Cambridge Young Learners Exams: structure, tasks and challenges

Teachers, students and parents keep looking for different ways of testing and confirming learners’ knowledge. The best way to do that is to take (and successfully pass) an international exam. For young learners (7-12 y.o.) Cambridge English offers a number of tests.

Every student who takes a test gets a certificate. It shows how many shields the child has got. It’s really rewarding and motivating. The tests can be done on paper or computer. 

There are 3 levels of tests: Starters, Movers, Flyers. They are aligned with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages — from Pre-A1 to A2. The tests show the progress the students are making. 

The tests cover real-life situations, familiar and interesting topics. The tests check all 4 language skills: reading, writing, listening, speaking. The activities in the tests are fun so students are motivated to do them. 

All the exams have 3 sections: Listening, Reading and Writing, Speaking. Each Listening and Reading part has one or two examples. Children listen to each recording twice. In Reading and Writing part, students must spell their answers correctly.

You can see sample papers here and here. 

Pre A1 Starters

Listening section lasts for about 20 minutes, there are 4 parts and 20 questions. 

In Part 1, children practise listening for names and descriptions. There is a big picture of people doing various things. There are different names around the picture. Children listen to a dialogue and draw lines from the names to the correct person on the picture. 

One of the weak areas of students is a lack of knowledge which names are male, which are female. Some names can refer both to girls and boys. 

In Part 2, children practise listening for numbers and spelling. Learners listen to a short dialogue and write the correct answer (a name or a number) after each question. Here’s the main challenge is spelling.

In Part 3, children practise listening for specific information. There are 5 dialogues, a question and 3 pictures for each dialogue. Learners listen to each dialogue and choose the correct picture. 

The challenge for a student here is that all 3 pictures are mentioned in the audio and they should understand which one is the answer.

In Part 4, children practise listening for words, colours and preposition. There is a big picture that has seven examples of the same object (for example, seven books). Children listen to a dialogue and colour each object using the colour from the dialogue.

The difficulty here is that they have to colour the same object, but they should listen attentively to know which one to colour.

Reading and Writing section lasts for about 20 minutes, there are 5 parts and 25 questions.  

In Part 1, students practise reading sentences and recognising words. There are five pictures and a sentence under each picture which begins ‘This is a …’ or ‘These are …’. If the sentence is correct, children put a tick. If the sentence is wrong, they put a cross. The challenge here can be that pictures can be similar. 

In Part 2, students practise reading sentences describing a picture and writing one-word answers. There is a big picture and sentences about it. If the sentence is true, children write “yes”. If it isn’t true, they write “no”.

In Part 3, students practise spelling single words. There are five pictures and dashes after each picture that show how many letters there are in the word, and some jumbled letters. Students unscramble the letters to make the word. 

The weak area of students is spelling.

In Part 4, students practise reading a text and writing missing nouns. There is a text with missing words and there is a box with pictures and words below the text. Learners choose the appropriate word and write it in the gap. 

Here’s the main challenge to not to confuse similar words, check what form of noun is needed (plural or singular).

In Part 5, students practise reading questions about a picture story and writing one-word answers. There are 3 pictures that tell a story. Each picture has one or two questions. Children look a the pictures and write the one-word answer to each question. 

Here’s the difficulty can be that students may not know the word and how to spell it correctly.

Speaking section lasts for 3-5 minutes, there are 4 parts. In all the parts children practise understanding and following the instructions; answering spoken questions.

In Part 1, the examiner asks the child’s name; then, they ask to point at some things in a big picture. Then, shows pictures of different objects and asks to point to them. Then, the examiner asks to put each object somewhere on the picture. For example, put the bird in the tree.

In Part 2, the examiner asks the child questions about the picture. For example, “What’s this?”, “What colour is it?”. Then, the examiner says, “Tell me about … “ and names one of the objects from the picture.

In Part 3, the examiner asks the child questions about the objects from Part 2. For example, “What’s this?”, “Have you got a …?”

In Part 4, the examiner asks the child questions about themselves (age, friends, family).

The main challenge for the students in speaking tasks is to understand the question and give an appropriate answer.

A1 Movers

Listening section lasts for about 25 minutes, there are 5 parts and 25 questions. 

Part 1 is similar to Pre-A1 Starters. Children practise listening for names and descriptions. Children listen to a dialogue and draw lines from the names to the correct person on the picture. 

One of the weak areas of students is a lack of knowledge which names are male, which are female. Some names can refer both to girls and boys. 

Part 2 is also similar to Pre-A1 Starters.  Children listen to a dialogue and write a missing word or number. 

Again, spelling can be the main problem here.

In Part 3, children practise listening for words, names and detailed information. There are two sets of pictures. On the left, there are pictures of people, places, objects and their names. On the right, there are pictures with letters but no words. Children listen to a dialogue and match the pictures on the right to the named pictures on the left. 

The challenge here is that students have to “grasp” a lot of different information at the same time: two sets of pictures, audio. 

In Part 4, children practise listening for specific information. There are 5 dialogues, a question and 3 pictures for each dialogue. Children listen and put a rick under the correct picture. 

The challenge here is that pictures are very similar and students should listen carefully.

In Part 5, children practise listening for words, colours and specific information. There is a big picture. Children listen to a dialogue and colour the things in the picture and write a word.

