KET for schools
A Cambridge English: Key (KET) for Schools qualification shows that a student can use English to communicate in simple situations. It’s a logical next step after Cambridge English: Young Learners (YLE) and a good place for older children to start learning English too.
The exam gives students the confidence to go on to study for higher-level English exams, such asCambridge English: Preliminary (PET) for Schools.
Cambridge English: Key for Schools is targeted at the same CEFR level (A2 level) as Cambridge English: Key (KET), but with content aimed at school-age learners rather than adults.
Exam format
Cambridge English: Key for Schools is made up of three papers developed to test students’ English skills. You can see exactly what’s in each paper below.
| Paper | Content | Marks (% of total) |
Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reading and Writing (1 hour 10 minutes) See sample paper |
9 parts/ 56 questions |
50% | Shows a student can understand simple written information such as signs, brochures, newspapers and magazines. They will also have to fill gaps in simple sentences and write a short message or note. |
| Listening (30 minutes, including 8 minutes’ transfer time) See sample paper |
5 parts/ 25 questions |
25% | Requires a student to be able to understand announcements and other spoken material when people speak reasonably slowly. |
| Speaking (8–10 minutes per pair of candidates) See sample paper |
2 parts | 25% | Tests a student’s ability to take part in a conversation by answering and asking simple questions. Their Speaking test will be conducted face to face with one or two other students. This makes their test more realistic and more reliable. |
What’s in the Reading and Writing paper?
The Cambridge English: Key for Schools Reading and Writing paper has nine parts with different types of texts and questions. Parts 1–5 are about reading and Parts 6–9 are mainly about writing.
Summary
| Time allowed: | 1 hour 10 minutes |
|---|---|
| Number of parts: | 9 |
| Number of questions: | 56 |
| Marks: | 50% of total |
Part 1 (Matching)
| What’s in Part 1? | Eight signs, notices or other very short texts (A–H) and five sentences. Students have to match each sentence to the right sign or notice. |
|---|---|
| What does the student have to practise? | Reading for the main message. |
| How many questions are there? | 5 |
| How many marks are there? | One mark for each correct answer. |
Part 2 (Multiple choice)
| What’s in Part 2? | Five sentences on the same topic or which make a story. Each sentence has a missing word and students have to choose the best word (A, B or C) to complete the sentence. |
|---|---|
| What does the student have to practise? | Reading and finding the right word. |
| How many questions are there? | 5 |
| How many marks are there? | One mark for each correct answer. |
Part 3 (Multiple choice and matching)
| What’s in Part 3? | The first five questions are about a conversation. For each sentence, students have to choose what the other person says next (A, B or C). The second part of Part 3 is a longer conversation, but some sentences are missing. Students have a list of sentences (A–H) and have to find the right sentence for each space. |
|---|---|
| What does the student have to practise? | Reading and finding the right answer for everyday conversations. |
| How many questions are there? | 10 |
| How many marks are there? | One mark for each correct answer. |
Part 4 (Right/Wrong/Doesn’t say OR multiple choice)
| What’s in Part 4? | A long text or three short texts. According to the text(s), students have to either decide if the correct answer to each question is (A), (B) or (C) or decide if sentences are Right, Wrong, or Doesn’t say. |
|---|---|
| What does the student have to practise? | Reading to understand the detail and main ideas of a text. |
| How many questions are there? | 7 |
| How many marks are there? | One mark for each correct answer. |
Part 5 (Multiple-choice cloze)
| What’s in Part 5? | A short text with eight numbered spaces. Each space represents a missing word and students have to choose the right answer (A, B or C). |
|---|---|
| What does the student have to practise? | Reading to find the right structural word, e.g. a preposition like ‘for’ or ‘since’, or verb form like ‘keeping’, ‘keep’ or ‘kept’, etc. |
| How many questions are there? | 8 |
| How many marks are there? | One mark for each correct answer. |
Part 6 (Word completion)
| What’s in Part 6? | Five sentences like the definitions found in a dictionary. We give students the first letter of the word and the number of letters and they have to complete the word. |
|---|---|
| What does the student have to practise? | Vocabulary and spelling. |
| How many questions are there? | 5 |
| How many marks are there? | One mark for each correct answer. |
Part 7 (Open cloze)
| What’s in Part 7? | A short text, for example a note, email or letter. There are 10 missing words in the text and students have to find the right word for each space. |
|---|---|
| What does the student have to practise? | Grammar, vocabulary and spelling. |
| How many questions are there? | 10 |
| How many marks are there? | One mark for each correct answer. |
Part 8 (Information transfer)
| What’s in Part 8? | Two short texts to read. Students have to use the information in the texts to fill in a form correctly. |
|---|---|
| What does the student have to practise? | Reading and writing down words or numbers correctly. |
| How many questions are there? | 5 |
| How many marks are there? | One mark for each correct answer. |
Part 9 (Guided writing)
| What’s in Part 9? | Students have to write a short message, e.g. a note, email or postcard. The instructions tell the student who to write to and what to say. |
|---|---|
| What does the student have to practise? | Writing short messages. |
| How many questions are there? | 1 |
| How much does the student have to write? | 25–35 words |
| How many marks are there? | This question has a total of 5 marks. |
What’s in the Listening paper?
