Canary PAU English

Expect a reading text followed by comprehension questions (multiple choice, true/false with justification, or short answer), a use-of-English section testing grammar and vocabulary in context, and a written production task asking for a composition or essay. The exact task types and weightings are set each year, so confirm the current model on the official regional site.

The official body publishes the current duration, question counts and scoring for each sitting, and these can change between years. Do not rely on numbers from older past papers or forums. Check the official Canarias education/university access website and your school's department for the model applying to your year.

The level expected is broadly B2 on the CEFR: you should cope with an unfamiliar article and write a coherent text of several paragraphs. It is usually less demanding than a full B2 certificate exam because there is no listening or speaking component, but the writing is marked strictly on organisation, range and accuracy.

Retake rules belong to the regional access procedure, not to the English paper itself, and they differ depending on whether you are improving a previous mark or accessing university for the first time. The official body publishes the current rules and deadlines; check its site or ask your school's guidance department rather than assuming a fixed number of attempts.

Start with reading comprehension and writing, since together they dominate the marks. Practise one timed text per day and one timed composition every two or three days, then use grammar review only to fix errors that actually appear in your writing. Vocabulary work should focus on topic-based collocations you can reuse in essays.

Use four or five clear paragraphs: introduce the topic and your position, develop two supporting arguments with examples, acknowledge a counterpoint briefly, then conclude. Use connectors deliberately (however, moreover, as a result) and keep sentences varied. Answer the exact prompt, stay within the requested length, and leave two or three minutes to check agreement, tense consistency and spelling.

Running out of time because they over-read the text, answering comprehension questions with copied sentences instead of their own words, ignoring the word limit, writing an essay that never states a clear position, and basic errors such as subject-verb agreement, missing articles and Spanish-influenced word order. Handwriting and paragraph breaks also affect the examiner's impression.

No. Topics are general and contemporary - technology, environment, education, health, travel, social media - and the reading text may come from an English-language source. You are not tested on local history or literature. What matters is that you can discuss familiar issues with concrete examples and appropriate vocabulary.

No. It is a component of the university access assessment in the Canary Islands and its result feeds into that procedure; it is not a stand-alone CEFR certificate issued by a language-certification body. If you need a certificate for work or study abroad, you will need a separate recognised qualification. This page is independent study material and is not affiliated with the official body.