EIKEN Grade 3 study guide
EIKEN Grade 3 · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
英検3級（EIKEN Grade 3）は、公益財団法人 日本英語検定協会（Eiken Foundation of Japan）が運営する英語検定シリーズ「英検」のグレードの一つです。協会のサイトでは、英検は「英語スキルを伸ばす」検定として案内されており、同じ協会が英検S-CBT、英検S-Interview、英検IBA、英検Jr.、英検ESG、TEAP、IELTS、CEST Business、GCAS といった複数の検定・サービスを提供していることが確認できます。また、サイト上には「英検バーチャル二次試験」や「英検Can-doリスト」への導線があり、二次試験（スピーキング）対策や、グレードごとの「できること」の目安を確認できる学習支援の仕組みが用意されていることが分かります。 本ページは、英検3級の受験を検討している学習者とその保護者・指導者に向けた学習ガイドです。ただし重要な注意点があります。執筆時点（2026年11月5日）に取得を試みた協会の3級解説ページ（英語版・日本語版のいずれも）は「ページが見つかりません」というエラーを返しており、問題数、試験時間、合格基準、検定料、出題範囲、各技能の配点といった公式の試験仕様を確認できませんでした。したがって本ページでは、そうした数値を推測して掲載することはしません。最新の確定情報は必ず協会の公式サイト（検定・テストの特徴と比較、よくあるご質問、サイトマップ）から直接ご確認ください。 準備の進め方としては、まず公式サイトで現在の試験形式と実施日程を確認し、次に「英検Can-doリスト」で3級相当の到達目標を把握し、「英検バーチャル二次試験」で面接形式に慣れる、という順序が現実的です。四技能をバランスよく練習することをおすすめします。. Topics on this exam: Reading, Listening, Writing, and Speaking. The EIKEN Grade 3 study guide has 4 sections and about 2,062 words.
01Reading: vocabulary, dialogue gaps and content questions on the EIKEN Grade 3 first-stage paper
The Reading section sits inside the 50-minute written paper of EIKEN Grade 3, together with the vocabulary items and the short writing task. Everything here is multiple choice. The level is roughly CEFR A2: sentences are short, grammar is junior-high school range (present perfect, comparatives, infinitives, basic relative clauses), and the vocabulary is everyday life - school, travel, shopping, clubs, family. What the section tests is not literary interpretation but the ability to find one piece of information and recognise it when it is expressed in different words.
534 words, about 3 min02Listening: three parts, thirty questions, and the numbers-and-revision trap
The listening paper of EIKEN Grade 3 runs for about 25 minutes and carries 30 questions in three parts. It is played once only, at natural but controlled speed, with clear junior-high vocabulary. Because you cannot rewind, the skill being tested is prediction plus listening for the correction : you use the printed choices to know what to listen for, then you listen for the point where the speaker changes their mind. A short dialogue, then a question read aloud, with three pictures in the booklet.
535 words, about 3 min03Writing: the 25–35 word English composition on EIKEN Grade 3
The final item of the Grade 3 written paper is a short free composition in English. You are given a question - often a preference or opinion question such as "Which do you like better, summer or winter?" or "Do you like studying English?" - plus a few short hints in English to help you generate content. You must answer the question and give at least one reason, in 25 to 35 words . It is the only part of the paper where you produce language rather than select it, and it is marked on three things: whether the content answers the question with a clear reason, the range and accuracy of vocabulary, and grammatical accuracy.
498 words, about 2 min04Speaking: the Grade 3 interview, from reading aloud to your own opinion
The Grade 3 second-stage test is a short one-to-one interview with a single examiner, conducted entirely in English and lasting about five minutes. You are given a card with a short passage (roughly 40 words) and a picture. The interview moves through four stages: you read the passage aloud, answer questions about it, describe what is happening in the picture, and finally answer a question about your own life or opinion. The examiner rates your pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, fluency and whether your answers fit the question, and the result is pass or fail.
495 words, about 2 min