A2 Flyers cheat sheet

The paper lasts about 25 minutes and has five parts with 25 questions; every recording is played twice.

Part 1: candidates see a picture of people and draw five lines to match five spoken names to the right people.

Part 2: candidates write five missing words, numbers or names into gaps in a form, notes or diary.

Part 3: two sets of pictures are given (often people and days of the week); candidates draw five lines to make the correct pairs.

Part 4: five questions, each with three pictures labelled A, B and C, answered by ticking the correct picture.

Part 5: candidates colour five objects in a picture and write one word or number, following recorded instructions.

Names of people and places are frequently spelled out letter by letter, so the letters must be written in the order heard.

Each question is worth one mark, and small spelling errors are accepted when the intended word is still recognisable.

The paper lasts about 40 minutes and contains seven parts and 44 questions; only Part 7 requires continuous writing.

Part 1: ten items; a definition plus picture must be matched with a word chosen from a box and written on the line.

Part 2: five gaps in a short conversation, each answered by choosing the best reply from A, B or C.

Part 3: six gaps in a short story or article filled with words from a box, each word used only once.

Part 4: ten gaps in an information text, each answered by choosing A, B or C; the items test grammar.

Part 5: seven gaps in a story with no word box; exactly one word is written in each gap.

Part 6: five questions about a short text, answered in about one to four words taken or adapted from it.

Part 7: a story of at least 20 words based on three pictures; all three pictures must be covered.

The test lasts about 7 to 9 minutes, has four parts, and involves one examiner and one candidate.

Part 1: greetings followed by personal questions about name, surname, age, school, family, hobbies and birthday.

Part 2: candidate and examiner each hold a similar picture; the candidate states the differences between them.

Part 3: the candidate forms questions from written prompts, then answers the examiner's parallel questions about a second picture.

Part 4: the examiner gives a title and four pictures, and the candidate tells the story shown.

Present continuous forms and 'there is / there are' carry most of the picture description in Parts 2 and 4.

A written prompt such as 'What / name?' must be turned into a complete question with the correct auxiliary verb.

Four criteria are rated: vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and interaction; each feeds into the speaking score.