EURO EXAM
About EURO Exam
Taking the Euro exam provides you an internationally accepted certificate.
Success at the Euro exam can open doors at the best British and European universities. It demonstrates to universities that you possess the language, communication and study skills that any student in higher education needs to successfully pursue their studies at home or abroad.
To this end, the Academic exam measures a high level of general and specialised language skills, covering multiple academic disciplines. However, no specialist background knowledge is expected in any discipline. The term “Academic” also means that in each of the tasks of the exam an academic subject or a field of science appears through an easily understandable topic. Since this is true for the whole exam, we only provide additional information on this below, in the description of the parts and tasks in exceptional cases.
The Euroexam Academic International Certificate * verifies that the holder is ready for university studies both in terms of language and skills.
Written Exam
Reading – Time: 50 minutes
Task 1 – Paragraph Headings
There are six paragraphs for each of which the candidate must find the most appropriate heading from a choice of eight paragraph headings. Two headings are not needed. An example is provided.
Task 2 – Text Completion
The candidate receives a longer text with 8 blank spaces, all of which must be completed with a 1-2-sentence text fragment so that the whole text is meaningful and coherent. There are 8 gaps for which the candidate must find the most appropriate 1-2-sentence excerpt from a choice of 11. Three excerpts are not needed.
Task 3 – Multiple-Choice Reading
The candidate reads two texts which have a shared theme. The candidate has 6 multiple-choice questions to answer. Some of the questions test the understanding of information located in one of the texts whereas others test information located in both texts.
Writing – Time: 60 minutes
Task 1 – Transactional email
The candidate is asked to write a ca. 200-word transactional email in order to achieve a specific purpose. The situation is always related to an academic context and the task focuses on written communication between university students and the tutors.
Task 2 – Argumentative essay
Although the candidate has a choice of three when it comes to the topic, the genre is always an essay. The three topics are always taken from the following three academic disciplines.
- Humanities and social sciences
- Natural sciences
- Business and economics
The candidate can choose a topic according to his/her chosen field of studies and must write a ca. 200-word text.
Spoken Exam
Listening – Time: ca. 40 minutes
Task 1 – Short Conversations
The candidate listens twice to four short conversations and matches each one with an item from List A and an item from List B. List A tests understanding of an objective aspect (e.g. location) whereas List B focuses on the attitude, plans or psychological state of one of the speakers. Each list has 8 items, and each has two items which are not needed.
Task 2 – Lecture notes
The candidate listens to an extended lecture or lecture-like monologue and provides 1-2-sentence answers to 5 questions printed on the Answer sheet. A total of 9 pieces of information is required. While listening to the text, the candidate will make notes and formulate answers on the basis of his/her notes.
Task 3 – Academic meeting
The candidate listens twice to an extended excerpt from a university discussion or debate involving 2-3 participants. The candidate answers eight multiple-choice questions with three options each (A-C).
Speaking – Time: 15 min
For the following three speaking tasks, tasks 2 and 3 cover topics related to an academic context and/or a general topic which is related to a broad academic discipline and which does not require specialist knowledge.
Task 1 – Interview
The candidates have a one-minute warm-up conversation with each other, during which they ask general questions of a personal nature.
Task 2 – Presentation & Discussion (+ 10-min preparation)
In the preparation room, the candidate has ten minutes to choose one of three statements provided on a card and to prepare a two-minute presentation. The goal of the preparation time is to prepare notes that the candidate may consult during his/her two-minute presentation. While one candidate is giving the presentation, the other candidate takes notes. After the presentation, the other candidate asks questions and makes comments on what his/her partner has said in order to initiate a 2-minute discussion. The same procedure is repeated vice versa for the other candidate.
Task 3 – Discussion
The candidates receive a card with four thematically linked photographs. These photographs are possible illustrations for the cover of a book or article on a given subject. The task is to discuss certain aspects of the topic with each other and work towards an agreement about which image would be the most suitable for the given topic, purpose.
Topics/situations that may occur in the Speaking Test
Euro exam Academic
As we measure spontaneous communication in every task of the Speaking exam part – which is still the case even though every candidate gets 10 minutes for preparation before the presentation task – the candidate has no chance during the test to put forward preliminarily memorized monologues on a topic or otherwise. Instead, the candidate will succeed in this exam part if s/he has improved and can demonstrate the following communication skills: sharing individual experience and opinion during academic conversations, presentation skills as well as argumentative and debating skills.
* The international certificate awarded for passing the exam can be fully accredited in Hungary, and can be used similarly to other accredited examinations, for example, to achieve additional points in the higher education application process or to meet the foreign language requirements of graduation set by higher educational institutions.
