MUET

MUET consists of four components: listening, speaking, reading and writing. New test specifications have been introduced officially and will apply from MUET October/November 2008 onwards while old test specifications will still apply for MUET October/November 2007 and April/May 2008. The table below shows the detailed comparison between new and old format of MUET.

Test	Old Test Specifications	New Test Specifications	Possible Genres
Listening (800/1) Duration: Weighting: Number of texts: Number of questions: Question type:	45 marks 30 minutes 15% 3 15 Four-option multiple-choice	45 marks 30 minutes 15% 5 20 - Information transfer - Short answer - Four-option multiple-choice - Three-option multiple choice	Lecture, briefing, talk, discussion, interview, telephone conversation, announcement, instructions, advertisement, news, meeting, documentary
Speaking (800/2) Duration: Weighting: Number of tasks: Task format:	45 marks 30 minutes 15% 2 A: Individual presentation B: Group interaction	45 marks 30 minutes 15% 2 A: Individual presentation B: Group interaction	Contemporary issues
Reading (800/3) Duration: Weighting: Number of texts: Number of questions: Question type:	135 marks 120 minutes 45% 4 50 - Cloze - Information transfer - Four-option multiple-choice	120 marks 90 minutes 40% 6 shorter texts (at least one text with graphics) 50 - Three-option multiple-choice - Four-option multiple-choice	Articles from journals, newspapers and magazines, academic texts, electronic texts
Writing (800/4) Duration: Weighting: Number of questions: Question type:	75 marks 90 minutes 25% 2 Task 1: Summary of not more than 100 words Task 2: Extended writing not fewer than 250 words	90 marks 90 minutes 30% 2 Task 1: Interpretation of information based on specific stimuli provided (no less than 150 words) Task 2: Extended writing based on a given topic (no less than 350 words)	Report, article, letter, essay

Candidates are rated into six bands – band one being the lowest and band six being the highest -- according to their test scores. The total score is 300 and the table below shows MUET band description.

Band	Aggregated Score	Description
6	260 - 300	Very good user - Very good command of the language. Highly expressive, fluent, accurate and appropriate language: hardly any inaccuracies. Very good understanding of language and contexts. Functions extremely well in the language.
5	220 - 259	Good user - Good command of the language. Expressive, fluent, accurate and appropriate language but with minor inaccuracies. Good understanding of language and contexts. Functions well in the language.
4	180 - 219	Competent user - Satisfactory command of the language. Satisfactory expressive and fluent, appropriate language but with occasional inaccuracies. Satisfactory understanding of language and contexts. Functions satisfactorily in the language.
3	140 - 179	Modest user - Modest command of the language. Modestly expressive and fluent, appropriate language but with noticeable inaccuracies. Modest understanding of language and contexts. Able to function modestly in the language.
2	100 - 139	Limited user - Limited command of the language. Lacks expressiveness, fluency and appropriacy: inaccurate use of the language resulting in breakdown in communication. Limited understanding of language and contexts. Limited ability to function in the language.
1	Below 100	Extremely limited user - Poor command of the language. Unable to use language to express ideas: inaccurate use of the language resulting in frequent breakdowns in communication. Little or poor understanding of language and contexts. Hardly able to function in the language.