The MET explained
for real

How your score is calculated

The MET has no "pass" or "fail". Each of the four sections receives a score from 0 to 80, and the final score is the simple average of the four.

Each score band corresponds to a level of the Common European Framework (CEFR), which is what most institutions actually ask for:

Listening~35 minutes · 50 questions · three parts

This is the section where most people lose points without understanding why, because nobody tells them how it really works. Two rules that apply to all three parts:

• The audio plays once and does not stop. There is no going back.
• The question is also spoken, at the end of the audio. You need to listen to the conversation and the question.

In the examples below you can replay as much as you like, but try to answer after listening once, as in the real test.

Part 1 — short conversations

Two people, three or four turns, one question. It is fast: you have barely understood the topic and the question is already there.

Part 2 — long conversation

A real conversation, with development, and four to five questions about the same audio. Here you can take notes. The first question is almost always about the general idea; the following ones ask for details and intention.

Part 3 — lecture or talk

One person speaking: a teacher, a guide, a presenter. It is the densest part, with more academic vocabulary. It also comes in a block of 4 or 5 questions, and you can take notes.

Reading & Grammar65 minutes · 50 questions · both count as ONE score

This section confuses the most people, because on the score report it appears under a single name, but inside it is two quite different things:

• 20 Grammar questions: stand-alone sentences with a gap;
• 30 Reading questions: 2 long texts (5 questions each) + 2 sets of 3 related short texts (10 questions each).

In other words, grammar is worth 40% of your reading score. Anyone who only practices reading comprehension is leaving almost half the section untrained.

The 20 Grammar questions

An everyday sentence, a gap, four very short options. The MET is not testing vocabulary here; it is testing form. Notice that the four options are usually variations of the same word.

The 30 Reading questions

Half are long texts, magazine-article style, about science, history or behavior. The other half is the part that scares anyone who has never seen it: three short texts on the same subject, in different formats, a notice, a news item, an email, followed by questions that require you to cross-reference the information from all three.

Writing45 minutes · two parts · scored by human raters

You write two very different things, and there is a single clock for both: anyone who spends too long on the first part gets tangled up in the second.

Part 1 — short answers

Three personal questions on the same theme. Short answers, one to three sentences each. It looks easy, and it is where many people lose points by answering with a single word.

Part 2 — the essay

A controversial topic with two sides, and you need to give your opinion with reasons and examples. There is no "right" answer; there is a well-built answer.

Speaking~10 minutes · 5 tasks · recorded and scored by human raters

You speak to an examiner (or record, in the digital format), and the time for each task is fixed: it starts and ends whether you are speaking or not. Silence is expensive, and speaking until the end is trainable.

One sentence the examiner is required to say, and it is worth gold: "There are no right or wrong answers — say as much as you can." There is no wrong opinion in Speaking. There is an answer that is too short.

Task 1 — describe a picture 60 seconds

You are given a black-and-white drawing of an everyday scene and describe what is happening. The picture below is the same type of scene used in Task 1:

Task 160 seconds

Describe what you see in the picture. Say as much as you can.

▶ Start

01:00

Model answer · 60 seconds

▶

Listen to an answer that fills the whole timesimple vocabulary, no difficult words: that is how you score well

See the text of what was said

This picture shows a factory, or maybe a warehouse, and I'd say it's the part where the products are checked and packed before they leave. In the front, a woman is pressing the buttons on a control panel. She's wearing a helmet, a vest and gloves, so the machine is probably dangerous. On the right, an older man is writing on a clipboard. He might be the supervisor, because he's only checking, while the others do the physical work. In the middle, two men are carrying a big box together. It looks heavy, because they're using both hands and walking slowly. Behind them there's a forklift, but nobody is driving it. I guess they use it for the heavier pallets. On the wall there are tools, so they probably fix the machines themselves. There's also a clock, and it says around ten, so this seems to be the middle of the morning shift. Overall, everyone looks busy but calm, so I'd say this is just a normal working day in a well organized place.

How to fill the 60 seconds without freezing: start with the general picture ("This picture shows a factory where people are working"), then move to the people and what each one is doing (present continuous is the tense of this task), then the objects and where they are, and finish with a deduction: "It looks like they are producing something. They seem to be busy." That last step, deducing, is what separates an average score from a high one.

Tasks 2 to 5 — the other four

All five tasks count toward your Speaking score; there is no warm-up task. So do the same as above: time yourself and answer out loud. Seriously: read the question, press play and speak. Reading the answer in your head prepares nobody.

Michigan Language Assessment itself publishes a video of a real candidate doing the Speaking section at C1 level. It is well worth watching before the test; it is the closest thing to seeing the test happen:

▶ Watch the official Speaking sample (C1)

Video published by Michigan Language Assessment, the organization that administers the MET.

Test day — and what to do afterwards

Before you go in

• Bring an official photo ID. Without it, there is no test.
• Arrive early. Rushing before the test ruins Listening, which is exactly the part that needs a cool head.
• The order of the sections is set by the test center; be ready to start with any of them.

If the score is not what you expected

There are two different paths, and many people confuse them: