Pre A1 Starters exam format

Exam format

Pre A1 Starters is made up of three papers developed to encourage and motivate young learners. You can see exactly what’s in each component below.

Component	Content	Marks
Listening (about 20 minutes)	4 parts / 20 questions	a maximum of five shields
Reading and Writing (20 minutes)	5 parts / 25 questions	a maximum of five shields
Speaking (3–5 minutes)	4 parts	a maximum of five shields

Linked to the CEFR, Can Do statements show what a learner can do at each level. Read the Can Do statements for Pre A1 Starters, A1 Movers and A2 Flyers.

Listening
Reading and Writing
Speaking

What’s in the Listening test?

The Pre A1 Starters Listening test has four parts. Each part begins with one or two examples. Children will hear each recording twice.

Summary

Time allowed:	about 20 minutes
Number of parts:	4
Number of questions:	20
Marks:	a maximum of five shields

Part 1

What's in Part 1?	A big picture which shows people doing different things. Above and below the picture, there are some names. Children have to listen carefully to a conversation between an adult and a child and draw a line from each name to the correct person on the big picture.
What should children practise?	Listening for names and descriptions.
How many questions are there?	5

Part 2

What's in Part 2?	A short conversation between a child and an adult, and some questions. Children listen to the recording and write the correct answer (a name or a number) after each question.
What should children practise?	Listening for numbers and spelling.
How many questions are there?	5

Part 3

What's in Part 3?	Five short conversations between different pairs of people. For each conversation there is a question and three pictures. Children need to listen carefully to each conversation and choose the right answer (A, B or C).
What should children practise?	Listening for specific information.
How many questions are there?	5

Part 4

What's in Part 4?	A big picture which has seven examples of the same object (for example, seven balls or seven books). Children need to listen carefully to a conversation between an adult and a child, and colour each object using the colour they say in the conversation.
What should children practise?	Listening for words, colours and prepositions.
How many questions are there?	5

What’s in the Reading and Writing test?

The Pre A1 Starters Reading and Writing test has five parts. Each part begins with one or two examples. For all parts of the Reading and Writing test, children must spell their answers correctly.

Summary

Time allowed:	about 20 minutes
Number of parts:	5
Number of questions:	25 questions
Marks:	a maximum of five shields

Part 1

What's in Part 1?	Five pictures of objects. Under each picture there is a sentence which begins ‘This is a …’ or ‘These are …’. If the sentence is correct, children should put a tick next to the picture. If the sentence is not true, they should put a cross.
What should children practise?	Reading short sentences and recognising words.
How many questions are there?	5

Part 2

What's in Part 2?	A big picture and some sentences about it. If the sentence is correct, children should write ‘yes’; if the sentence is not true, they should write ‘no’.
What should children practise?	Reading sentences about a picture. Writing one-word answers.
How many questions are there?	5

Part 3

What's in Part 3?	Five pictures of objects. Children have to find the right word in English for the object. After each picture there are some dashes (- - -) to show how many letters are in the word, and some jumbled letters. Children have to put the jumbled letters in the right order to make the word.
What should children practise?	Spelling single words.
How many questions are there?	5

Part 4

What's in Part 4?	A semi-factual text which has some missing words (gaps). Below the text there is a box with some pictures and words. Children have to choose the right word from the box and copy it into each gap.
What should children practise?	Reading a text and writing missing words (nouns).
How many questions are there?	5

Part 5

What's in Part 5?	Three pictures which tell a story. Each picture has one or two questions. Children have to look at the pictures and write the answer to each question. They only have to write one word for each answer.
What should children practise?	Reading questions about a picture story. Writing one-word answers.
How many questions are there?	5

What’s in the Speaking test?

The Pre A1 Starters Speaking test has four parts. Children take the test alone with the examiner, but someone they know who speaks their language (like their teacher) will introduce them to the examiner and explain what to do in their own language.

Summary

Time allowed:	3–5 minutes
Number of parts:	4
Marks:	a maximum of five shields

Part 1

What's in Part 1?	The examiner will greet the child and ask their name. Then the examiner asks them to point to some things in a big picture. The examiner shows some small pictures of objects. The examiner names three objects and asks the child to point to them. The examiner then asks them to put each object card somewhere on the big picture from Part 1 (for example, ‘Put the shell under the tree’).
What should children practise?	Understanding and following spoken instructions.

Part 2

What's in Part 2?	The examiner asks the child some questions about the big picture from Part 1 (for example, ‘What is this?’, ‘What colour is it?’). The child will also be asked by the examiner to ‘Tell me about …’ one of the objects in the big picture.
What should children practise?	Understanding and following spoken instructions.

Part 3

What's in Part 3?	The examiner asks the child some questions about the small pictures of objects from Part 2 (for example, ‘What is this?’, ‘Have you got a …?’).
What should children practise?	Understanding and answering spoken questions.

Part 4

What's in Part 4?	The examiner asks the child some questions about themselves (for example, age, family, friends).
What should children practise?	Understanding and answering spoken questions.

Exam format

playlist What’s in the Listening test?

openbook What’s in the Reading and Writing test?

megaphone What’s in the Speaking test?

What’s in the Listening test?

What’s in the Reading and Writing test?

What’s in the Speaking test?