Cambridge English: Preliminary is made up of three papers developed to test your

English skills. You can see exactly whats in each paper below.
Paper

Content

Marks Purpose
(% of
total)

Reading and
Writing
(1 hour 30
minutes)

Reading:
50%
5 parts/
35 questions
Writing:
3 parts/
7 questions

Shows you can read and understand the main points from signs,
newspapers and magazines, and can use vocabulary and structure
correctly.

Listening
4 parts/
25%
(30 minutes,
25 questions
plus 6 minutes'
transfer time)

You have to be able to follow and understand a range of spoken

materials including announcements and discussions about everyday
life.

Speaking
4 parts
(1012 minutes
per pair of
candidates)

Shows how good your spoken English is as you take part in

conversation by asking/answering questions and talking, for example,
about your likes and dislikes. Your Speaking test will be conducted
face to face with one or two other candidates and two examiners.
This makes your test more realistic and more reliable

25%

Whats in the Reading and Writing paper?

The Cambridge English: Preliminary Reading and Writing paper has five parts about
reading and three parts about writing. There are different types of texts and questions.

Summary
Time allowed:

1 hour 30 minutes

Number of parts:

Reading: 5; Writing: 3

Number of questions:

Reading: 35; Writing: 7

Marks:

50% of total

Reading Parts 15
What's in Part 1?

Five very short texts (they may be signs and messages, postcards,
notes, emails, labels, etc.). You have to read them and choose which of
the three sentences (A, B or C) is the best description of the text.

What do I have to practise? Reading notices and other short texts to understand the main message.
How many questions are

there?
How many marks do I get? One mark for each correct answer.
Practise Reading Part 1
Now try Reading Part 1 from the sample Cambridge English: Preliminary Reading and Writing paper.
Reading Part 2 (Matching)

What's in Part 2?

Five short descriptions of people and eight short texts to read. You have to
match each person to a text.

What do I have to
practise?

Reading eight short texts to find specific information.

How many questions

are there?

How many marks do I

get?

One mark for each correct answer.

What's in Part 2?

Five short descriptions of people and eight short texts to read. You have to match
each person to a text.

What do I have to
practise?

Reading eight short texts to find specific information.

How many questions are

there?

How many marks do I

get?

One mark for each correct answer.

Practise Reading Part 2

Now try Reading Part 2 from the sample Cambridge English: Preliminary Reading and Writing paper.
Reading Part 3 (True/False)
What's in Part 3?

A long text and ten sentences about the text. You have to read the text and say if
each sentence is true or false.

What do I have to
practise?

Reading a text quickly to find out information.

How many questions are 10

there?
How many marks do I
get?

One mark for each correct answer.

Practise Reading Part 3

Now try Reading Part 3 from the sample Cambridge English: Preliminary Reading and Writing paper.
Reading Part 4 (Multiple choice)

What's in Part 4?

A long text and five questions. You have to read the text and choose the right answer
(A, B, C or D) for each of the five questions.

What do I have to
practise?

Reading to understand the detail of a text.

How many questions

are there?

How many marks do I

get?

One mark for each correct answer.

Practise Reading Part 4

Now try Reading Part 4 from the sample Cambridge English: Preliminary Reading and Writing paper.
Reading Part 5 (Multiple-choice cloze)
What's in Part 5?

A short text with ten numbered spaces. Each space represents a missing word and you
have to choose the right answer from a choice of four (A, B, C or D).

What do I have to
practise?

Understanding vocabulary and grammar.

How many questions 10

are there?
How many marks do One mark for each correct answer.
I get?
Practise Reading Part 5
Now try Reading Part 5 from the sample Cambridge English: Preliminary Reading and Writing paper.
Writing Parts 13
Writing Part 1 (Sentence transformations)
What's in Part
1?

Five questions which are all about the same theme. For each question there is one complete
sentence and a second sentence which has a missing word or words. You have to complete
the second sentence so that it means the same as the first sentence.

What do I have
to practise?

How to say the same thing in different ways in English, e.g. 'not warm enough' means the
same as 'too cold'.

How many
questions are
there?

How many
marks do I get?

One mark for each correct answer.

Practise Writing Part 1

Now try Writing Part 1 from the sample Cambridge English: Preliminary Reading and Writing paper.

Writing Part 2 (Short communicative message)

What's in Part 2?

The instructions tell you who to write to and what you should write (a postcard,
note, email, etc.).

What do I have to practise? Writing short messages.

How many questions are
there?

How much do I have to

write?

