with the IELTS exam. These are exams that you might be thinking of taking as part of

your journey with learning English for various reasons. And we'll look at the different exams;

we'll look at the reasons to take Cambridge exams or IELTS exams. And then, we'll generally

compare what's in the two exam systems. So the Cambridge exams, we'll be talking about

these two. This one is the First Certificate of English, and that's around intermediate

level. And this is a harder exam. This is an advanced level exam also from Cambridge.

So there are four different levels in this Cambridge exam series. And this compares to

just one IELTS test that tests the same -- a much broader span, okay? So what does that

mean? If you take the IELTS test, and you're someone with an intermediate or a lower intermediate

level, the test will be really hard for you because it covers such a wide level of English

whereas if you take the right test for your level in the Cambridge exams, what you're

doing in the test is closer to what you already know. So that's a key difference between them.

Something else to say about IELTS as well is that there are two kinds of IELTS exams.

One is IELTS Academic, and that test is designed for people who want to go to university in

an English-speaking country or want to do a course that's going to be in English. And

the other IELTS test is IELTS General Training. And that one is different because you don't

have to do some of the writing questions which are based on university things. They're not

in this test. So it's just a little bit more practical.

So why take these tests in the first place? People take these tests for different reasons.

One reason, as I mentioned before, is if you want to go to university in England or maybe

in Australia. You will need to have a test result that shows your level of English. So

in that case, what test do you take? You either need to have the IELTS Academic test or you

need to do the CAE test. You can take either exam. This FCE exam is too low -- the level

is too low, so it's not useful for you if you want to go to university. In the UK, IELTS

is the most popular. But for American universities, a lot of people do a different test, but I'm

not talking about it today, which is the TOEFL test.

Then, what if your purpose for taking one of these tests is for work? Well, it depends,

really, on the job that you're doing. FCE would be okay if your purpose is work. I've

known people who come to England with the purpose of learning English and to have a

job here -- like a service job or work with an English family and look after their children

and things like that. And I've known them to usually choose to do the First Certificate

because you can go to a language school; you can learn enough English to get by and enough

English for your daily life and things like that. It's useful. So you can do that in those

kinds of jobs. You could also do IELTS General. I mean, IELTS

General will test you to a higher level. So it really depends on your job whether this

will be useful for you. Some people like to have it on their CV and show what score of

English they have. So for them, it's useful. And some people say for professions -- for

example, lawyers and doctors, things like that. They say the IELTS Academic is better

for these people. From my experience of the two tests, what I would say is that IELTS

Academic just has a different writing question in it, and that different writing question

is academic language. It's comparing graphs and things like that. So it really depends

what suits you and what you feel is necessary or needed for your job. To do IELTS Academic

but not intend to go to university or be using academic English would be a bit of a waste

of effort for you because you would need to learn how to write these graph questions and

this kind of extra work for you, which is probably never going to be useful in your

life. So yeah. Again, it depends. And then some people decide to take one of

these tests just for the sake of doing the test, for no other reason. They just, you

know -- learning may be a hobby for them, but they want to know how they are progressing,

so they decide they want to take a test. You could do, in that case, IELTS General because

it would give you a score that you know where you are, and you can maybe set a goal next

year to improve or something like that. And it would give you the general skills that

you needed to come and live and work in an English speaking country. So you could do

that. As a first step, one that's not as hard, and

the level is not as high, you could do the FCE exam. You could do that. Or if you have

really, really studied hard, and your English is quite advanced, then you could do the CAE

exam just for personal development. And last one I want to talk about is visa

requirements. If you're coming to an English-speaking country from some other country, and you want

to stay for a while, in that case, you will need to do IELTS or FCE. IELTS General Training

or Academic if you want to go to university, or FCE if it's the lower level.

So let's talk now about the similarities between the tests. These tests are -- they're well-known

tests. And that's because they are secure English language tests. If you go and do these

tests, you need to go to a test center, and you need to prove your identity. So these

are respected tests. People have heard of these tests. They're recognized, and they

count for something, basically. Each test tests the same skills: reading,

writing, listening, speaking. And the test structure itself also shares a lot of similarities.

That's what we'll talk about in a minute. And also -- there's a little word or letter

missing. "University." You can take this test, and it can be useful for university entrance.

So when we come back, we're just going to broadly compare the tests and the different

parts of the tests. We'll look more closely at that.

Let's generally compare what's in the two exams, now. So IELTS academic and IELTS General

Training, they have the same test structure. And in the test, there are four different

papers. There's a reading paper; it's 60 minutes, and there are three different parts. There's

a writing test; it's 60 minutes, and there are two parts. There's a listening test; it's

30 minutes long, and there are four parts. And there's a speaking test, and that will

be between 11 and 14 minutes. And there are three parts in the speaking test.

