Aptis General study guide
Aptis General · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
Aptis is an English proficiency test developed by British Council experts and grounded in language testing research. It is designed to give clear, detailed insights into language proficiency, with quick, accurate results, affordable pricing and adaptable delivery options. The British Council positions it as a trusted choice for assessing English skills and opening doors to domestic education and employment opportunities. It is used by governments, institutions and organisations in over 85 countries worldwide. The Aptis General study guide has 4 sections and about 1,175 words.
01Reading: Working With Five Text Types
Aptis General Reading is built around a sequence of short tasks, each tied to a different text type. Expect informal messages, short factual notices, longer articles, and a gap-fill or ordering-style task.
330 words, about 2 min02Writing: Task, Register, and Range
Aptis General Writing moves from short responses to longer, more open tasks. The core concepts are task achievement (doing everything the prompt asks), register (formal vs informal), organisation (paragraphing and linking), range (varied vocabulary and structures), and accuracy (grammar, spelling, punctuation).
284 words, about 1 min03Listening: Prediction, Signposts, and Distractors
Aptis General Listening presents recordings in different formats, from short exchanges to longer monologues, each followed by questions. The concepts you must understand are gist (overall purpose), specific detail (numbers, names, times), attitude and opinion (how the speaker feels), function (advising, complaining, suggesting), and signposting (words like however , actually , the thing is that signal a change of direction).
281 words, about 1 min04Speaking: Fluency, Structure, and the Four Parts
Aptis General Speaking is recorded and scored on fluency , pronunciation , vocabulary range , grammatical accuracy , and coherence . The test typically includes a warm-up of personal questions, a picture-description task, a comparison task, and a longer discussion of a topic with follow-up prompts.
280 words, about 1 min