Online TRACE

Online TRACE

Online TRACE will be administered on 6th July, 2020, Monday at 09.45.

You will access the exam here on the exam day.

There is an Online TRACE Guidelines document available for you to learn about the exam requirements and the proctoring tool that will be used during the exam. You can access Online TRACE Guidelines here.

Online TRACE Mock Exam

An Online TRACE mock exam will be available on the website to help students get familiar with the format and procedures of the Online TRACE exam.

The mock exam will be open between 22nd June, Monday, 15.00 and 5th July, Sunday, 21.00. You can take the mock exam at any time and as much as you want. You can access the mock exam here as of 22nd June, Monday, 15.00.

There will be an IT support opportunity available when you take the mock exam and you will see an “IT support” expression on the exam page. If you face any technical problems when you take the mock exam, click on the “IT support” and write the problem in detail. Relevant support people will reply you as soon as possible to help you solve the problem (The time to respond to your problem may vary depending on the time of the day and the number of the students who need support).

You will be provided with technical support during the Online TRACE on 6th July as well. On the exam day, you will use a “chat box” to inform the relevant support person about your problem, and get help immediately.

For any technical support, you can always contact solution center.

Online TRACE - Content

Online TRACE consists of four parts.

Part 1 - IntroductionThe aim of this part of the exam is to expose students to the topic and to give them the opportunity to reflect on it. Students will be presented some prompts such as pictures, charts, tables, etc., which will encourage them to think about the topic and prepare for the exam. This part is NOT graded and takes about 5 minutes.

Part 2 - ReadingThere are 3 reading texts in the Online TRACE. Reading 1 is a short text (about 250 words) and has 5 questions. Reading 2 is a medium length text (about 500 words) and has 9 questions. Reading 3 is a longer text (about 1000 words) and has 15 questions. The final question in the Reading part is a cross-textual analysis question and requires test takers to compare and contrast all of the readings. The reading part takes 60 minutes, consists of 30 questions, and corresponds to 30% of the total grade.

Part 3 - ListeningThere are 2 listening sections in the Online TRACE. The first one consists of one conversation. The students will first have time to read 10 questions about the conversation and then they will start to listen and answer the questions as they listen. They will not need to take notes in the first part. The second listening section consists of one lecture of approximately 8-10 minutes. Students need to take notes on a piece of blank paper as they listen. After they finish listening, they will answer 10 questions about the lecture using their notes. The listening part takes around 35 minutes, consists of 20 questions, and corresponds to 30% of the total grade.

Part 4 – Writing

The final part of the Online TRACE is writing an academic text answering a question related to the topic of the exam. Students will write an extended paragraph* of about 250 words to directly answer the question. Students will be shown the prompts (pictures, charts, tables, etc.) they were presented in the introduction part again before they start to write their paragraphs. The writing part takes 60 minutes and corresponds to 40% of the total grade.

 * An extended paragraph is a paragraph with a topic sentence, several supporting and expanding details, and a concluding sentence.