3545 words

How many marks do I get? This question has a total of 5 marks.

Practise Writing Part 2
Now try Writing Part 2 from the sample Cambridge English: Preliminary Reading and Writing paper.
Writing Part 3 (Continuous writing)
What's in Part 3?

You have a choice of two questions: an informal letter or a story.

What do I have to practise?

Writing letters and stories.

How many questions are there?

How much do I have to write?

About 100 words

How many marks do I get?

This question has a total of 15 marks.

Practise Writing Part 3

Now try Writing Part 3 from the sample Cambridge English: Preliminary Reading and Writing paper.

Whats in the Listening paper?

The Cambridge English: Preliminary Listening paper has four parts. For each part, you have to listen
to a recorded text or texts and answer some questions. You hear each recording twice.
Summary
Time allowed:

About 30 minutes, plus 6 minutes to copy answers onto the answer sheet

Number of parts:

Number of questions:

25

Marks:

25% of total

Parts 14
Part 1 (Multiple choice)

What's in Part 1?

Seven short recordings. For each recording there is a question and three pictures
(A, B or C). You have to listen to the recordings and choose the right answers.

What do I have to
practise?

Listening to find key information.

How many
questions are
there?

How many marks

do I get?

One mark for each correct answer.

Practise Part 1
Now try Part 1 from the sample Cambridge English: Preliminary Listening paper.
Part 2 (Multiple choice)

What's in Part 2?

A longer recording (one person speaking or an interview) and six questions. You have to
listen to the recording and choose the right answer (A, B or C) for each question.

What do I have to
practise?

Listening to find specific information and detailed meaning.

How many
questions are
there?

How many marks

do I get?

One mark for each correct answer.

Practise Part 2
Now try Part 2 from the sample Cambridge English: Preliminary Listening paper.
Part 3 (Gap-fill)
What's in Part 3? A longer monologue (one person speaking) and a page of notes which summarise the text.
Six pieces of information are missing from the notes. You have to listen to the recording
and fill in the missing information.
What do I have to Listening for information.
practise?
How many
questions are
there?

How many marks One mark for each correct answer.

do I get?

Practise Part 3
Now try Part 3 from the sample Cambridge English: Preliminary Listening paper.

Part 4 (True/False)

What's in Part 4?

A longer informal conversation and six sentences. You have to listen to the
conversation and decide if each sentence is true or false.

What do I have to
practise?

Listening for detailed meaning, attitude and opinion.

How many questions

are there?

How many marks do I One mark for each correct answer.

get?
Practise Part 4
Now try Part 4 from the sample Cambridge English: Preliminary Listening paper.
Whats in the Speaking paper?
The Cambridge English: Preliminary Speaking test has four parts and you take it together with another
candidate. There are two examiners. One of the examiners talks to you and the other examiner listens.
Summary

Parts 12

Time allowed:

1012 minutes per pair of candidates

Number of parts:

Marks:

25% of total

You have to talk:

with the examiner

with the other candidate
on your own

Part 1 (Interview)
What's in Part 1?

Conversation with the examiner. The examiner asks questions and you give information
about yourself, talk about past experiences, present job, studies, where you live, etc., and
future plans.

What do I have to Giving information about yourself.

practise?
How long do we
have to speak?

23 minutes

Practise Part 1
Now try Part 1 from the sample Cambridge English: Preliminary Speaking paper.
Part 2 (Discussion)
What's in Part 2?

The examiner gives you some pictures and describes a situation to you. You have to talk
to the other candidate and decide what would be best in the situation.

What do I have to
practise?

Making and responding to suggestions, discussing alternatives, making

recommendations, negotiating agreement.

How long do we
have to speak?

23 minutes

Practise Part 2
Now try Part 2 from the sample Cambridge English: Preliminary Speaking paper.
Part 3 (Extended turn)
What's in Part 3?

The examiner gives you a colour photograph and you have to talk about it.

What do I have to practise?

Describing photographs.

How long do we have to speak? 3 minutes in total; 1 minute to talk about the photograph.
Practise Part 3
Now try Part 3 from the sample Cambridge English: Preliminary Speaking paper.
Part 4 (General conversation)
What's in Part 4?

Further discussion with the other candidate about the same topic as the task in
Part 3.

What do I have to practise?

Talking about your opinions, likes/dislikes, experiences, habits, etc.

How long do we have to

speak?

3 minutes

Practise Part 4
Now try Part 4 from the sample Cambridge English: Preliminary Speaking paper.

