If you are doing the GBC test soon, we can help you prepare. You can practice with your teacher in two ways:
- Go through our complete list of past GBC questions with feedback and advice to help you improve your score; or
- Do a mock test so you can get used to the atmosphere and style of the test.
If you have never done the GBC test before, then you should do a couple of mock tests so that you understand what to expect.
If you have taken the test before, it is recommended to do the Speaking Test Strategies course to discover winning strategies and get a lot of advice to quickly improve your score.
Please ensure you have read the introduction and teacher's notes to the Speaking Test Strategies course.
When practicing for the G.B.C. test with a student, either:
- run through all the questions methodically (if you do this, make sure the next teacher knows where to pick up); or
- do a mock test and start with a few of the easy questions on the first page and then work your way up to the tougher ones on the second document.
Run through
If you choose to do a run through, then that is going to take a while. Depending on how good the student is, and how into the weeds you want to get, you might only cover three or four questions in a 25-minute session. Make sure you are giving them plenty of feedback, and hitting all those main points that they are being tested and graded on.
Mock tests
This can be hard to judge the timing with a new student (check their current score). You want to start off on the simpler questions (the ones at the start of the first page about them and their hometown, travel etc.) and then move through to talk about their job, and then give them a couple of the harder, more abstract questions from the second sheet. This should take 15 minutes.
If you are doing a mock test, then don't focus on feedback. Leave that until the end, and be more general. The idea here is for them to get used to the format and the atmosphere. You should not be doing too many mock tests with a student. A couple in the lead up to them taking the test is fine.
Important
We are not supposed to have these questions. The G.B.C. assessment is closed to the public and the questions are not publicly available. History: up to about 2015 the questions were limited to two sheets of paper, but those got out into the world and students prepared for them specifically.
Now the questions in the G.B.C. assessment are flexible and ever changing. A list of test questions is available here:
https://theenglishfarm.com/teacher-help/curriculum/gbc-test-previously-fsi/gbc-style-questions
DO NOT SHARE THIS DOCUMENT WITH STUDENTS.