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Key English Test (KET)

KET has three components - Reading and Writing, Listening and Speaking. The Reading and Writing component contributes 50% of the final mark, and the Listening and Speaking components each contributes 25%.

Reading and Writing (Paper 1) - Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Reading - The tasks focus on a number of short texts, including public notices and general interest articles. Candidates demonstrate their ability to use a variety of reading strategies to understand the general meaning and to extract specific details.

Writing - Candidates complete three tasks: filling in gaps in a text, completing a form, and writing a short note.

Listening (Paper 2) - Time: approximately 25 minutes

Candidates demonstrate their ability to extract factual information from a number of recorded texts, including short public announcements and longer conversations and monologues.

Speaking (Paper 3) - Time 8-10 minutes

Candidates are tested in pairs by two examiners on their ability to speak and interact in English. Candidates interact with one of the examiners, and also speak to one another using prompts to ask and answer questions of a personal and non-personal kind.