What is the Cambridge English: Advanced Listening test? Duration and format The Listening test takes approximately 40 minutes. There are 30 questions, based on three short recorded extracts in Part 1, two longer recorded texts in Parts 2 and 3, and five short monologues in Part 4. Questions appear on a question paper which candidates can write on, but not remove from the test room. All answers must be entered on a separate answer sheet. An extra five minutes is allowed to transfer answers from the question paper to the answer sheet.

Task types Multiple-choice, sentence completion and multiple-matching. Part 1: Three short extracts, from exchanges between interacting speakers. There are two multiple-choice questions for each extract. Part 2: A monologue with a sentence-completion task. There are eight sentences to complete with a word or short phrase. Part 3: A text involving interacting speakers, with six multiple-choice questions. Part 4: Five short themed monologues, with ten multiple-matching questions.

Texts and topics Recorded texts are taken from lectures, talks, interviews, discussions, radio broadcasts, speeches, announcements, anecdotes, etc. The test demands that candidates have the ability to deal efficiently with recorded texts which are challenging in terms of their lexical density, complexity of ideas and which treat topics with a degree of abstraction or implication appropriate for those planning to follow an academic course at university level. All recorded texts used in the test have been trialled to ensure that they are accessible to a non-specialist audience. A variety of voices, styles of delivery and accents are heard in each question paper, to reflect the international contexts of the test takers.

Marking and assessment Each correct answer receives one mark. Candidates are required to transfer their answers onto an answer sheet, as instructed on the question paper. Candidates responses are then computer-scanned. Candidates responses to Part 2 are marked by trained and standardised markers, following a detailed markscheme. Correct spelling is expected in Part 2. Both US and British English spellings are accepted.

How to interpret scores on the sample Cambridge English: Advanced Listening Sections The Cambridge English: Advanced Listening paper contains 30 questions: each correct answer receives one mark. The maximum raw score a candidate can achieve on a paper is 30. A score of 26 out of 30 would indicate an exceptional level of performance. In percentage terms this is 87%. A score of 24 out of 30 would indicate a good level of performance. In percentage terms this is 80%. A score of 19 out of 30 would indicate a borderline level of performance. In percentage terms this is 63%. A score of 15 out of 30 would indicate a weak level of performance. In percentage terms this is 50%.

Cambridge English: Advanced Listening scores

Profile

Raw score Percentage

Exceptional

26 87%

Good

24 80%

Borderline

19 63%

Weak

15 50%