Breakout English has a number of First (FCE) materials for you to use in class or at home to prepare for the Cambridge B2 exam. The Cambridge First exam is a big step up from B1 level exams. At B2, Cambridge introduces the Use of English section while also increasing the challenge of several other task types in the Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking papers.
Materials
First (FCE) B2 Essay Structure – Essay Skeletons
There have been many occasions where my students have no time to learn the correct B2 essay structure for a...
Fun writing activity: The consequences game
Are you struggling to make essay writing more engaging for B2 and C1 exam students with fun writing activities? Often...
First (FCE) B2 Key Word Transformations – Relative Clauses
When mastering the art of completing B2 First (FCE) transformations, relative clauses are essential. These clauses are not just a...
Uses of punctuation marks – Writing well-structured sentences
I have long suspected that students may not have ever learnt the correct uses of punctuation marks in their 1st...
250 First (FCE) Key Word Transformations B2
If you can pass the B2 Key Word Transformations (Use of English Part 4) task, then you can probably pass...
First (FCE) B2 Key Word Transformations – Comparatives and Superlatives Exercises
Comparatives and superlatives exercises are common in English courses, but can be tricky, yet they play a crucial role in...
First (FCE) Speaking Part 3 Examples
If you are looking for some B2 First (FCE) Speaking Part 3 example pictures, you’ve come to the right place...
Dependent prepositions exercises – Use of English part 2
Dependent prepositions exercises are a pain in the neck for many who are preparing for a Cambridge exam. Prepositions pop...
Word Formation Exercises – Conversation Questions
Word formation exercises can be found all over the internet, but they are often dry and rather uninspiring to use...
How to write a report
Are you planning to take an English exam like Cambridge B2 First, C1 Advanced or the Trinity ISE exams and...
First (FCE) Speaking Part 3 Useful Phrases
In Cambridge First (FCE) Speaking Part 3, useful phrases can be anything that helps you keep the communication going. This...
How to do First (FCE) Reading Part 6 – Gapped text
The gapped text task from Cambridge First (FCE) Reading part 6 can be tricky. I’ve always found students can swing...
Christmas Find Someone Who – Open cloze
It’s never a bad idea to do a Christmas Find Someone Who activity just before the break. You’ve often got...
B2 First (FCE) Writing Part 1 – Improve an Essay
Writing is the part of any English exam where you should aim to get a high score and B2 First...
First (FCE) B2 Key Word Transformations – Phrasal Verbs
Phrasal verbs are a huge challenge for English language learners, and for that reason, so are key word transformations with...
Informal vs formal letters and emails
Letters and emails are probably the most practical writing type in the exam. Personally, I write emails almost every day...
How to write a film review
Writing a review is an option in many different English language exams, and films are such an obvious choice for...
Just a Minute Topics
Just a Minute is a BBC Radio 4 panel show where panellists are asked to talk for one minute, without...
Gerunds and Infinitives List
I’m a big fan of lists. Shopping lists, to do lists, meal plan lists, hopes and dreams lists, and even...
Christmas Speaking Activities
Want to make sure your Christmas speaking activities have value for your students? By using an exam style activity, you...
The best First Certificate books
Passing a B2 level Cambridge exam is a big deal and only the best First Certificate books will get you...
IELTS Academic Writing Part 1 – Describing change and surveys
Writing Part 1 of IELTS: Academic features writing a 150 word description of a graph or a process. To succeed...
First (FCE) Essay Questions
The essay task at Cambridge B2 First (FCE) level might be one of the first times learners encounter a truly...
First (FCE) Speaking Part 2 Pictures
You need to describe pictures at almost every level of Cambridge exams, but not just any pictures. It’s important to...
First (FCE) Song – Fast Car – Tracy Chapman
Whenever I look for a song to do with a class, I look for something that has a story behind...
Christmas Songs Listening
Are you looking for something to do with your classes before the Christmas break? Whether it’s an exam class or...
The 120 most useful phrasal verbs list
Phrasal verbs are one of the love to hate them areas of the English language, but love them or hate...
