Preliminary (PET)

Preliminary (for Schools) is made up of three papers and speaking. PaperContentMarks (% of total) Purpose Reading and Writing (1 hour 30 minutes) Reading: 5 parts / 35 questions Writing: 3 parts / 7 questions 50% Students need to be able to read texts from signs, newspapers and magazines and understand the main points. They will need to show they can use vocabulary and structure by completing tasks such as producing a short message, and writing a story or letter of around 100 words.

PaperContentMarks (% of total) Purpose Listening (about 30 minutes plus 6 minutes transfer time) 4 parts / 25 questions 25% Speaking (10–12 minutes per pair of candidates) 4 parts 25% Students need to show they can understand the meaning of a range of recorded spoken material, including announcements, interviews and discussions about everyday life. They will also need to be able to understand the attitudes and intentions of the speakers. Students take part in a conversation, asking and answering questions, and talking freely about their likes and dislikes. They take the Speaking test with another candidate or in a group of three.

Reading Part 1 (Multiple choice) What’s in Part 1? What does the student have to practise? How many questions are there? How many marks are there? Five very short texts (they may be signs and messages, postcards, notes, s, labels, etc.). Students have to read them and answer a question choosing one of the three options (A, B or C). Reading notices and other short texts to understand the main message. 5 One mark for each correct answer.

What’s in Part 2? What does the student have to practise? How many questions are there? How many marks are there? Five short descriptions of people and eight short texts to read. Students have to match each person to a text. Reading a lot of short texts to find specific information. 5 One mark for each correct answer.

What’s in Part 3? What does the student have to practise? How many questions are there? How many marks are there? A long text and 10 sentences about the text. Students have to read the text and say if each sentence is true or false. Reading a text quickly to find some information. 10 One mark for each correct answer.

What’s in Part 4? What does the student have to practise? How many questions are there? How many marks are there? A long text and five questions. Students have to read the text and choose the right answer (A, B, C or D) for each of the five questions. Reading to understand the detail of a text. 5 One mark for each correct answer.

What’s in Part 5? What does the student have to practise? How many questions are there? How many marks are there? A short text with 10 numbered spaces. Each space represents a missing word and students have to choose the right answer from a choice of four (A, B, C or D). Understanding vocabulary and grammar. 10 One mark for each correct answer.

What’s in Part 1? (writing) What does the student have to practise? How many questions are there? How many marks are there? 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. Students have to complete the second sentence so that it means the same as the first sentence. How to say the same thing in different ways in English, e.g. ‘not warm enough’ means the same as ‘too cold’. 5 One mark for each correct answer. Writing Part 1 (Sentence transformations)

What’s in Part 2? What does the student have to practise? How many questions are there? How many words does the student have to write? How many marks are there? Writing Part 2 (Communicative message) The instructions tell students whom to write to and what they should write (a postcard, note, , etc.) Writing short messages. 1 35–45 words. This question has a total of 5 marks.

What’s in Part 3? What does the student have to practise? How many questions are there? How many words does the student have to write? How many marks are there? Writing Part 3 (Continuous writing) Students have a choice of two questions: an informal letter (for example, to a friend) or a story. Writing letters and stories. 1 About 100 words. This question has a total of 15 marks.

What’s in Part 1? What does the student have to practise? How many questions are there? How many marks are there? Listening Part 1 (Multiple choice) Seven short recordings. For each recording there is a question and three pictures (A, B or C). Students have to listen to the recordings and choose the right answer. Listening to find key information. 7 One mark for each correct answer.

What’s in Part 2? What does the student have to practise? How many questions are there? How many marks are there? Llistening Part 2 (Multiple choice) A longer recording (one person speaking or an interview) and six questions. Students have to listen to the recording and choose the right answer (A, B or C) for each question. Listening to find specific information and detailed meaning. 6 One mark for each correct answer.

What’s in Part 3? What does the student have to practise? How many questions are there? How many marks are there? Listening Part 3 (Gap-fill) A longer monologue (one person speaking) and a page of notes which summarise the text. Six pieces of information are missing from the notes. Students have to listen to the recording and fill in the missing information. Listening for information. 6 One mark for each correct answer.

What’s in Part 4? What does the student have to practise? How many questions are there? How many marks are there? Listening Part 4 (True/False) An informal conversation and six sentences. Students have to listen to the conversation and decide if each sentence is true or false. Listening for detailed meaning, attitude and opinion. 6 One mark for each correct answer.

What’s in Part 1? What does the student have to practise? How long does the student have to speak for? Speaking Part 1 (Interview) Conversation with the examiner. The examiner asks questions and students give information about themselves, talk about past experiences, studies, where they live, plans for the future, etc. Giving information about themselves. 2–3 minutes

What’s in Part 2? What does the student have to practise? How long does the student have to speak for? Speaking Part 2 (Collaborative task) The examiner gives students some pictures and describes a situation. Students have to talk to the other candidate and decide what would be best in the situation. Making and responding to suggestions, discussing alternatives, making recommendations, negotiating agreement. 2–3 minutes

What’s in Part 3? What does the student have to practise? How long does the student have to speak for? Speaking Part 3 (Extended turn) The examiner gives students a colour photograph and they have to talk about it. Describing photographs. 1 minute per candidate

What’s in Part 4? What does the student have to practise? How long does the student have to speak for? Speaking Part 4 (Discussion) Further discussion with the other candidate about the same topic as the task in Part 3. Talking about opinions, likes/dislikes, preferences, experiences, habits, etc. 3 minutes in total

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