Practice tests
Real exam format, with band scores.
Reading
The Umbrella: A Short History of Staying Dry
The invention and spread of the umbrella as a practical tool
A2easy13 questions18 min
Honeybees and the Business of Pollination
The role of managed honeybees in farming and the risks they face
A2easy13 questions18 min
The Rise of the Lighthouse
The history and engineering of coastal lighthouses and their changing role in maritime navigation
B2medium13 questions20 min
How Seeds Travel
Plant dispersal and the strategies seeds use to move
B1medium13 questions20 min
Bringing buried rivers back to the surface
Urban planning and the environment
B2medium13 questions20 min
The Return of the Night Train
Why European sleeper services collapsed, and why they came back
B2medium13 questions20 min
Why Cities Are Getting Quieter
Urban noise, and why measuring it is only half the problem
B2medium13 questions20 min
Reading the Rings of Trees
How tree rings became a dating method precise to a single year
B2medium13 questions20 min
Salt: The Mineral That Built Trade Routes
The historical importance of salt in preservation, trade and taxation
B1medium13 questions20 min
From Sand to Window: The Making of Glass
The chemistry and industrial history of glass manufacturing
B1medium13 questions20 min
Taming the Horse
The domestication of the horse and its effects on early human societies
B1medium13 questions20 min
The Urban Heat Island Effect
Why cities are warmer than surrounding countryside, and how planners are responding
B2medium13 questions20 min
Reading by Touch: The Story of Braille
The invention and adoption of the braille reading system for blind people
B2medium13 questions20 min
Coral Bleaching and the Limits of Recovery
The biology of coral bleaching and the prospects for reef survival under warming oceans
B2medium13 questions20 min
The Outsourced Mind: Cognitive Offloading and Its Discontents
Cognitive science
C1hard13 questions20 min
The Value of Waiting
Queues, rationing and what economists call the price of time
C1hard13 questions20 min
The Economics of Repair
Why household goods became hard to mend, and whether legislation can change it
C1hard13 questions20 min
The Problem with Averages
Why designing for the average person produces designs that fit nobody
C1hard13 questions20 min
The Placebo Response: Belief as a Physiological Event
The clinical and neurological reality of the placebo effect in medicine
C1hard13 questions20 min
Cooperation Without Enforcement: Lessons from Game Theory
How repeated interaction and reciprocity sustain cooperation without central enforcement
C1hard13 questions20 min
More reading papers on the way
New ones are written and added regularly — this is not the whole set.
Listening
Renting a Car for the Weekend
A customer visits a car hire branch to arrange a short weekend rental.
A2easy10 questions12 min
Lost Property Office Message
A recorded answerphone message at a train station's lost property office explains how to collect an item.
A2easy10 questions12 min
Cancelling a Gym Membership
A gym member visits reception to ask about cancelling their membership.
A2easy10 questions12 min
Radio Announcement: Bramley Farmers' Market
A presenter on a local community radio station announces details of an upcoming farmers' market.
A2easy10 questions12 min
Booking a Badminton Class
A caller phones a leisure centre to book a place in a community badminton class.
A2medium10 questions12 min
Renting an Allotment Plot
A caller enquires about renting a vegetable plot from a town council.
A2medium10 questions12 min
Volunteering at Marlow Fen Nature Reserve
A reserve manager briefs a group of new volunteers on how the site works and what their first day will involve.
B1medium10 questions12 min
Joining a Community Choir
A caller telephones the secretary of a local choir to ask about joining.
A2medium10 questions12 min
A Tour of the Harbour Museum
A guide introduces a museum housed in a former ice house before taking a group inside.
B1medium10 questions12 min
Reporting a Lost Bag at the Station
A passenger reports a bag left on a train and is told how lost property is handled.
A2medium10 questions12 min
Planning a Campus Recycling Project
A tutor and three students discuss how to organise a student project promoting recycling on campus.
B1medium10 questions12 min
Booking Rooms for a Wedding Party
A guest phones a hotel to book several rooms for family attending a wedding.
B1medium10 questions12 min
Welcome to Harborne Museum
A recorded welcome talk introduces visitors to a local history museum and explains how to find their way around.
B1medium10 questions12 min
The History of Timekeeping
A university lecture on how humans have measured time, from ancient devices to atomic clocks.
C1hard10 questions12 min
What Museums Choose to Keep
A university lecture on how museums decide which objects enter a collection.
C1hard10 questions12 min
Planning a Fieldwork Study on Chapel Street
Three geography students meet their tutor to plan a fieldwork project on a recently pedestrianised shopping street.
B2hard10 questions12 min
Planning a Presentation on Food Waste
Two students discuss a presentation with their tutor, who challenges their argument and their timing.
B2hard10 questions12 min
How Coral Reefs Recover
A university lecture on what a damaged coral reef needs in order to recover.
C1hard10 questions12 min
Urban Beekeeping
A university lecturer gives a talk on the growth and challenges of beekeeping in cities.
B2hard10 questions12 min
Choosing a Dissertation Topic
A supervisor meets two postgraduate students to discuss and narrow down their dissertation research topics.
B2hard10 questions12 min
The Global Coffee Trade
A university lecturer traces how coffee moved from a regional crop to a global commodity, and the economic tensions this created.
C1hard10 questions12 min
More listening papers on the way
New ones are written and added regularly — this is not the whole set.
Writing
Writing tasks with AI examiner feedback
Task 1 reports and letters, Task 2 essays — graded on all four criteria with a rewritten model paragraph.
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Never run out of material — the AI writes a brand-new exam-format test on demand, saved on this device.