The reading section of the ICFE examination is 1 hour and 15 minutes long and consists of six parts. During the exam you will be assessed on both your reading abilities and English usage within a text.

Test Summary

Part 1 – English usage – This part of the exam gives you two short texts that have 6 gaps for which the candidate must choose from multiple choice answers the best fitting word or phrase.

Part 2 – English Usage – This part of the exam gives one short text, however this time it will contain 12 gaps, the candidate is required to think of a word without multiple choice answers to complete the text.

Part 3 – English Usage – This part of the exam gives two short texts with 6 gaps, for each gap there is offered a base word for which the candidate has to edit in order to complete the text e.g. add a suffix, prefix or change the tense.

Part 4 – Reading – This part of the exam gives one text divided into four sections. It also gives six statements. The candidate must match each of the six statements to one of the four sections of text.

Part 5 – Reading – This part of the exam gives one text from which 6 sentences have been removed. The candidate must read the six sentences and replace them back into the text accordingly.

Part 6 – Reading – This part of the exam gives one text which the candidate must read, after which they will answer comprehension multiple choice questions.

What can you do to prepare?

Along with signing up for The Learning Institute’s specialised ICFE training course, students can also begin to immerse themselves in extra reading materials such as financial newspapers, journals and reports in order to become accustomed to the language usage and key terminology.