·What Aptis is
The British Council Aptis exam has four variants and five components: Core (grammar and vocabulary), Reading, Listening, Writing and Speaking. This lesson reviews what each one covers, how long it lasts and how your level is calculated.
1/12The four variants and their timings
General measures from A0 to C1. Advanced is the only one that reaches C2 and runs from B1 to C2. for Teachers is identical to General in structure and timings; only the context of the tasks changes.
Look at Advanced: the Reading is almost twice as long (60 minutes) but the Listening is shorter (30).
2/12Core: grammar and vocabulary
The Core is the same in every variant: 25 minutes and 50 questions, 25 of grammar (with three options each) and 25 of vocabulary. There is a single clock for both parts.
Two important things: the Core does not give a level of its own, but it does influence the level of the four skills; and its questions run from A1 to B2, there are no C1 questions.
3/12Reading: 29 questions
The General Reading is 29 questions in 35 minutes, split into four parts. Watch out for Part 2: it is two exercises of ordering sentences, not one. And in Part 3 you have four paragraphs but seven statements to place.
Those are the two places where most people run out of time.
4/12Listening: 25 questions
The Listening is 25 questions in 40 minutes. Part 2 works the opposite way to how it looks: there are four speakers, one per question, and you choose from a bank of six pieces of information; two are left over, and that throws people off.
Part 3 is about agreement and disagreement: you decide whether an opinion is expressed by him, by her or by both.
5/12Writing: 50 minutes and four parts
The Writing is 50 minutes and four parts, each with its own word limit. In Part 1 you do not write sentences, just single words of one to five words. The most common mistake is in Part 2: going over 30 words and filling it with errors.
Part 4 is two emails: first the informal one and then the formal one, which is the long one, of 120 to 150 words.
6/12Speaking: 12 minutes
The General Speaking is 12 minutes in four parts, each with its stated time. In Part 4 you have one minute to prepare and two minutes to answer three questions in a row.
The advice is simple: use all the time. Falling short hurts more than getting a word wrong.
7/12How it is scored and how the overall level is worked out
Each skill is scored from 0 to 50 and gets its own level. The overall level does not come from adding up points: it is the rounded average of the four levels. That is why someone with fewer points can get a higher overall level.
There is only an overall level if you take all four skills. And note: the certificate details each skill separately, and many calls for applications look at them one by one.
·Where to practise it
To practise, you need a mock exam with the exact number of questions and the official minutes for each part, and with Speaking and Writing marked according to the official 0 to 6 rubric.
8/12The C1 only comes from Part 4
Each task is designed to measure one level, and its top mark only means above that level. In Speaking, in Part 1 a 5 is above A2; in Parts 2 and 3, a 5 is B2 or above and that is where what is scored in those parts ends.
Part 4 is the only one scored from 0 to 6, and so the only one where a mark above B2 is possible: a 5 or a 6 gives the C1. The General certificate is Aptis Level 2 (C1), and its ceiling is C1; for C2 you need Advanced.
9/12The same happens in Writing
Note: the Writing levels are not the Speaking ones. In Writing, Part 1 targets A1, Part 2 A2 and Part 3 B1, and their top mark only means above that level. A 5 in Part 3 is above B1, not a sublevel of B2.
Part 4 is two emails: the informal one, of 40 to 50 words, and the formal one, of 120 to 150. That formal email is the only place in the exam where you can show a C1 in writing.
10/12What to do with this information
Three things: first, do not drain yourself in Parts 2 and 3; do them well and accurately, but without trying to shine, because your ceiling there is already set. Second, save time and energy for Part 4, where your level is decided. And third, in Speaking, use the full two minutes.
11/12It is scored by counting questions
A detail about how the exam scores that costs points: Parts 2 and 3 of the Speaking are not scored on how nice it sounds, but by counting how many of the three questions you have answered. All three, band 4; two, band 3; just one, band 1.
Even if you speak wonderfully, if you leave one question unanswered, you drop a band. Always answer all three, even if it is with a single sentence.
12/12Watch out for the certificate by skills
The overall level on your certificate is the rounded average of the four skills, so they compensate for each other. But the certificate details each skill separately, and many calls for applications look at them one by one: a lone B2 in Speaking can leave you out even if your overall level says C1.
·Where to practise it
To practise Part 4 until it comes naturally, you need full mock exams and Speaking and Writing marking with the official 0 to 6 rubric.