Business English

Cambridge BEC Exams – Business English Certificates

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BEC Preliminary
This exam is for candidates with a Pre-Intermediate to Intermediate level of English – level B1 of the Common European Framework of Refernce for Languages of the Council of Europe. This level corresponds to PET.

Contents of the Exam

  • Reading and writing – 1 hour 30 minutes
  • Listening – about 40 minutes
  • Speaking – approximately 12 minutes in pairs of candidates


Marks and results
To pass the exam, a candidate must reach at least 70 % of the total number of points. It is not necessary to reach this percentage level in all parts of the exam to pass it successfully. Successful candidates will receive a certificate with 'Pass with Merit' (first mark) or 'Pass' (second mark). Unsuccessful marks are 'Narrow Fail' or 'Fail'.


BEC Vantage
This exam is for candidates with an Upper-Intermediate level of English who work or are preparing to work in a business environment for positions such as office work, production or in financial services – level B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages of the Council of Europe. The level of this exam corresponds to the FCE.

Exam Contents

  • Reading – 1 hour
  • Writing – 45 minutes
  • Listening – approximately 40 minutes
  • Speaking – 14 minutes in pairs of candidates


Marks and results
To pass the exam, a candidate must reach at least 60 % of the total number of points. It is not necessary to reach this level of points in all parts of the exam to pass it successfully. Successful candidates will receive a certificate with marks A, B, or C. Unsuccessful marks are either D or E.


BEC Higher
This exam is for students who have already gained or are just gaining some business and administrative experience. Students at this level should be able to manage more complex sentence structures and be able to show a wide range of vocabulary – level C1 of the Common European Framework of Refernce for Languages of the Council of Europe. This exam for advanced learners is equal to CAE.

Exam Contents

  • Reading – 1 hour
  • Writing – 1 hour 10 minutes
  • Listening – approximately 40 minutes
  • Speaking – 16 minutes in pairs of candidates


Marks and results
To pass the exam, a candidate must obtain at least 60 % of the total number of points. It is not necessary to reach this level of points in all parts of the exam to pass it successfully. Successful candidates will receive a certificate with a mark of either A, B, or C. Unsuccessful ones with D or E.

For more information you can visit the official website.