First (FCE) B2 Key Word Transformations – Conditionals
By B2, learners taking an exam should be comfortable using conditionals, which is why we’ve designed 10 First (FCE) conditionals...
Linking words – How to improve your writing
Linking words, also known as linkers, cohesive devices, connectors and transition words, are a vital part of writing. Often when...
Writing an Article – Rhetorical Questions
Writing rhetorical questions is a literary device that professional writers love to hate, but if you’re writing an article for...
First day get to know you questions
On the first day of any new class you need to get to know your students and they need to...
First (FCE) Speaking – Sample Tests
In the Cambridge First Certificate Speaking test, there are 4 parts. Each part offers its own set of difficulties and...
First (FCE) Song – Shallow – Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper
If you haven’t seen the film A Star Is Born yet, you’re missing out on a very enjoyable couple of...
How to do First (FCE) Use of English Part 2 “Open Cloze”
The Use of English paper in the Cambridge First (FCE) exam is a challenge. It’s a challenge for students, but...
Word Formation Games
Word formation is probably the easiest part of Cambridge exams to gamify (from the root word GAME of course). Use...
How to teach Cambridge exam classes
Cambridge English exams are taken by over 5.5 million candidates per year in 130 different countries. Since introducing the first...
Wishes and Regrets
What better way is there to cheer up a class and spark some lively conversation than to ask your students...
How to do First (FCE) Speaking Part 2 – Useful Phrases
FCE Speaking Part 2 is also called the “long turn”. In fact, it’s only a minute long, but for B2...
Expressing Preferences – Would you rather…
Expressing preferences is one of those functional areas that will come in useful across so many parts of any exam...
Agree / Disagree Language – The Environment
The environment seems to be one of English exam designers’ favourite topics. They take any opportunity they have to include...
Cambridge Speaking Part 1 – Chat Cards
Speaking Part 1 in Preliminary (PET), First (FCE) and Advanced (CAE) are all quite similar and can be practised with...
First (FCE) B2 Key Word Transformations – Reporting Verbs Exercise
Reporting verbs is a challenging grammar point at B2 level, but doing plenty of reporting verbs exercises can help. This...
First day of exam class – Get to know the exam (Cambridge)
The first day of class can be tough to plan for, whether its an exam class or not. There’s a...
First (FCE) Word Formation Board Game
First (FCE) word formation is one of those parts of the exam that needs constant practice. Sometimes that means repeating...
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How to prepare for First (FCE)
In order to demonstrate a B2 level, Cambridge First (FCE) challenges candidates to produce complex language and deal with complex topics. It will be necessary to have a solid grasp of less frequent vocabulary, such as phrasal verbs, as well as a strong knowledge of the way language is linked together to form a variety of writing texts and spoken discourse.
By the time someone has passed the Cambridge B2 exam, you can be sure that they are able to communicate effectively in any everyday situation and quite possibly be able to handle more difficult or abstract topics as well. It’s a strong level, which anyone who achieves it should be considered to have better than average English.
Here are some things you can do to prepare for the exam:
- Start reading and listening to more English – You should be able to handle a lot of texts and listenings in English and practice makes perfect. It will build your vocabulary and help your pronunciation too. Try something like TED-Ed videos, which are short and thought-provoking.
- Study vocabulary – You will need to know phrasal verbs and linking words as well as dealing with topics like the environment and education. Studying vocabulary for these topics will help in all parts of the exam.
- Learn complex grammar – To show your level of English at B2 level, you want to use grammar like the passive voice, conditionals and reporting verbs well. These grammar areas will help to prove you are worthy of the level.
- Write – Writing is an important part of the exam and you will need to feel comfortable writing essays, letters/emails, articles, reviews and reports. This also means understanding the difference between formal and informal writing.
- Take a class – The First Certificate exam isn’t easy. Having a teacher and peers supporting your progress and providing motivation makes a huge difference.
- Do practice exams – You can get books of practice exams which will help you feel familiar with the format and improve your test-taking skills.
Enjoy the First (FCE) materials!
More Cambridge materials
