BULATS Preparation Course

This course prepares you for the BULATS Standard Test as well as optional Speaking and Writing Tests.  The Standard Test evaluates your reading and listening skills.  The computer based version of this test is an adaptive test which means the test determines whether or not to make your questions more difficult than the previous ones and even will determine the amount of time you have to complete the test depending on your level of English.  The paper based version has a set time and a set difficulty level for the questions.  The time limit for the computer based exam is normally set by your employer. 

The BULATS Writing and Speaking Tests are optional components that can be taken additionally with the BULATS Standard Test. You or your employer may choose for one or both of these extra components to be added.  The BULATS Writing Test assess your writing skills as well as your knowledge of English vocabulary and grammar.  The BULATS Speaking Test determines your ability to speak the English language in a business context.  The BULATS tests do not have pass or fail scores, the scores you receive merely indicate your level of English to you and your employer. 

The BULATS Standard Test is comprised of two sections, Listening and Reading and Language Knowledge, which has a total time limit of one-hundred and ten minutes and consists of a total of one-hundred and ten questions.  The Listening section of the test has a time limit of fifty minutes and is comprised of four parts, each with their own types of tasks.  The first part has ten questions that evaluate your understanding of short monologues or conversations.  The next part consists of twelve questions and tests your skills of listening over the telephone by writing down phone messages, notes and orders.  The third part further tests your listening skills in determining the main ideas, topics, contexts, or functions of short dialogues or monologues in ten questions.  The fourth part consists of eighteen questions and assesses your ability to listen for details and inference in monologues or dialogues. 

Part one of Reading and Language Knowledge has four questions and you have a time limit of sixty minutes to finish both parts one and two.  The first part is made up of multiple choice questions that evaluate your understanding of messages, advertisements, graphs, timetables and leaflets.   The second part tests your grammar and vocabulary with fill in the blank sentences and multiple choice questions.  The third part requires you to answer multiple choice questions based off of long readings from newspaper or magazine excerpts.  The final portion of part one test your grammar by requiring you to fill in blanks of a medium-length text with the correct word and form. 

Part two of Reading and Language Knowledge is comprised of six questions and has a combined time limit of sixty minutes with part one of this portion of the exam.   In section one, you will have to read four short texts for specific information and answer seven questions based off of the reading.  The second section tests your grammar and vocabulary through answering five multiple choice questions which are based on a medium-length text.  The third section evaluates your level of English grammar by requiring you to fill in five blanks with the necessary word within a medium size text.  The fourth section further tests both your vocabulary and grammar skills through choosing the right word from a series of six multiple choice questions that will correctly complete a gapped sentence.  The final section, number seven, is comprised of seven tasks in which you are to correct errors in the text of a medium-length passage.   

The BULATS Writing Test has a time limit of a total of forty-five minutes and is comprised of two parts.  The first part of this test requires you to write either a fax, letter, e-mail, or message that is fifty to sixty words in length.  In Part two, you are expected to write a report or a letter that is one-hundred and eighty words to two-hundred words in length.  It is recommended that you spend roughly fifteen minutes on the first part and around thirty minutes for the second part as it is much longer. 

The time limit and number of parts in the BULATS Speaking Test depends on if you are taking the computer based version or the paper based version.  The paper version of the test has a time limit of twelve minutes and has three parts.  The first part of the paper version is an interview done in person with the examiner and lasts for roughly four minutes.  In this part, you will have to answer questions about yourself, your interests, your career and your studies.  Part two is a presentation where you are to choose one of three topics and have a total of four minutes to present your impromptu speech and answer various questions given by the examiner.  The third section is a simulated situation where you and the examiner exchange and discuss certain information for four minutes. 

The online version of the BULATS Speaking Test has a time limit of fifteen minutes and consists of five parts.  In the first part, you are supposed to answer close to eight questions about yourself, your work, background and future plans.  The second part requires you to read aloud eight sentences.  The third part gives you forty seconds to prepare a short presentation and then one minute to present to the examiner.  In the fourth part, you are allowed to examine a graphic such as a pie chart or line graph for one minute after which you are to speak about the visual information also for one minute.  The fifth part is a communication activity where you are given forty seconds to read information provided to you on the screen and answer five questions related to the information.