About this transcript
An invented but realistic Grade 5 exam, written to the Trinity format and timings, with the candidate at a C to B grade: the level most settlement and citizenship candidates are at. The candidate is Farhan, 38, from Bangladesh, nine years in Oldham, works in a takeaway. The notes between the sections say what the examiner is doing and which Grade 5 items the candidate produces. Trinity publishes real exam videos for the Elementary stage; watch one after reading this.
Greeting (about 30 seconds)
Examiner Good afternoon. Come in, have a seat. Can I have your Topic Form, please? Thank you. And your name is?
Candidate Farhan. Farhan Ahmed.
Examiner Nice to meet you, Farhan. We'll start with your topic.
Not marked. But a full sentence here ("Yes, I'm Farhan, nice to meet you too") warms the voice up. Candidates who answer with one word in the greeting often carry on that way.
Topic phase (about 5 minutes): "My work in a takeaway"
Examiner So, Farhan, tell me about your topic.
Candidate My topic is my work in a takeaway. I've worked there for six years. It is in Oldham, near the bus station. It is my cousin's shop. I started as a kitchen helper and now I am the manager in the evening.
Examiner What does the manager do in the evening?
Candidate Many things. I take the orders on the phone and on the app, I check the drivers, and I close the shop at eleven. The most difficult is Friday, because we have a lot of orders, maybe one hundred. Have you ever ordered a curry on Friday night?
Examiner I have, yes. Usually it takes a long time.
Candidate Yes, I'm sorry about that! On Friday everybody orders at the same time, seven o'clock, eight o'clock. We cannot cook faster.
Examiner You've written "how the job has changed". How has it changed?
Candidate Before, people came to the shop and paid cash. Now almost everything is from the app. It's easier for the customer but we pay the app a lot of money, thirty per cent. And the customers never see us, they only see the driver. I don't like this so much.
Examiner Do you think you'll stay in this job?
Candidate For some years, yes. In the future I will maybe open my own shop. I have thought about it since last year. But first I need to finish my English and my citizenship.
Examiner Thank you, Farhan. That's the end of your topic.
Grade 5 items: present perfect with for and since (I've worked there for six years, I have thought about it since last year), because for a reason, will for the future, a lot of, and a question to the examiner that fits the topic. The question is required at Grade 5 and he asked it early, which is the safe way to do it. Weak points: maybe used for might, articles missing here and there, "the most difficult is Friday" where "the most difficult day is Friday" was meant. Nothing blocks understanding. Phase grade: B (merit), held back from A by the short, list-like answers at the start.
Conversation phase (about 5 minutes)
The examiner picks two of the six subject areas. Here: means of transport, then recent personal experiences.
Means of transport
Examiner Now we'll talk about two other subjects. First, transport. How do you usually travel around Oldham?
Candidate Usually by tram. The tram goes to Manchester in thirty minutes. For work I walk, because the shop is ten minutes from my house.
Examiner Do you prefer the tram or the bus?
Candidate I prefer the tram. The bus is cheaper but it is slow and it stops many times. The tram is clean and you know the time. But when it rains, the tram is full, very full.
Examiner Have you ever driven in the UK?
Candidate No, I haven't. I have a licence from Bangladesh, but here I never drive. My wife drives. I want to take the test, but I haven't had time. Maybe next year.
Examiner How long does it take you to get to Manchester?
Candidate About thirty minutes, like I said, and then ten minutes walking. Not very long.
Examiner Do you think people will use cars less in the future?
Candidate In the city, yes, I think so, because the petrol is very expensive and the parking is a problem. In the villages, no. My friend lives in a village and there is one bus in the morning and one in the evening. He cannot live without a car.
The examiner's questions are the Grade 5 set: How do you usually…? Do you prefer…? Have you ever…? How long…? Do you think… will…? The candidate answers each with two or three sentences and a reason. I prefer the tram plus a comparison, I haven't had time, not very long, will with because. The slip "here I never drive" (present simple instead of present perfect) is typical and does not cost the grade.
Recent personal experiences
Examiner Let's move on. Have you done anything interesting recently?
Candidate Yes. Two weeks ago we went to Blackpool for the first time. My children have wanted to go for a long time because their friends told them about the tower.
Examiner What was it like?
Candidate Cold! Very windy. But the children loved it. We went up the tower and we ate fish and chips on the beach. It was expensive, the parking and the tickets, but it was a good day. I have never seen the sea in England before, only in Bangladesh.
Examiner Have you just started anything new, a course, a hobby?
Candidate I have just started an English class at the college, two evenings a week. That's why I'm here! And since January I have gone to the gym with my cousin. Not every day, but two or three times.
Examiner What will you do next weekend?
Candidate Next weekend I will work, Friday and Saturday. On Sunday we will go to my sister's house in Rochdale for a birthday. My nephew will be five.
Examiner Thank you, Farhan. That's the end of the exam. You'll get your result by email tomorrow morning.
Candidate Thank you very much. Have a good afternoon.
This subject exists to bring out the present perfect, and it did: have wanted… for a long time, have never seen, have just started, since January I have gone. Past simple for the finished trip, will for next weekend. Phase grade: B (merit). Two Bs is a comfortable pass.
What made this a pass
- Every question got two or three sentences, never one word.
- A reason with because nearly every time an opinion was given.
- The present perfect appeared on its own, not only when the examiner's question forced it.
- The question to the examiner in the Topic phase was asked, early and naturally.
- Mistakes were small and did not stop the examiner understanding.
What would have made it a C: single-sentence answers, no question to the examiner, and I live here for six years instead of I've lived. What would have made it a D: a topic recited from memory with no answers to the follow-up questions, or questions not understood after a repeat.
Try the same questions
The free practice runs the Grade 5 Conversation questions on any of the six subjects for four minutes and grades the answers the way the notes above do.