Learning Materials from Publishers
To review a list of the books currently available from publishers which are suitable for students of financial English, click on the link.
Learning Materials from Cambridge ESOL
There are a number of comprehensive sample learning materials available for Cambridge ICFE, including:
Information for candidates
ICFE Information for candidates (pdf - 978kb)
Handbook
The Cambridge ICFE Handbook is now available for teachers who are preparing candidates for ICFE. The handbook focuses on each paper and includes information on content, advice on preparation as well as sample papers.
ICFE Handbook for Teachers (pdf - 1.49mb)
Sample papers
How many papers does ICFE have?
ICFE has four papers: Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking. The papers assess candidates’ ability to understand spoken and written English in a number of realistic contexts of the kind accounting and finance practitioners are likely to encounter in their daily working lives. The sample papers have been trialled on a range of candidates from twenty different countries and exemplify the format of each individual paper.
Reading: there are six tasks in this paper: three are tests of Reading and three are tests of English in Use. The texts included on the paper come from journals, books and articles related to finance and accounting. There are fifty four questions. The paper lasts for one hour and fifteen minutes.
Reading
sample paper (pdf - 261k)
Reading
sample paper - marking key (pdf - 35k)
Reading past paper pack May 2007 (pdf - 775kb)
Reading exam report May 2007 (pdf - 660kb)
Writing: the Cambridge ICFE Writing Test has two tasks. The first task is a letter of 120 to 180 words which the candidate writes in response to a piece of correspondence received. The second task is a report or proposal of 200 to 250 words which the candidate writes for a client or another department within the company he/she works for. The first task is worth 40% of the marks on the paper and the second task is worth 60%. The paper lasts for one hour and fifteen minutes.
Writing sample paper (pdf - 154k)
Writing past paper pack May 2007 (pdf - 695kb)
Writing exam report May 2007 (pdf - 579kb)
Listening: the Cambridge ICFE Listening paper has four parts. Each part is heard twice. There are thirty questions on the paper and each question carries one mark. Part One consists of three short extracts (eg part of a news report or presentation) with two multiple choice questions about each. Part Two is a discussion or interview between two people about an aspect of their work in finance or accounting about which there are five multiple choice questions. Part Three features one person delivering a talk on a topic such as company performance. The task consists of nine sentences about the talk with gaps which the candidate must complete with no more than three words. Part Four consists of five different people talking about a part of their work or studies in finance or accounting. There are two tasks which focus on an aspect of what each speaker says, for example, a problem which arose at work and how the speaker solved the problem. The candidate matches a sentence or short phrase to each speaker for each task. The paper lasts for approximately forty minutes.
Listening sample paper (pdf - 135k)
Listening sample paper - Part 1 (mp3 - 5.8mb)
Listening sample paper - Part 2 (mp3 - 3.5mb)
Listening sample paper - Part 3 (mp3 - 4.7mb)
Listening sample paper - Part 4 (mp3 - 7.3mb)
Listening sample paper - tapescript (pdf - 61k)
Listening sample paper - marking key (pdf - 14k)
Listening pastpaper May 2007 (pdf - 584k)
Listening exam report May 2007 (pdf - 733k)
Listening pastpaper May 2007 - Part 1 (mp3 - 8.04mb)
Listening pastpaper May 2007 - Part 2 (mp3 - 5.48mb)
Listening pastpaper May 2007 - Part 3 (mp3 - 6.08mb)
Listening pastpaper May 2007 - Part 4 (mp3 - 10.7mb)
Speaking: the Cambridge ICFE Speaking paper has four parts and has a paired format of two examiners and two candidates. Part One consists of an interview and tests the candidates’ ability to respond to questions and expand on responses. Part Two tests each candidates’ ability to speak for one minute without interruption on a finance-related topic. Part Three consists of a collaborative task which the two candidates complete together. Part Four tests the candidates’ ability to engage in a discussion based on the Part Three topic. The Speaking paper lasts for approximately sixteen minutes.
Speaking sample test (pdf - 54k)
Speaking pastpaper May 2007 (pdf - 601kb)
Speaking exam report May 2007 (pdf - 582kb)