Reading and Writing section lasts for about 30 minutes, there are 6 parts and 35 questions.  

In Part 1, learners practise reading definitions and matching them to words. Writing words. There are 8 pictures with words under them on the left. There are 5 definitions on the right. Children match the picture with the definition and copy the correct word under it. 

The weak area of students if they do not know some words as the results cannot understand the definition.

In Part 2, students practise reading dialogue and choosing the correct answers. Children read a short dialogue and choose what the speaker says each time. The challenge here is to pay attention to the verb forms and the type of question.

In Part 3, students practise reading for gist and specific information and copying words. There’ s a text with gaps. There are small pictures and words. Children choose the correct word and copy it. In the last question, they choose the best title. 

The weak area of students is timing here. The text is pretty big and children should track the time. 

In Part 4, children practise reading and understanding a text and copying words. 

The challenge here is to know the difference between options, to know some collocations or structures.

In Part 5, children practise reading a story and completing sentences. The story is in 3 parts. Each part has a picture. After each part of the story student complete the sentences using 1-3 words.

The challenge is to understand the text and to write and spell the answer correctly so the sentences have meaning.

In Part 6, learners practise completing sentences, responding to questions and writing sentences about a picture. There’s a picture with sentence prompts. Students complete the sentences, answer the questions and describe the picture. 

The weak area of students here is if they do not understand the question, or answer about another person or object, or give too long answers that provide more opportunities for making mistakes.

Speaking section lasts for 5-7 minutes, there are 4 parts. 

In Part 1, students practise describing differences between pictures. The examiner asks the child’s name and age. Then. they discuss the pictures, there are 4 differences to describe.

In Part 2, students practise understanding the beginning of a story, continuing it and describing pictures. There are 4 pictures that tell a story. The examiner tells about the first picture. The child continues the story and describes three pictures. 

In Part 3, children practise explaining why a picture is different. There are 4 sets of 4 pictures. One picture is different in each set. The child explains which one and why.

In Part 4, learners practise understanding and responding to personal questions. The examiner asks the student personal questions. For example, about their school or hobbies. 

Speaking part is in general quite challenging at this level. Students are supposed to give answers at the sentence level, their speech should be connected.

A2 Flyers

Listening section lasts for about 25 minutes, there are 5 parts and 25 questions. 

Part 1 is similar to Pre-A1 Starters and A1 Movers. Children practise listening for names and descriptions. Children listen to a dialogue and draw lines from the names to the correct person on the picture. 

One of the weak areas of students is a lack of knowledge which names are male, which are female. Some names can refer both to girls and boys. 

Part 2 is also similar to Pre-A1 Starters and A1 Movers  Children listen to a dialogue and write a missing word or number. Spelling is the main problem area here.

Part 3 is similar to A1 Movers. Children listen to a dialogue and match the pictures on the right to the named pictures on the left. 

The challenge here is that pictures can be similar.

Part 4 is also similar to A1 Movers. Children listen to 5 dialogues and put a tick under the correct picture for each question. 

As in the previous part, similar pictures are quite challenging for students so they should listen attentively.

In Part 5, students listen and colour different things for 3 questions and write a word for 2 questions in the picture. 

Here children should listen carefully for things and colours and check their spelling.

Reading and Writing section lasts for about 40 minutes, there are 7 parts and 44 questions.

In Part 1, students practise reading and matching definitions to words; copying words. There are 15 words and 10 definitions. Children write the correct word next to the definition. 

The weak area is to find the correct word.

In Part 2, learners practise reading and completing a dialogue; and writing letters. There’s a dialogue with gaps. Children choose the correct answer from a list. 

Here is the challenge is that students should understand the dialogue and not to confuse letters when they write them.

In Part 3, children practise reading for gist and specific information; and copying words. There’s a text with gaps and a box with words. Children choose and copy the correct word. In the last question. Children choose the best title. 

The challenge here is to understand a pretty difficult and long text and moreover the titles are similar.

In Part 4, learners practise reading and understanding a text and copying words. There’s a text with gaps. For each gap, there’re 3 possible answers. Learners choose and copy the correct word. 

The weak area is verb forms, collocations, knowledge of structures.

In Part 5, students practise reading a story and completing sentences. Each sentence has a gap and children complete it using 1-4 words. 

The problem area is the number of words needed to make a comprehensible sentence.

In Part 6, students practise reading and understanding a text. There are 5 gaps in a letter or diary. Children write the missing words. 

Here’s the challenge is that students do not have words they should choose or copy from. They’re supposed to write themselves.

In Part 7, practise writing short stories based on three pictures. 

This is a production task where students can make mistakes of any type: grammar, vocabulary, spelling.

Speaking section lasts for 7-9 minutes, there are 4 parts. 

Part 1 is similar to A1 Movers. The children describe 4 differences in 2 pictures.

In Part 2, students practise answering questions with short answers and asking questions to get information. There are 2 similar pictures. The examiner has information about picture 1, the child — about picture 2. The examiner and the child take turns asking and answering questions about the pictures.

Part 3 is similar to Part 2 in A1 Movers. There are 4 pictures describing a story. The examiner describes the first one, the child continues.

Part 4 is also similar to A1 Movers. The child answers the questions about themselves (hobby, birthday, friends, etc.)

In Speaking parts, the main challenges are to understand what the examiner says, to form questions and answers correctly, to use appropriate structures and tenses.