How does this compare to CAE? In the CAE exam, there are five papers. So I'm sure some of

you are already decided you're not doing CAE now because it's one extra paper. Well, hold

on a sec. The reading test is 75 minutes, and there are four parts. The writing test

is 90 minutes, and there are two parts. There's a use of English test that's 60 minutes, and

it's four parts. This is testing your vocabulary and also your grammar in various different

exercises. And then, there's a speaking test which is 15 minutes, and it's four parts.

So the main difference is that CAE, when you put it all together, is longer, and some of

the parts of the test are longer as well. And also, in CAE, there are more questions

in the different parts of the test. But it's going to change in 2015, and they're going

to put the reading test together with the use of English test. So then, there will be

just four parts -- just four tests. Four test? Four parts of the test, same as IELTS. And

it will be shorter. So they're changing it to be a bit more like the IELTS. So yeah.

It just generally means the test structure is similar.

Let's talk about key differences in the test. Well, the main differences are in certain

areas of the test. So we've got the writing test. Let's talk about that. In IELTS Academic

-- that's the one you do if you want to go to university -- you need to write -- there

are two parts. One question is a discursive essay, so you need to show the pros and cons

of something or the advantages and disadvantages of something and give opinions. So that's

one part. And the second part is a question where you compare some graphs, something like

that. Or you look at a table and you write something about the information in the table.

That's IELTS Academic. In IELTS General Training, you don't get this

graph question. It's not there. But instead, you need to write a practical letter. Sometimes

it could be, like, a letter to your landlord about something, something like that. Practical

writing task, and you still do the discursive essay about giving an opinion, comparing a

system or an idea or something like that. And then how does this compare to CAE? In

the CAE exam, you do a discursive essay, the same kind of thing. But it's a little bit

different because you have the short text to read first. You don't get a short text

to read in IELTS; you just get the question. Then, the second part of the writing test,

it's less predictable because, again, you read something, and then you respond by writing

a review or an article or a letter or maybe, like, some marketing kind of writing about

something. So what it's testing is your ability to use different styles of English and different

register -- like, different registers, formal language, informal language. So it's a bit

more challenging, but also you could say more interesting as a writing task. It's more varied.

So they're the biggest differences here. And also, writing is longer for the CAE because,

as you can imagine, you need to read something, and you need to create potentially an original

piece of writing, whereas in IELTS General Training, for example, it's writing a letter.

And if you practise that a lot of times, you'll know what you're doing. So IELTS General Training

is more predictable than CAE. Anyway. The other differences are in the speaking

test. So when you do the CAE exam, it's the examiner; it's you; and it's somebody else.

You've got a partner. And when you're assessed, it's not just your performance and how you

answer the questions; it's how you interact with your partner; it's how you include your

partner -- ask your partner questions and move the discussion between you, how the interaction

between you flows, you could say. As well as parts of the test where you just speak

by yourself. And that's different to IELTS because in the IELTS speaking test, it's just

the examiner and then you, and you speak just together.

Now, some people will have a preference for just doing the test by themselves because

it's like, well, "I've prepared", you know? And you're probably thinking, "What if I have

a partner who's, like, rubbish or something? What do I say?" But you're not negatively

marked if your partner doesn't perform well. Your mark is based on you being a good partner

who's sharing opportunities for talk, basically. Yeah, and some people will prefer to do an

exam with a partner because maybe they feel it takes less pressure off you as an individual.

So you can decide what you think sounds better for you.

And also, CAE is different because to answer your questions, you get pictures, and you

have to compare pictures and things like that. So the way you're asked questions in the CAE

is a little bit different to IELTS as well. So as a general survey of the tests, I would

say choose a test based on your purpose. So maybe you want to go back and watch the beginning

of the video again just to remind yourself of your purpose. But then, know that actually,

in the structure of the tests, they're not actually that different, especially once we

get to the exam update to CAE in 2015. And just as a final point, IELTS has a really

broad span, so it could be hard for you if you are not yet at a high level. Other than

that, they're both respected and well-regarded tests, so yes. Okay. I'm finished. I wish

you luck in your exam, whatever exam you choose to take. I hope you get a high score. So I'm

going to finish this video now. Thank you. Oh, just thinking, is there going to be a

quiz for -- there's going to be a quiz for these exams on the website, so go to www.engvid.com.

And if you like my video, please subscribe. I make videos about learning English here

on this channel; also on my personal channel because I've got two channels. And that's

what we're going to talk about today. Thank you and see you later.