The Cambridge English: Key for Schools Listening paper has five parts. For each part students have to listen to a recorded text or texts and answer some questions. Recordings are played twice.
Summary
| Time allowed: | About 30 minutes (including 8 minutes to copy the answers onto the answer sheet) |
|---|---|
| Number of parts: | 5 |
| Number of questions: | 25 |
| Marks: | 25% of total |
Part 1 (Multiple choice)
| What’s in Part 1? | Five short conversations. For each conversation there is a question and three pictures (A, B or C). Students listen to the conversations and choose the right answer. |
|---|---|
| What does the student have to practise? | Listening to find key information. |
| How many questions are there? | 5 |
| How many marks are there? | One mark for each correct answer. |
Part 2 (Matching)
| What’s in Part 2? | A longer conversation and two lists of words. Students listen to the conversation and match two lists of items, for example, people with the food they like to eat, or days of the week with activities. |
|---|---|
| What does the student have to practise? | Listening for key information. |
| How many questions are there? | 5 |
| How many marks are there? | One mark for each correct answer. |
Part 3 (Multiple choice)
| What’s in Part 3? | A conversation and some questions. Students listen to the conversation and choose the right answer (A, B or C) for each question. |
|---|---|
| What does the student have to practise? | Listening for information. |
| How many questions are there? | 5 |
| How many marks are there? | One mark for each correct answer. |
Part 4 (Gap-fill)
| What’s in Part 4? | A conversation between two people. Students listen to the recording and have to write the information they hear in a message or notes. |
|---|---|
| What does the student have to practise? | Listening and writing down information correctly. |
| How many questions are there? | 5 |
| How many marks are there? | One mark for each correct answer. |
Part 5 (Gap-fill)
| What’s in Part 5? | A monologue (one person is speaking). Students listen to the recording and fill in a message or notes. |
|---|---|
| What does the student have to practise? | Listening and writing down information correctly. |
| How many questions are there? | 5 |
| How many marks are there? | One mark for each correct answer. |
What’s in the Speaking paper?
The Cambridge English: Key for Schools Speaking test has two parts and each student takes it with another candidate. There are two examiners. One examiner talks to the candidates and the other examiner listens and takes notes.
Summary
| Time allowed: | 8–10 minutes per pair of candidates |
|---|---|
| Number of parts: | 2 |
| Marks: | 25% of total |
| Students have to talk: | with the examiner with the other candidate |
Part 1 (Interview)
| What’s in Part 1? | Conversation with the examiner. The examiner asks students some questions about themselves and they answer. |
|---|---|
| What does the student have to practise? | Giving information about themself. |
| How long do students have to speak for? | 5–6 minutes |
Part 2 (Collaborative task)
| What’s in Part 2? | The examiner gives students some information or a card with some ideas for questions. They have to talk with the other candidate and ask or answer questions. |
|---|---|
| What does the student have to practise? | Asking and answering simple questions about daily life. |
| How long do students have to speak for? | 3–4 minutes |
Taken from Cambridge website for more information: http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/exams/key-for-schools/
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