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Pre A1 Starters (YLE Starters)
About Pre A1 Starters
Pre A1 Starters, formerly known as Cambridge English: Starters (YLE Starters), is one of our Cambridge English Qualifications. It is the start of a child’s language learning journey.
Pre A1 Starters is the first of three Cambridge English Qualifications designed for young learners. These tests introduce children to everyday written and spoken English and are an excellent way for them to gain confidence and improve their English.
The tests are written around familiar topics and focus on the skills needed to communicate effectively in English through listening, speaking, reading and writing.
Pre A1 Starters test 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 paper below.
| Paper | 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 |
Listening
Pre A1 Starters Listening test has four parts. Each part begins with one or two examples. Children will hear each recording twice.
Summary
| Skill | Time allowed | Number of parts | Number of questions | Marks |
| Nghe | About 20 minutes | 4 | 20 | a maximum of five shields |
| Part | What’s in the part? | What should children practise? | How many questions are there? |
| 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. | Listening for names and descriptions. | 5 |
| 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. | Listening for numbers and spelling. | 5 |
| 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). | Listening for specific information. | 5 |
| 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. | Listening for words, colours and prepositions. | 5 |
Reading and Writing
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
| Skill | Time allowed | Number of parts | Number of questions | Marks |
| Reading | About 20 minutes | 5 | 25 | a maximum of five shields |
| Part | What’s in the part? | What should children practise? | How many questions are there? |
| 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. | Reading short sentences and recognising words. | 5 |
| 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’. | Reading sentences about a picture. Writing one-word answers. | 5 |
| 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. |
Spelling single words. |
5 |
| 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. | Reading a text and writing missing words (nouns). | 5 |
| 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. | Reading questions about a picture story. Writing one-word answers. | 5 |
Speaking
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
| Skill | Time allowed | Number of parts | Marks |
| Speaking | 3–5 minutes | 4 | a maximum of five shields |
| Part | What’s in the part? | What should children practise? |
| 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’). | Understanding and following spoken instructions. |
| 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. | Understanding and following spoken instructions. |
| 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 …?’). | Understanding and answering spoken questions. |
| Part 4 | The examiner asks the child some questions about themselves (for example, age, family, friends). | Understanding and answering spoken questions. |
Results
There is no pass or fail and all children receive a certificate which shows how many shields they have received (out of a maximum of five) for each part of the test.
An Pre A1 Starters certificate is a great way to celebrate children’s achievement, build their confidence and reward their own individual ability.
A result of one shield means a child can improve a lot in that skill. Five shields mean that a child did very well in that skill and answered most questions correctly.
The back of the certificate shows how results align to the CEFR. If a child has achieved 4 or 5 shields in each skill.
Pre A1 Starters sample test
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1rsEnSRouynxG0MYreE3Y-SkXzmlv0i4a?usp=sharing
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