FCE Reading and Use of English: the complete guide

Reading and Use of English is the first paper of B2 First, and it is the longest in terms of questions. It mixes two different skills on one question paper. The Use of English parts check how well you control grammar, vocabulary and word building at sentence level. The Reading parts check whether you can understand longer texts: their main ideas, details, opinions, attitude and the way they are organised.

Here is what happens in each part, with a link to our full guide for each one:

1. Part 1: multiple-choice cloze. A short text with 8 gaps. For each gap you choose one of four options. It tests vocabulary: collocations, fixed phrases, phrasal verbs and words with similar meanings.
2. Part 2: open cloze. A short text with 8 gaps and no options. You write one word in each gap, usually a grammar word such as a preposition, pronoun, auxiliary or linker.
3. Part 3: word formation. A short text with 8 gaps. You change a word in capitals so that it fits the gap, for example SUCCEED → successful.
4. Part 4: key word transformation. Six separate sentences. You complete a second sentence so it means the same as the first, using a key word you must not change.
5. Part 5: multiple choice. One longer text with 6 four-option questions about detail, opinion, attitude, purpose and meaning in context.
6. Part 6: gapped text. One text with 6 sentences removed. You put the right sentence back in each gap. There is at least one extra sentence that you will not use.
7. Part 7: multiple matching. One text in sections, or several short texts, and 10 questions. You find which section contains each piece of information.

Although you sit one paper, your result shows two separate skills. Parts 1, 5, 6 and 7 are added together for Reading, out of 42 marks. Parts 2, 3 and 4 are added together for Use of English, out of 28 marks. Each skill is then converted to its own score on the Cambridge English Scale, just like Writing, Listening and Speaking.

This has two practical results for you:

• Not every question is worth the same. In Parts 1, 2, 3 and 7 each answer is worth 1 mark. In Parts 5 and 6 each answer is worth 2 marks. In Part 4 each answer can earn up to 2 marks, and you can get 1 mark for a partly correct answer.
• The two sections are small. Because Use of English has fewer marks in total, every single gap in Parts 2, 3 and 4 makes a real difference to that score. A careless spelling mistake in Part 3 costs you more than it seems.

To see how your raw marks might turn into a scale score, try our FCE score calculator, and read how B2 First grades work for the full picture. Remember that any calculator only gives an estimate.

Strategies help, but in Parts 1 to 4 most marks come from knowing the language. Our reference pages collect the words and patterns that appear again and again at B2 level:

• Word formation list: 120+ word families grouped by suffix and prefix, plus spelling traps.
• Phrasal verbs: 80+ common B2 phrasal verbs with meanings and examples.
• Collocations: 100+ word partnerships such as make progress and take advantage of.
• Common mistakes: the errors candidates make most often in Parts 1 to 4, with corrections.

Linkers like although, despite and whereas appear in Parts 2 and 4 as well as in your writing, so our linking words guide is useful here too.

For daily practice, try the phrasal verb trainer and the word formation trainer. When you are ready to test yourself, every part has a free practice set on our practice page.