The 2018 Pre A1 Starters, A1 Movers and A2 Flyers revisions

Oct 1, 2026

Uploaded by asda1da

The document outlines the reasons, research process, and decision-making behind the 2018 revisions to the Cambridge English Pre A1 Starters, A1 Movers and A2 Flyers exams for primary learners. It explains the exam structure and design principles, including age-appropriate, engaging tasks and a “no pass, no fail” certificate and shields approach. It also summarizes objectives and presents how mixed-method data from stakeholders, experts, trials, and linguistic analysis informed what should change and what should remain.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages36

Reading Time1 h 31 min

AccessFree to download

Overview

The 2018 Pre A1 Starters, A1 Movers and A2 Flyers revisions

REASONS FOR THE REVISIONS PROJECT

DECIDING WHAT TO REVISE

Objectives of the revision project

Chapter 1

Developing new speaking assessment scales

Chapter 2

Creating an easy-to-understand alignment with CEFR

Chapter 3

New writing tasks for young learners

Chapter 4

Revising tasks to maximize children’s demonstrated skills

Chapter 5

Updating vocabulary lists

Appendix

References and further reading

C2 C1 B2 B1 A2 A1 Pre A1 Pre A1 Starters, A1 Movers and A2 Flyers The 2018 Pre A1 Starters, A1 Movers and A2 Flyers revisions Contents Overview 3 The 2018 Pre A1 Starters, A1 Movers andA2 Flyers revisions Chapter 1 7 Developing new Pre A1 Starters, A1 Movers andA2 Flyers speaking assessment scales Chapter 2 14 Creating an easy-to-understand alignment for Pre A1 Starters, A1 Movers, A2 Flyers, A2 Key for Schools and the CEFR Chapter 3 18 New writing tasks for young learners: A1 Movers andA2 Flyers Chapter 4 25 Revising tasks to ensure children have the most opportunity to demonstrate their English skills Chapter 5 28 Updating the Pre A1 Starters, A1 Movers andA2 Flyers vocabulary lists Appendix 31 References and further reading 33 Authors 34 The 2018 Pre A1 Starters, A1 Movers and A2 Flyers revisions 2 Overview The 2018 Pre A1 Starters, A1 Movers and A2 Flyers revisions Sarah Albrecht, Maggie Dunlop REASONS FOR THE REVISIONS PROJECT The Pre A1 Starters, A1 Movers and A2 Flyers exams are a set of three English tests specially designed for primary school-aged children (approximately ages 6 to 12) who are in the early stages of English language acquisition. Pre A1 Starters covers the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR, Council of Europe 2001) pre-A1 level. A1 Movers covers CEFR A1 and pre-A1 levels. A2 Flyers covers CEFR A2, A1 and the top end of pre-A1 levels. Each exam has three papers: a Listening paper, a combined Reading/Writing paper and a Speaking test. The exams are part of the Cambridge English Qualifications. Prior to October 2017 the exams were known as Cambridge English: Starters, Movers and Flyers. The exams, like all Cambridge English Qualifications, are designed according to the Cambridge Assessment English principles of good practice (Cambridge English Language Assessment 2016) . These principles are summarised in Figure 1 below. Figure 1: The Cambridge Assessment English VRIPQ approach to implementing the principles of good practice Regarding construct validity claims, the exams are designed to assess children’s English language use and development, so the tasks are carefully designed to be fun and age appropriate in terms of topic, genres and cognition requirements. Impact is another area of high importance in assessment of children, as children’s attitudes towards English, school and learning are in formative stages. Therefore the Pre A1 Starters, A1 Moversand A2 Flyers exams are designed to be enjoyable, confidence-enhancing activities for children that boost their enthusiasm for English learning. A key feature of this design is a purposeful ‘no pass, no fail’ design, in which all children receive a certificate and receive at least one shield (out of a total of five for each paper) . As part of the Cambridge Assessment English principles of good practice, there is an ongoing commitment to maintaining the quality of Cambridge English Qualifications. Therefore all exams are regularly reviewed to ensure they remain relevant to learners and schools. The Pre A1 Starters, A1 Movers and A2 Flyers revision project started in 2014, with the revised exams launched in January 2018. The main objectives of the revision were: • to ensure that the exams continue to accurately reflect children’s achievement in English • to ensure that Pre A1 Starters, A1 Movers and A2 Flyers continue to meet the evolving needs of candidates, their parents and teachers. At the same time, it was important to ensure that the exams continue to offer children a positive, confidenceboosting test experience that motivates them to continue learning English. DECIDING WHAT TO REVISE When conducting research and revision activities, Cambridge Assessment English typically adopts a mixed methods approach to triangulate the multiple types of data that can be derived from diverse sources (Moeller, Creswell and Saville (Eds) 2016) . In this revision proje

FAQs

What are the Pre A1 Starters, A1 Movers, and A2 Flyers exams designed to assess?

They assess children’s emerging English language use and development through carefully designed tasks. The exams target learners in early stages of acquisition with age-appropriate topic, genres, and cognition requirements.

How are the exams structured in terms of papers and skills?

Each exam includes three papers: Listening, a combined Reading/Writing paper, and a Speaking test. The document describes how these components support assessment across levels.

Why were the exams revised for 2018 and when were the revised versions launched?

The revision project began in 2014, with revised exams launched in January 2018. Objectives included ensuring accurate reflection of children’s achievement and meeting evolving needs of candidates, parents, and teachers while preserving a positive, confidence-building experience.

Oct 1, 2026

Uploaded by asda1da