Test formatVTEST English for Schools: Ages 7–10

The test is designed for young learners of all nationalities, ages 7 to 10.

When can learners take the test?

The test can be taken at any time at schools. The test sections are all online, so they can be taken anywhere with a good and stable internet connection.

What does the test look like?

The test is modular. There are separate modules for listening, reading, speaking, and writing. They can be taken individually, or in any combination. Our tests are designed to offer students maximum flexibility. There are four distinct parts for each module.

What levels of English does the test cover?

The test covers the levels from Pre-A1 to B1 on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

Levels and descriptors

Test format

The test provides a dedicated module per skill, composed of four distinct parts for each. The test has been designed with the same duration, whatever the level of the student may be.

Listening

CEFR LEVELS: Pre-A1 to B1
DURATION: 20 mins approx.
PARTS / QUESTIONS: 4 parts / 20 questions

Reading

CEFR LEVELS: Pre-A1 to B1
DURATION: 20 mins approx.
PARTS / QUESTIONS: 4 parts / 20 questions

Speaking

CEFR LEVELS: Pre-A1 to B1
DURATION: 10 mins approx.
PARTS / QUESTIONS: 4 parts / 16 questions

Writing

CEFR LEVELS: Pre-A1 to B1
DURATION: 20 mins approx.
PARTS / QUESTIONS: 4 parts / 22 questions

Result format

There is no pass or fail and all young learners receive a certificate which will show the following:

The CEFR level for each of the skills taken by the student
The performance abilities using the Can-do statements
What the student can continue to do to improve for each of the four skills

VTEST will provide:

An official certificate of achievement
A test report

Test report

The test report is fully personalized, and includes the following:

CEFR levels
Descriptors of abilities per skill
Suggestions for improvement
The CEFR table of the test (last page).

Certificate of achievement

The certificate of achievement summarizes the results of the test. As it is not a pass or fail exam, all children receive a certificate which will show the following:

The CEFR level per skill
The friend selected by the candidate
The rosette for reward.

View certificate View test report

LISTENING

READING

SPEAKING

WRITING

LISTENING

There are four distinct parts to the Listening module, each with a different focus.

The Listening module is adaptive by stage. All students start with the same Pre-A1 questions in Part 1. Based on their performance in Part 1, students either have Pre-A1 or A1 questions in Part 2. Similarly, based on their performance in Part 2, students have a Listening comprehension task at Pre-A1, A1, or A2 in Part 3. Part 4 listening comprehension tasks are at all levels, from Pre-A1 to B1.

Each audio recording is played twice in the Listening section, so students have a chance to listen again and check their answers. Each task begins with an example to demonstrate to students what they have to do.

Module format

DURATION: About 20 minutes (Each question has a limited time for answering).
PARTS: 4
NUMBER OF QUESTIONS: 20

PART 1

Number of questions: 5
Activity: Picture matching
The screen shows several different images. Students listen to five short dialogues and in each case identify the image that is mentioned in the dialogue.
Assessment: Students are assessed on their ability to understand short dialogues and to identify key vocabulary items mentioned in the dialogues.

PART 2

Number of questions: 5
Activity: Conversation with multiple-choice questions
Students listen to a dialogue and answer five multiple-choice questions.
Assessment: Students are assessed on their ability to understand short dialogues about everyday events and familiar situations.

PART 3

Number of questions: 5
Activity: Hotspot matching
Students listen to the dialogue and decide which of the missing objects belong in the picture, and where they go.
Assessment: Students are assessed on their ability to accurately locate key elements of a description in an image.

PART 4

Number of questions: 5
Activity: Conversation with multiple-choice questions
Students listen to short dialogues and select the correct answer(s).
Assessment: Students are assessed on their ability to identify and understand the key points of familiar dialogues.

READING

There are four distinct parts to the Reading module, each with a different focus.
The Reading module is adaptive. All students start with the same Pre-A1 questions in Part 1. Based on students’ performance in Part 1, they either have Pre-A1 or A1 questions in Part 2. Similarly, based on their performance in Part 2, students have Reading comprehension tasks at Pre-A1, A1, or A2 in Part 3. Part 4 has reading comprehension tasks at all levels from Pre-A1 to B1.

Module format

DURATION: About 20 minutes (Each question has a limited time for answering).
PARTS: 4
NUMBER OF QUESTIONS: 20

PART 1

Number of questions: 5
Activity: Sentence matching
Students see a picture and make sentences that describe the picture. They do this by reading and matching sentence beginnings and endings.
Assessment: Students are assessed on their ability to complete the sentences by matching the two halves of the sentences, so that they are both logical and grammatically correct.

PART 2

Number of questions: 5
Activity: Picture choice
Students read a statement and answer a question on it.
Assessment: Students are assessed on their ability to read and understand simple messages in everyday texts.

PART 3

Number of questions: 5
Activity: Yes/No questions and True/False questions
Students read a short text and answer Yes/No questions or True/False questions. The texts are examples of short personal correspondence: emails, social media messages, or letters written by friends.
Assessment: Students are assessed on their ability to read and understand examples of personal correspondence.

PART 4

Number of questions: 5
Activity: Multiple-choice and multiple-choice picture selection
Students read a short letter, email, or social media message where the writer tells a story about an aspect of his or her life or students see a set of images, some of which represent things, facts, ideas, or other elements mentioned in the story. The students read the text and decide which images go with the text.
Assessment: In this part, students are assessed on their ability to read and understand texts that tell personalized stories.

WRITING

There are four distinct parts to the Writing section, each with a different focus.
The Writing section is partially adaptive. Part 4 (guided writing) has two separate tasks. Students are given either the easier guided essay or the more challenging guided correspondence task based on their performance in Parts 1–3 of the Writing test.

Module format

DURATION: About 20 minutes (Each question has a limited time for answering).
PARTS: 4
NUMBER OF QUESTIONS: 22

PART 1

Number of questions: 8
Activity: Spelling
Students read a sentence with a missing word and see a picture that represents the missing word. They also see the letters needed to spell the word.
Assessment: Students are assessed on their ability to complete the sentences by spelling the missing word correctly.

PART 2

Number of questions: 8
Activity: Word order
Students see a picture and read eight sentences that are related to the picture. Each sentence has some words missing. The missing words are presented in random order in a word pool on the screen. Students drag and drop the missing words into the correct place to complete each sentence.
Assessment: Students are assessed on the accuracy of their word ordering in completing the sentences.

PART 3

Number of questions: 3
Activity: Picture description
Students are asked three questions about a picture showing a common or everyday situation.. They should try to write about 20 words for each answer. Typical pictures might show a shopping scene, or a sporting event, a family celebration, or a situation at school.
Assessment: Students are assessed on their ability to write coherent and cohesive, grammatically accurate sentences with sufficient and appropriate detail and appropriate lexis.

PART 4

Number of questions: 3
Activity: Guided essay or correspondence
There are two different personalized writing tasks in this part. Each candidate will receive only one of these tasks. The choice of task depends on the candidate’s performance in the first two parts of the Writing test.
- Students who are performing at the Pre-A1 and A1 levels will receive a guided essay task. The guided essay consists of three related questions that students answer on a single topic. They should try to write about 10 words for each answer.
- Students who are performing at the A2 and B1 levels will receive a guided correspondence task. This involves reading a short text that includes three questions and then replying to each of the questions. They should try to write about 20 words for each answer.
Assessment: For both the guided essay and the guided correspondence tasks, students are assessed on their written fluency and accuracy.