Since I posted the article about the minimum score needed to Pass each Cambridge Assessment English exam, I have received many questions by email and comments which proves that most of you guys don’t know how to calculate the score of your Cambridge exam. For this reason, in this post I’m going to tell you exactly how to work out the score of your Cambridge English test. So, because of the popularity, I’m going to focus on Cambridge’s most popular exams nowadays: B1 Preliminary (PET), B2 First (FCE) and C1 Advanced (CAE). So check this out, coz you’re in for some interesting stuff.
How to Calculate the Score of your Cambridge English Exam
In short, in order to Calculate the score of any Cambridge test, you simply have to do the following:
- Add up the points of each part of the test.
- Calculate the percentage of each part.
- Calculate the average score of all the parts.
- Convert your percentage using Cambridge’s calculator.
However, simple though these steps may seem, the first thing you ought to do if you want to calculate your test score is to know your exam inside out. I mean, you need to know how many parts it’s got and how much each item is worth. For this reason, in the following sections I’m going to outline each test, with all its parts and items, and I’m going to tell you exactly how much each item is worth.
How to calculate the score for B1 Preliminary (PET)
The B1 Preliminary (PET) test has 4 components (known as papers) and each one has different parts. Let’s see:
- Reading: 35 items = 35 points (1 item = 1 point)
- Part 1: 5 items
- Part 2: 5 items
- Part 3: 10 items
- Part 4: 5 items
- Part 5: 10 items
- Minimum score to pass: 25 points
- Writing: 7 items = 25 points
- Part 1: 5 items = 5 points
- Part 2: 1 items = 5 points
- Part 3: 1 items = 15 points
- Minimum score to pass: 17 points
- Listening: 25 items = 25 points (1 item = 1 points)
- Part 1: 7 items
- Part 2: 6 items
- Part 3: 6 items
- Part 4: 6 items
- Minimum score to pass: 18 points
- Speaking: 30 points in total (not divided into parts or items). In this case, the score is assigned to different competences:
- Grammar & vocabulary: 5 points
- Discourse: 5 points
- Pronunciation: 5 point
- Interaction: 5 points
- Global: 10 points (up to 5 points, but multiplied by 2)
- Minimum score to pass: 18 points
Great. Now we know how much each part is worth in the B1 Preliminary (PET). Now I’m going to explain how to calculate your B1 Preliminary score. Now, pay attention, because there’s math ahead 🤓:
- Add up the points for each part separately. For example: R = 28 points; W = 15 points; L = 19 points; S = 22 points.
- Work out the percentage for each part. In order to do so, divide the points of each part by the number of items, and then multiply by 100. Like this:
- Formula: (score/no. items) x 100
- R = 28/35×100 = 80%
W = 15/25×100 = 60%
L = 19/25×100 = 76%
S = 22/25×100 = 88%
- Calculate the average percentage:
- Formula: Average % = (R + W + L + S)/4
- My average percentage = (80 + 60 + 76 + 88)/4
- My average percentage = 76%
- Use this calculator to transform the percentage into the Cambridge English Scale score. On the left choose “Cambridge English: Preliminary (PET) taken before 2015”. If you introduce 76%, it will transform it into 145 points, which means I would have passed.
Finally, if you want to know if you have a low or high score, here’s the different ranges you can get depending on your score:
- Level A2 (failed): 120 – 139
- Pass: 140 – 152
- Pass with Merit: 153 – 159
- Pass with Distinction (Level B2): 160 – 170
How to calculate the score for B2 First (FCE)
The B2 First (FCE) has 5 components and each one has a particular number of parts and items. Read the following information carefully, because while the test is done in 4 parts, it has 5 components because the Reading and the Use of English are assessed separately:
- Reading: 30 items = 42 points
- Part 1: 8 items (1 item = 1 point)
- Part 5: 6 items (1 item = 2 points)
- Part 6: 6 items (1 item = 2 points)
- Part 7: 10 items (1 item = 1 point)
- Minimum score to pass: 24 points
- Use of English: 22 items = 28 points
- Part 2: 8 items (1 item = 1 point)
- Part 3: 8 items (1 item = 1 point)
- Part 4: 6 items (1 item = up to 2 points)
- Minimum score to pass: 18 points
- Writing: 2 items = 40 points
- Part 1: 1 item = 20 points
- Part 2: 1 item = 20 points
- Minimum score to pass: 24 points
- Listening: 30 items = 30 points (1 ítem = 1 point)
- Part 1: 8 items
- Part 2: 10 items
- Part 3: 5 items
- Part 4: 7 items
- Minimum score to pass: 18 points
- Speaking: 60 points in total (not divided into items or parts). In this case, the score is assigned to different competences:
- Grammar & vocabulary: 5 points (up to 5 points, but multiplied by 2)
- Discourse: 5 points (up to 5 points, but multiplied by 2)
- Pronunciation: 5 points (up to 5 points, but multiplied by 2)
- Interaction: 5 points (up to 5 points, but multiplied by 2)
- Global: 20 points (up to 5 points, but multiplied by 4)
- Minimum score to pass: 36 points
Okay, so now the process to calculate your score is easy peasy. Pay attention, because I’m going to tell you exactly how to calculate your B2 First score, but be careful not to make a mistake, because it’s pretty easy to mess up. Follow these steps:
- Add up the points for each part separately. For example: R = 28 points; UoE = 15 points; W = ; L = 19 points; S = 22 points.
