Business English Certificates - BEC
English for your future:
Cambridge ESOL certificates for the world of work
The Business English Certificates
The Business English Certificates (BEC) are internationally recognised qualifications that show employers your skills for using English in the workplace.
BEC is an ideal English language exam if you are preparing for a career in business. There are three different levels of BEC: BEC Preliminary, BEC Vantage and BEC Higher.
Why take BEC?
More than ever, a good knowledge of English is needed to succeed in international business and commerce. If you can show you have relevant language skills, you'll have a great advantage in the jobs market and much greater flexibility if you want to work abroad.
BEC can help you show that you have learned English to an appropriate standard and can use it in a business context.
The BEC exams are aligned with Levels B1 to C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages — an internationally recognised benchmark of language ability.
'BEC has helped develop cross-cultural communication skills and overall development of the students. It has had an impact on confidence levels through international certification. It has
also introduced unfamiliar situations and helped stimulate creative thinking and analysis'
Laura Cirello, Head Learning and Development, JP Morgan Treasury and Securities Services, Mumbai
Recognition
BEC is officially recognised by more than a thousand educational organisations, employers, ministries, government bodies and professional organisations throughout the world as a suitable qualification for business use.
Leading international companies such as Sony Ericsson, Shell, Vodafone, Bayer, Coca-Cola and HSBC have all recognised BEC in their offices around the world.
The exam consits of the following parts:
- Reading (1 hour): Three authentic business related texts and three tasks related to vocabulary and structure.
- Writing (1 hour and 10 minutes): A report based on a graph input plus a choice of text (letter, report, proposal) based on a text input.
- Listening ( approximately 50 minutes): Three tasks with mulitple choice, mulitple matching and gap filling activities
- Speaking ( 16 minutes): This includes an introductory conversation covering personal information and opinions, a short talk based on a text input, a business related discussion between candidates followed by a follow-up discussion with the examiner.
Exam dates and location:
The exam for BHAK1 candidates takes place at the end of May every year at the school.
For further information about the BEC exams, please visit:
http://www.cambridgeesol.org/exams/professional-english/bec.html