How to prepare Reading and Writing paper

To help you feel really prepared for Cambridge English: Preliminary, there is a huge range
of exam preparation resources and services.

Reading and Writing paper Tips and FAQs

DO

Look at practice tests so you know all the task types.

Do lots of general reading practice in class and at home, especially the kinds
of texts used in theCambridge English: Preliminary test.
Keep a vocabulary notebook to write down new words and make notes about
how to use each word.
Read all the instructions carefully and look at any examples.
Make sure that you can skim and scan (read a text quickly for the main ideas
or to find specific information).
Check your answers and make sure you have written them in the correct place
on the answer sheet.
Make your handwriting clear and easy to read.
Read each text before you try to answer the questions.
Use a pencil, not a pen, on the answer sheet.

DON'T

Don't leave answers blank, even if you aren't sure.

Don't worry if there is a word you don't know. Try to guess its meaning.
Don't write a full rough copy for Writing Parts 2 and 3. Just write quick notes to
plan your answer.
Don't worry too much about making grammar mistakes in Writing Parts 2 and 3.
Communicating is the important thing.

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

Will I be penalised if I write more than 100 words in Writing Part 3?
You are advised to write about 100 words, as instructed. Although you won't be penalised
for writing more, you may have introduced irrelevances into your response, which could
have a negative effect on the reader and you could lose marks for this. If you write less

than 100 words, your score could be affected because you may not have used an adequate
range of language and/or provided all the information required.
Can I use a pre-learned answer in Writing Part 3?
No. You must write either a letter to a friend or a story which is a response to the
instructions and information given. You also need to make sure that your response is either
clearly a letter or clearly a story, depending on which question you choose to answer.
How are extended responses in Writing Part 3 assessed?
Examiners mark tasks using assessment scales developed with explicit reference to the
Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). The scales, which
are used across the Cambridge English General and Business English Writing tests, are
made up from four subscales: Content, Communicative Achievement, Organisation and
Language:
Content focuses on how well the candidate has fulfilled the task if they have done
what they were asked to do.
Communicative Achievement focuses on how appropriate the writing is for the task
and whether the candidate has used the appropriate register.
Organisation focuses on the way the candidate puts together the piece of writing, in
other words, if it is logical and ordered.
Language focuses on vocabulary and grammar. This includes the range of language
as well as how accurate it is.
Each response is marked from 0 to 5 on each of the four subscales and these scores are
combined to give a final mark for the Writing test.
If I fail the Writing paper, will I fail the whole exam?
No. You do not pass or fail the individual papers, you just get a score for the whole exam. If
you do not do very well in the Writing, but you do well in the other papers, you have a good
chance of passing the whole exam. Your Statement of Results will show how well you did
for Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking Exceptional, Good, Borderline or Weak.
In the exam, if I don't understand a word on the paper, can I ask what it means?
In the exam, you should ask if you don't understand what you have to do in a task (the
instructions) or if you don't know how to fill in your answer sheet, etc. However, you should
not ask about anything such as the meaning of a word in a text. If you dont understand a
word, you can try to guess the meaning. Remember, you may not need to understand this
word to answer the questions.
Will I get extra time to write my answers onto the answer sheet?
No. Before 1 hour and 30 minutes is up, you have to finish writing your answers onto the
answer sheet.
How many questions do I have to get right to pass Cambridge English: Preliminary?
To pass Cambridge English: Preliminary, you need to get a standardised score of 70 or
more out of 100 available marks across all four exam papers. For a Pass with Merit, you
need to get a standardised score of 8589 out of 100, and for a Pass with Distinction, a
score of 90 or more. If you get less than 70 out of 100 but have reached CEFR Level A2,
you will receive a certificate stating that you have attained A2 level.

How to prepare Listening paper

DO

Read the instructions carefully for each part.

Look at the question paper material (the questions, text and pictures) and
think about what kind of information you are going to hear.
Listen to and look at the example question.
Answer as much as you can when you hear the recording for the first time.
Check your answers and find any missing answers when you hear the recording
for the second time.
Answer all the questions, even if you are not sure you probably understand
more than you think and even a guess may be correct.
Only transfer your answers to the answer sheet when you are told to do
so at the end of the test.
Be careful when you are transferring your answers to the answer sheet.

DON'T

Don't worry if you don't hear the answer the first time. Everything is played
twice.
Don't panic if you don't understand everything in the text you probably don't
need to.
Don't use a pen. You must use a pencil.
Don't change your answers when you are transferring them to the answer sheet.
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

If I fail the Listening paper, will I fail the whole exam?

