COMPUTER-BASED OR PAPER-BASED CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH EXAM - WHICH SHOULD YOU TAKE? ALL THE INFO YOU NEED

hello everyone thank you for joining me again this is to the point english with ben i'm ben and welcome to any new viewers now regular viewers will know that i've made plenty of videos now on the cambridge english exams for the b2 first the c1 advanced c2 proficiency and i've covered many areas from how to prepare how long it takes to prepare a book recommendations and even what to do the day before an exam but there's one big question that many people have asked me um and i think it's time to make a video about it and that question is is it better to take the computer-based exam or the paper-based exam and in this video i'm going to analyze that question but for those of you who have no patience and don't want to watch a video they just want the quick answer the answer is computer-based exam without a doubt but in this video i'm going to explain why i think the computer-based exam is the best option now obviously i've never taken a cambridge english exam and i'm not planning to but i've helped many people prepare and i've received a lot of feedback from different students on on both the paper-based exam and the computer-based exam also i have to thank frank the exam expert frank who i interviewed a couple of months ago you can check out the video there he helped to explain why a computer-based exam is the best the best option now the first thing i must do today is address a couple of misconceptions about the computer-based exam you can't do it at home and it's not internet based it's computer-based it's not done via the internet it's done on a computer but not connected to the internet so yeah many people think because it's computer-based you can do it anywhere but no you must go to the exam center your local exam center to do the exam now also i need to talk about some things which are the same that both the computer-based exam and the paper-based exam have in common and the first most important thing is that the content is the same one exam is not easy easier than the other the content is exactly the same also the length of the exam is the same so the timing is the same there's no you don't have more time in the computer-based exam or less it's exactly the same the marketing criteria is the same so you're not going to have any difference there the examiners will look at the computer-based exam in exactly the same way they look at the paper-based exam and the preparation is basically the same you all the advice and tips i've given in my past videos on how to prepare for the cambridge english exams they are all valid whether it's the paper-based exam or the computer-based exam and finally the speaking paper the speaking paper is exactly the same in both paper in both options in fact there is no computer-based option for the speaking paper it's exactly the same you must be in a room with an examiner and your partner and the assessor doing the exam in person okay but now let's look at some of the differences and really i'm just going to list first of all the advantages of taking the computer-based exam now one of the biggest advantages is related to the listening paper and that is you in a computer-based exam you will have headphones now in some paper-based exams depending on the examination center you may have headphones but usually not and it can be very difficult to hear if you're sitting if you're unlucky to be sitting in at the back or sitting next to someone who's rustling their papers or coughing at just the time the the moment of the answer that you're listening for that can be a big problem in the listening paper but in the computer-based exam you're guaranteed to have headphones not only that but you will see on the screen in the computer-based exam in the top right hand corner that you have a volume control so audio control so you can turn the volume up or down to your preference which again is a big advantage you have more control of the listening in general another advantage that many people don't realize that you having a computer-based exam is that you have a little screen timer at the top of the screen uh counting down from the moment you start each paper it counts down and you can see exactly how many more minutes you have left so it helps you to plan your time as you know if you've watched my previous videos the reading and use of english in particular it's very important to have good time management because you have 90 minutes to do a lot of reading and a lot of questions answer a lot of questions so you need to manage your time well so if you have the minutes there ticking down it will help you another advantage you can highlight the text now what sometimes happens in these exams you have so much text in in the reading paper especially you can get lost a little bit and but if you can just highlight the text when you're going backwards and forwards between the the text and the answers the options you have it can really help you organize how you approach the the test you don't get lost so easily you can highlight the parts that you think are important for the the question and also you can take notes on the screen so if you think you have seen something important but you're going to keep on reading you don't want to forget that thing that that important information you have making a note at that moment will help you so you can go back later and it will remind you what you saw what what was that information that you saw that you think you thought at that time would help you and also a big advantage for part seven i think it is of the reading and use of english for the advanced and part six i think for the c2 proficiency is a drag and drop feature so drag and drop means you can click on a paragraph and put it into the position that you think is correct in the text and then you can see the whole text and read through it and check that it flows and fits well if you don't like that paragraph then you can just replace it with another paragraph until you're happy with the paragraph you've chosen that's a huge advantage because again with a paper exam you're just going backwards and forwards looking at the different papers that you have in front of you and your notes and you could you can get lost i'm terribly sorry to interrupt this video but i'm just editing it now and it just occurred to me that in my enthusiasm for demonstrating all the benefits and advantages of the computer-based exam i may have overlooked the fact that some of you may have already registered for the paper-based exam and you may be watching this video and thinking oh no i've made a terrible mistake ben says the computer-based exam is much better much easier to pass etc but no that's not what i'm saying that's not the impression i want to give on the balance of things in my opinion the computer-based exam has more advantages there are more benefits to to taking that exam rather than the paper-based exam but really it doesn't it shouldn't make the difference between you passing the exam or failing the exam there are much more important factors involved your preparation your level how well you know the exam how well you get to know the format etc so i think i had to say that because i'm a bit worried that people will watch this video and start to panic because they're not doing the the computer-based exam they're not going to take the computer-based exam because they've already signed up for the paper-based exam as i said there are much more important factors to consider than which type of exam you take okay sorry for the interruption back to the video another advantage is that it's easy to navigate you have these buttons along the bottom so you can go to any part of the paper you're on as i've said in previous videos you don't have to necessarily follow the order that you see in the paper you can start at part 5 which i often recommend in the reading and use of english 678 and then 4321 but you can do it in any order you you like with those buttons they really help you navigate it's very intuitive you also have the advantage of accessibility being built in so you can adjust the settings um to suit you to help you so for example the text size you can make the text bigger also you can change the color so you can for example change it from the traditional white and black white background with black text you can change it to a black background with yellow text for example and also you can change the screen resolution just to help uh make maybe make it clearer for you to to read now all those advantages i've just given uh during the exam those advantages you see during the exam but one advantage that you get after the exam is that you receive the results much more quickly from the computer-based exam so you should get them within three weeks in a paper-based exam i think it can be up to two months i've heard people having to wait up to two months now of course we mustn't forget that there are some advantages to taking the paper exam the paper-based exam for example some people are just more familiar and feel more comfortable using paper and pen i'm one of those people to be honest but but i think it's worth getting familiar familiarizing yourself with the computer-based format because there are so many advantages on the official cambridge website you have a tutorial on the computer-based exam and you can do a sample exam which will help you get familiar with the format how to manage how to navigate the screen before you go into the the exam so i'll link to those in the description to this video so you can get to know the exam a little bit better before you decide which one you're going to choose okay i hope you found that useful as i said it doesn't really make any difference to me which exam you choose but i do think the computer based is the best option so if you choose that let me know how it goes because i'd love to get some feedback put your experiences in the comments to help other students and i'll see you very soon for another video take care bye [Music]

Channel: To The Point English with Ben.

Views: 1,504

Keywords: Computer-based exam Cambridge, computer based Cambridge exam, computer based c1 advanced Cambridge exam, computer based c1 advanced, c1 advanced Cambridge exam computer based, Cambridge English exams computer or paper, computer or paper exam Cambridge, cae exam tips, c1 advanced exam tips, c1 advanced Cambridge tips, how to pass the Cambridge English, how to pass c1 advanced Cambridge exam, how to pass c2 proficiency Cambridge, how to pass b2 first Cambridge exam

Id: kB3AkFKFAL4

Length: 10min 48sec (648 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 24 2021