A2 Flyers common mistakes
A2 Flyers · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
In Listening Part 1, the candidate draws a line to the first person whose name they hear instead of waiting for the description, and writes names such as 'Sarah', 'Harry' or 'Sally' as 'Sara', 'Hary' or 'Saly' when the speaker spells them out letter by letter.
Names are repeated several times in the dialogue and two characters often have similar-sounding names, so matching on the first sound 'works' sometimes and the candidate stops listening for the identifying detail. Young learners also have very little practice spelling English proper names, which are not phonetic to them.
What to do instead
Before the audio starts, say each name aloud and note its tricky letters. During listening, tick a name only when the description matches ('the woman with the curly hair' / 'the man carrying a box'), crossing names off as they are used so the last one is automatic. Run a weekly 10-name spelling dictation with a stock list of common Flyers names.
In Listening Part 2 (note completion) the candidate writes a whole phrase or a made-up word in the gap, or leaves the gap empty because the answer is a word they cannot spell, and then misses the next two answers while thinking about it.
They treat the note as a dictation and try to transcribe the sentence they hear, and they believe an empty gap is safer than a misspelt answer, so spelling anxiety blocks the rest of the recording.
What to do instead
Train the rule 'one word or one number per gap, spelled how it sounds, then keep listening'. Do 'listen and write only the answer word' drills with the typical Part 2 vocabulary (days, months, clock times, prices, places, family words) as spelling practice, not as comprehension practice.
In Listening Part 5 the candidate colours an object that is already coloured, or colours the wrong item, because they start colouring as soon as they hear a colour word instead of locating the object first.
The instruction sentence contains both the object and its position ('the one next to the door', 'the smallest one'), and candidates with weak preposition and comparison vocabulary latch onto the colour word alone.
What to do instead
Use the pre-listening pause to scan and name objects and positions in English. Practise tasks where the candidate must first point to and say the object ('the bag behind the chair') before picking up a colour. Rehearse position language (next to, above, in front of, in the middle, the biggest/smallest).
In Reading and Writing Part 1 the candidate writes the right idea in the wrong form - 'swim' or 'a swimming' for a gap that needs 'swimming' - or adds an article or changes the ending of a word that is already printed in the word list.
They match the definition to a topic rather than checking the grammar of the sentence frame, so they never ask themselves whether the gap needs a thing, an action or a describing word, and they do not realise the answers are copied exactly from the list.
What to do instead
Two-step routine: first decide the word class from the frame ('You can ___' = verb; 'It is a ___' = noun), then copy the word letter for letter with no article and no ending change. Drill 20 items where the answer is an -ing verb or a plural noun so the copying habit is tested.
In gap-fill and multiple-choice items the candidate chooses the option that fits the meaning but breaks the grammar - 'make' for 'do', 'say' for 'tell', 'he go' for 'he goes', 'interested of' - and in the open gap-fill text writes three words where the gap allows one.
They read only the words before the gap and translate that fragment, so the preposition after the gap, the subject of the verb and the word limit are never checked.
What to do instead
Read the whole sentence to the full stop before choosing, then physically point at the word after the gap and at the subject. Keep a running collocation list (do homework, make a cake, listen to, good at, afraid of) for fast recall. Enforce 'one word per gap - count on your fingers' in every practice text.
In the story-writing task the candidate produces three separate descriptions ('In picture 1 there is a boy. In picture 2 there is a dog.'), writes under the required length, leaves one of the three pictures out entirely, or invents a long story unrelated to the pictures.
They have no narrative frame and no automatic past simple, so they fall back on the present-tense describing language they already control; they concentrate on the picture they understand best and never count words, so they do not know they are short.
What to do instead
Teach a fixed scaffold: one sentence per picture with a time/person opener, joined by First / Then / After that / Suddenly / In the end. Drill past simple of 30 common verbs and openers such as 'Last Saturday', 'One day'. Practise the final check aloud: three pictures covered? past tense? link words? at least the minimum number of words?
The candidate hands in the Reading and Writing paper with several items blank because they spent too long on the story or on one hard item, and never goes back to guess.
There is no timing plan, and the candidate treats the paper as something to be perfect on rather than seven parts to be completed; many also assume a blank is 'safer' than a wrong answer and do not know wrong answers cost nothing.
What to do instead
Set a visible timer and a per-part time budget in every mock, with a fixed two-minute 'fill every blank' pass at the end. Make 'no blank left' a scored habit in class practice so guessing becomes routine rather than a decision made under pressure.
In the Speaking test the candidate answers with a single word or 'Yes/No' ('Blue.' 'Yes.' 'Football.') and offers no reason, time or place.
The candidate treats the exchange as a factual quiz rather than a chance to show language, and under nerves the shortest safe answer feels like the least risky one.
What to do instead
Practise the formula 'answer + one extra detail', with every answer containing a 'because' or a time/place phrase ('I like football because I play with my brother on Saturdays'). Prepare three sentences each for the standard personal topics: school, family, weekend, holidays, favourite food and hobbies.
In the information-exchange task the candidate only answers the examiner's questions and never asks their own, or asks with statement word order ('You like apples?', 'What colour it is?').
Asking is a separate skill from answering and is rarely practised; question word order with an auxiliary before the subject is not automatic for young learners, so they avoid asking altogether and lose half the marks in this part.
What to do instead
Drill question frames for the picture prompts (What's the boy's name? How old is he? Where does he live? What's his favourite food? What time does he get up?). Use paired information-gap tasks where the candidate cannot see the other picture and must ask to complete it, with the cue 'question word + is/does/can + person'.
In the picture-story task the candidate describes each picture separately with 'In this picture there is...' and present continuous, does not link the pictures into a story, and stops after one or two pictures or falls silent when the listing runs out.
Narrative connectives and past tense are not yet fast enough to use under time pressure, so the candidate reverts to describing what can be seen; a list-based approach also runs dry quickly, producing long pauses.
What to do instead
Rehearse a fixed spoken scaffold ('One day... / Then... / After that... / In the end...'), give a 30-second silent planning pause before speaking, and insist on reaching the final picture even with one simple sentence. In practice, prompt with 'What happened next?' rather than correcting grammar mid-story.