No. You do not pass or fail the individual papers; you just get a score for the whole
exam. If you do not do very well in the Listening, but you do well in the other papers,
you have a good chance of passing the whole exam. Your Statement of Results will
show how well you did for Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking Exceptional,
Good, Borderline or Weak.
I am hard of hearing. Will I lose marks?
No. You or your teacher must contact your Cambridge English centre to make special
arrangements.
What types of listening skills are tested in the Cambridge English: Preliminary
Listening test?
You will need to show that you can listen for gist (the main point), listen for specific
information and recognise the attitudes and opinions of the speakers. You will hear
individual people talking (monologues) and two people talking to each other
(dialogues).
How many questions do I have to get right to pass Cambridge English:
Preliminary?
To pass Cambridge English: Preliminary, you need to get a standardised score of 70 or
more out of 100 available marks across all four exam papers. For a Pass with Merit, you
need to get a standardised score of 8589 out of 100, and for a Pass with Distinction, a
score of 90 or more.

Does it matter if I make a spelling mistake?

No (as long as it is possible to recognise the word), unless it is a common, highfrequency word, e.g. Monday, or where the spelling of the word is dictated.
Can I wear headphones for the Listening paper?
Ask your centre whether you can use headphones or not it depends how they choose
to run the exam.

How to prepare Speaking paper

DO
In general

Practise your English, in and out of the classroom, as much as you can.
Listen carefully to the examiner's questions.
Ask the examiner if you don't understand what you have to do.
Speak clearly so that both examiners and your partner can hear you.
Remember that both the examiners want you to do well in the test.
In Part 1

Talk to the examiner, not your partner.

Make sure you can spell your name.
Try to give more than one-word answers.
In Parts 2 & 4

Talk to your partner, not the examiner.

Ask your partner questions.
Listen to your partner's answers and look at them to show you are interested
in what they are saying.
Give your partner a chance to speak too.
In Part 3

Talk about everything you can see in the photograph, e.g. colours, clothes,
time of day, weather.
Try to explain what you mean in other words, if you dont know a word.
DON'T

In general

Don't worry too much about making grammatical mistakes.

Don't worry too much if you don't know a word.
Don't worry if your partner is a stronger or weaker speaker than you. The
examiners assess you individually.
Don't sit in silence in the test, even if you are nervous. Examiners can't give you
marks if you don't speak.
In Parts 2 & 4
Don't speak for too long without involving your partner.
In Part 3
Don't try to talk about things/ideas outside the photograph.
Don't stop talking if there is a word you don't know, just talk about something
else you can see.
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

Whats in the Cambridge English: Preliminary Speaking paper?

The Cambridge English: Preliminary Speaking test has four parts and you take it
together with another candidate. There are two examiners. One of the examiners talks to
you (the interlocutor) and the other examiner listens and completes the mark sheet (the
assessor).
Can I take the test alone?
No. You are examined in pairs (i.e. two students together) with two examiners. At
centres with an uneven number of candidates, the last three candidates take the test
together. The test is longer when three candidates take the test. Candidates cannot
choose to take the test in a group of three.
Why are there two examiners?
One examiner (the interlocutor) speaks to you, and the other (the assessor) does not take
part in the test but listens to you speak and interact with the other candidate. Both
examiners give you a mark, but the assessor gives more detailed marks than the
interlocutor.
What happens if the other candidate wont let me speak?
Examiners know how to deal with this situation, and give both of the candidates an
opportunity to speak. It is important both to talk and to give the other candidate the
chance to talk. Remember, there is also a time in the test when you speak on your own.
What should I do if I dont understand what the examiner asks me to do?
You can ask the examiner to repeat the instructions. However, you should listen
carefully and try to understand them the first time. Dont worry if you dont understand
a word. You can ask your partner to explain a word in Parts 2 and 4, but you must
always talk in English!
Will my speaking be compared to my partner's speaking?
You are assessed on your own speaking, and not compared to your partner.

Do I have to pass the Speaking test to pass the Cambridge English: Preliminary
exam?
No. If you do well in the other papers, you can still pass the exam.
Do the Part 1 Phase 2 questions remain the same each year or vary?
They vary, but will always be on general topics.
http://www.elllo.org/english/home.htm
http://www.autoenglish.org/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/quiz/quiz1/
http://cambridgeenglishonline.com/Phonetics_Focus/
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/elementary-podcasts/series-01-episode-01