- Work out the percentage for each part. In order to do so, divide the points of each part by the number of items, and then multiply by 100. Like this:
- Formula: (score/no. items) x 100
- R = 35/42×100 = 83%
UoE = 20/28×100 = 71%
W = 18/40×100 = 45%
L = 27/30×100 = 90%
S = 36/60×100 = 60%
- Calculate the average percentage:
- Formula: Average % = (R + UoE + W + L + S)/5
- My average percentage = (83 + 71 + 45 + 90 + 60)/5
- My average percentage = 70%
- Use this calculator to transform the percentage into the Cambridge English Scale score. On the left choose “Cambridge English: First (FCE) taken before 2015”. If you introduce 70%, it will transform it into 169 points, which means I would have passed.
Now, if you want to know if you have a low or high score, here’s the different ranges you can get depending on your score:
- Nivel B1 (failed): 140 – 159
- Grade C: 160 – 172
- Grade B: 173 – 179
- Grade A (Level C1): 180 – 190
How to calculate the score for C1 Advanced (CAE)
The B2 First (FCE) has 5 components and each one has a particular number of parts and items. Read the following information carefully, because while the test is done in 4 parts, it has 5 components because the Reading and the Use of English are assessed separately::
- Reading: 34 items = 50 points
- Part 1: 8 items (1 item = 1 point)
- Part 5: 6 items (1 item = 2 points)
- Part 6: 4 items (1 item = 2 points)
- Part 7: 6 items (1 item = 2 points)
- Part 8: 10 items (1 item = 1 point)
- Minimum score to pass: 32 points
- Use of English: 22 items = 28 points
- Part 2: 8 items (1 ítem = 1 point)
- Part 3: 8 items (1 ítem = 1 point)
- Part 4: 6 items (1 ítem = up to 2 points)
- Minimum score to pass: 16 points
- Writing: 2 items = 40 points
- Part 1: 1 item = 20 points
- Part 2: 1 item = 20 points
- Minimum score to pass: 24 points
- Listening: 30 items = 30 points (1 item = 1 point)
- Part 1: 6 items
- Part 2: 8 items
- Part 3: 6 items
- Part 4: 10 items
- Minimum score to pass: 18 points
- Speaking: 75 puntos in total (not divided into items or parts). In this case, the score is assigned to different competences:
- Grammar: 5 points (up to 5 points, but multiplied by 2)
- Lexis: 5 points (up to 5 points, but multiplied by 2)
- Discourse: 5 points (up to 5 points, but multiplied by 2)
- Pronunciation: 5 points (up to 5 points, but multiplied by 2)
- Interaction: 5 points (up to 5 points, but multiplied by 2)
- Global: 25 points (up to 5 points, but multiplied by 5)
- Minimum score to pass: 45 points
Okay, so now the process to calculate your score is easy peasy. Pay attention, because I’m going to tell you exactly how to calculate your C1 Advanced score, but be careful not to make a mistake, because it’s pretty easy to mess up. Follow these steps:
- Add up the points for each part separately. For example: R = 30 points; UoE = 19 points; W = 32 ; L = 25 point; S = 51 points.
- Work out the percentage for each part. In order to do so, divide the points of each part by the number of items, and then multiply by 100. Like this:
- Formula: (score/no. items) x 100
- R = 30/50×100 = 60%
UoE = 19/28×100 = 68%
W = 32/40×100 = 80%
L = 25/30×100 = 83%
S = 51/75×100 = 68%
- Calculate the average percentage:
- Formula: Average % = (R + UoE + W + L + S)/5
- My average percentage = (60 + 68 + 80 + 83 + 68)/5
- My average percentage = 72%
- Use this calculator to transform the percentage into the Cambridge English Scale score. On the left choose “Cambridge English: First (FCE) taken before 2015”. If you introduce 72%, it will transform it into 190 points, which means I would have passed.
Now, if you want to know if you have a low or high score, here’s the different ranges you can get depending on your score:
- Nivel B2 (failed): 160 – 179
- Grade C: 180 – 192
- Grade B: 193 – 199
- Grade A (Level C2): 200 – 210
Soooooo, what’s up? Did you manage to calculate the score of your Cambridge Exam? If not, please write a comment below and ask whatever you need to know. I’m here to help you!
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