesday)

Part 1, Rock the boat

This summary-sentence task, focusing on the understanding of the main points in the text,

was competently handled by most candidates, and was the easiest part of the test.

Questions 3 and 6 were the easiest, while Question 1 was the most difficult. The most

popular incorrect response was D. While the 'delay' in the text is certainly a problem, the

element of rising to a challenge is not evident in the paragraph.

Part 2, A new voice on the radio

This four-option multiple-choice task focused mainly on candidates' detailed comprehension,

but also included a reference question. Question 11 stood out as the easiest item, while 10

caused more problems, particularly for the weaker group. Option A was their favoured

choice. Margherita refers to 'the odd disaster', a phrase which candidates would not be

expected to understand out of context, but they would be expected to realise at this level that

'For instance' introduced one example of several errors.

Part 3, Welsh mountains

This gapped-paragraph task, focusing on text structure, discriminated well, and was, in

general, competently handled. Questions 15 and 16 proved to be straightforward for most

candidates, with 19 being the most difficult. In this question, weaker candidates were

apparently unable to make the connection between 'it died away' and 'the storm around us'.

Their incorrect responses were evenly spread, while almost all the good candidates gave the

correct response.

Part 4, A place to play

This multiple-matching task focused on candidates' ability to retrieve specific information

from the text. The easiest questions were 25, 26 and 30, while 33 and 34 posed more

problems for weaker candidates, and their answers were again evenly spread over the

incorrect options. Again, almost all the good candidates got the questions right.

FCE - Examination Report Jun 2000 0100-0102.pdf

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