ICAO assessment
Lasts about 30 min and is all verbal.
1) Start off with paraphrasing (explaining in different words)
2) Listen to about 7-8 short conversations between people with different accents (5 sentences max - e.g Indian/Chinese/Australian/US/British). You will then be asked to explain what they were talking about and will have to answer a few questions by the assesor in relation to each conversation. The sound quality from the speakers are alright but you will need to concentrate.
3) Analyse a picture and answer some questions in relation to it. E.g Describe what you see .../What do you think that person is thinking..../What would he/she do if something happened?
4) You will be asked to select some items from a list and you will have to explain why you have selected them. The scenario will be made clear to you before you are asked to choose.
5) Watch a short minute video clip (~1 min) and then summarise it. Then answer some questions from your assessor.
Native English speakers should find it fairly straight forward and should of course aim to get level 6 though it is not unheard of to be dropped to a level 5 which implies that you will have to do it in 4-5 years time. If you are deemed a level 5 in any of the six catagories you will be a level 5.
I know a few HK candidates who obtained a level 4. I thought they spoke fairly good English but they only just made it. If you have made it pass stage 2, your spoken English must be fairly decent. So just focus and try not to be too nervous on the day.
Advice - when asked to explain what a conversation was about, try to summarise it in a concise manner and avoid getting talking too much and getting bogged down in the small details. Get to the point!
Pay attention to exactly what the assessor has asked you to do. Sometimes you have to answer questions from another person's perspective, so start by saying " I think he/she would..." and not "I think".
The assesor spoke very clear english. Do ask for feedback and your scores. My feedback was very accurate and I acknowledged where I needed to improve to get to a level 6. I will nail it next time!
Good luck people!