English exam preparation
Exam preparation is teaching aimed at one exam and one date. It covers the format of each paper, the timing, and the specific skills the examiners score, alongside the English itself. Preparation for the Hungarian English érettségi at B1 and B2 and for the main international exams.
Which exams this covers
- The Hungarian English érettségi, at both középszint (B1) and emelt szint (B2)
- Cambridge B2 First and C1 Advanced
- IELTS Academic and General Training
- Other recognised language exams, on request
If none of these describes you exactly, write anyway. The list is a guide, not a filter.
Why exam preparation is not the same as English lessons
An exam measures a narrow set of things in a fixed format under time pressure. Students lose marks they did not need to lose, not because their English is weak, but because they misread a task type, ran out of time on the reading paper, or gave a one-sentence answer where the mark scheme wanted three.
That gap between what a student knows and what they score is the part exam preparation closes, and it closes faster than the underlying level rises. If your exam is close, this is where the time is best spent.
How preparation works
We start from the exam date and work backwards. The first session is a full past paper, usually taken cold, because a real score tells us more than a conversation about how you feel about the exam.
From there, each lesson takes one paper or one task type, works through the technique it rewards, and then practises it. Writing gets marked against the actual mark scheme rather than a general impression, so you can see where the marks came from and where they did not.
In the last few weeks, we move to full papers under exam timing. By then the technique should be automatic, and what remains is stamina and nerves.
The érettségi specifically
The English érettségi is taken at két szint: középszint, which maps to roughly B1, and emelt szint, which maps to roughly B2. Both have four parts - reading, listening, writing, and use of English - plus a speaking exam.
Two things decide most outcomes. The first is task recognition: knowing at a glance what an open-cloze item wants, or how a guided composition is marked, saves minutes that students otherwise spend deciding. The second is the speaking exam, which many students prepare for last and which carries a substantial share of the marks.
If you are choosing between the two levels, bring a past paper to the first lesson. The decision is much easier with a real score in front of us.
Who teaches it
I am CELTA-qualified and passed Delta Module 1, Cambridge’s diploma-level exam in language analysis and teaching methodology. At Kings London I taught international students and wrote their progress and end-of-course reports, so tracking a student against a target is routine work for me.
I am also a native Hungarian speaker, and taught at an English language school in Hungary. For érettségi students that means I can recognise the mistakes that come from Hungarian, explain why they happen, and switch to Hungarian when that is the faster route to understanding.
Common questions
How should I prepare for the Cambridge B2 First or C1 Advanced exam?
Start by sitting one full past paper under timed conditions, before any teaching. It tells you which paper is costing you marks, which is rarely the paper students expect. Preparation then works on that paper and on exam technique alongside the English itself.
Can I prepare for IELTS on my own?
Many people do, and for reading and listening self-study works well because the answers are objective. Writing and speaking are the harder half to prepare alone, because both are scored against criteria you cannot apply to your own work reliably. That is usually where a teacher earns their fee.
How long before the exam should I start?
For technique alone, about three months of weekly lessons is enough. If you also need to move up a level, start a year out. Starting six weeks before an exam still helps, but at that point we are improving your score at your current level rather than raising the level.
Should I take the érettségi at középszint or emelt szint?
It depends on your current level and on what your university application needs. Emelt szint carries more weight in admissions scoring, and it maps to roughly B2. Sit a past paper first: a real score answers the question better than an estimate does.
Can you prepare me for IELTS or Cambridge as well?
Yes. The technique differs between exams, so tell me which one and which date at the start, and preparation is built around that specific paper rather than a general idea of exam English.
Do you mark practice writing between lessons?
Yes, against the mark scheme for your exam. You get the score, the reason for it, and the specific change that moves it up, rather than a corrected copy with no explanation.
What if I fail, or score lower than I need?
We look at the paper, work out where the marks went, and decide whether the next attempt needs more technique or more English. Most students who miss a target miss it in one paper rather than across all of them, which makes the next round of preparation much more focused.
How much do lessons cost?
Prices depend on the lesson length, whether the lessons are one-to-one or in a group, and whether they run in person or online. Send me a message describing what you need and I will quote a rate.
Tell me which exam and when
Send the exam, the date, and your most recent practice score if you have one. I will tell you what is realistic in the time available.