Parents are often asked whether they can enter their child of primary school age to take the KET and PET examinations, or if they can help their child to prepare for them. KET and PET are tests developed by Cambridge ESOL to assess candidates’ English ability at the basic level. As KET and PET provide reliable means to evaluate children’s learning progress and their ability to use English in everyday life, some parents will arrange appropriate and relevant practice sessions for their child with reference to the examination results. Though there is not a lower limit set on the age of a candidate for KET and PET, parents are advised to review carefully their child’s English standard and his/her ability to cope with examination stress before registration. As KET and PET certificates are valid for life and widely recognised at the international level and in the local education community, some parents will use them to apply for admission to secondary schools.
KET and PET each consist of three papers:
- Reading and Writing – Candidates should demonstrate their ability to:
- understand the main points of a text
- handle unfamiliar words, vocabulary and sentence structures
- write a short message, story or letter.
- Listening – From topics selected from everyday life, candidates are required to show their ability to:
- understand
- take part in a conversation
- make a monologue.
- Speaking – There are two oral examiners and your child will take the test with one other candidate. Besides talking with the examiners, the two candidates will be asked to:
- raise and answer questions between themselves
- raise and answer questions about themselves
- make a monologue
- talk freely about their likes and dislikes.
If your child earns ten or more shields at the “FLYERS” level of the Cambridge Young Learners Tests (YLE), he/she can then proceed to take the KET examination. The KET certificate recognises its holder’s ability to deal with everyday spoken and written English at a basic level. Children passing KET may move on to the next level of the Cambridge ESOL examinations, the PET examination. Passing PET means that your child is able to deal with everyday spoken and written English at an intermediate level.
Here are some useful tips to help you prepare your child for the KET and PET examinations:
- Have an “Oral’s Night” every week. Talk freely with your child in English and choose whatever topics you like, such as sharing personal experiences, describing photos and giving or responding to suggestions. You can help your child develop a wealth of vocabulary as well as the skills to describe a wide variety of things in adjectives and nouns.
- Improve your child’s listening skills and the ability to grasp focus points. This can be done by making good use of topics we come across in everyday life, such as radio programmes, weather reports and the buying or exchange of purchased goods, etc. These are resources freely available, but are extremely useful in enhancing your child’s practical English and ability to communicate.
- Download sample papers from the British Council website. Past papers and examination preparation materials are available for sale at the British Council Bookshop. All this material provides good practice for kids who wish to excel in KET and PET.
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The British Council will hold a seminar on how to measure success of Upper Primary and Lower Secondary students’ English ability on 20 and 22 June 2009 as part of its ESOL International English Examination Preparation Series. The seminar will provide useful tips for parents who wish to prepare their children for the KET and PET examinations. For enquiries or to reserve a seat, please call 2913 5100 or e-mail us at ms@britishcouncil.org.hk
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