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What is B2 First? Formerly known as Cambridge English: First (FCE), it is an English language exam which shows that your students have the language skills to live, study and work in an English-speaking country.

A B2 First qualification (upper-intermediate level) shows that your English learners can express opinions and present arguments, follow the news and have a detailed discussion in English on a fairly wide range of topics.

🔻Test Format & Sample Papers

The exam format is made up of four papers developed to test your students’ English skills: Reading and Use of English, Writing, Listening and Speaking. The total test time is 3 hours and 30 minutes.

Make sure that your students are familiar with the format of each part of the exam they are about to take. The better they know what will be expected of them, the less likely they are to face any unpleasant surprises. You can see exactly what’s in each paper and download useful sample papers, which can give your students an idea of what to expect the day of the exam, here: B2 First - Exam Format & Sample Papers.

tip 🗸 Your students can take B2 First as a paper-based or a computer-based exam. Computer-based testing can be a better choice for your young students who are more comfortable with a keyboard and mouse than with pencil and paper! Of course, the test format is the same for both the paper-based and computer-based exams. The final certificate your students will obtain will be the same in both cases. So, it doesn't matter whether your students take their test on paper or on a computer - it all comes to the same thing! That’s why your students don’t have to keep sticking to the classic paper-based versions of tests. After all, it’s easier than ever: We, at E-planet, are official partners with Cambridge Assessment English and all our branches are official Cambridge examination preparation centres (and, of course, official Cambridge Assessment English examination centres for CBT testing).

🔻B2 First & B2 First for Schools

The only difference is in the content and treatment of topics, which in B2 First for Schools have been specially developed to reflect the interests and experiences of school-age candidates.

Students who successfully take B2 First for Schools receive the same internationally accepted certificate as candidates who take the standard version of the exam.

tip 🗸 When young students meet older candidates who are more confident and talkative, they usually get discouraged and they may go into the infamous fight-or-flight mode that can paralyse everyone. That’s why B2 First for Schools is a better choice for most young English learners.

🔻Voices B2

E-planet’s Voices B2 is the right choice for your students if you want to provide them with a great course that will help them achieve the best scores.  Combined with the ground-breaking Learn English e-learning program, it guides students to learn all the necessary vocabulary and grammar for the B2 level in a fun and effective way. Its topics have been carefully chosen according to the needs and interests of teenagers, and they can really maximise your students' chances in the B2 First and B2 First for Schools exam. Learn more.

🔻Your Essentials

What else do you need to successfully prepare your students for B2 First exams? 

Take a look at these Teacher essentials and let the B2 First handbook for teachers, the mock test toolkit and the listening, reading and writing guides help you to make sure that both you and your English learners are fully prepared. Well, just like official examiners, you have to know how to identify each student’s weak spots and apply the assessment criteria to evaluate your learners' skills too, right?

And don’t forget that relaxation techniques, time management tips and useful study and exam strategies can help your students to get ready and get top marks. So, carefully read our blog post ‘How to get your students ready for exams’ and help your learners to concentrate on the specific areas they need to work on in order to impress all examiners!