What is Young Learners English?
Cambridge YLE is designed to get children of primary school age and older on the path to learning English. The YLE tests are broken down into three levels - Starters, Movers and Flyers – and are designed to make learning fun: Young Learners are encouraged by working towards certificates and earning the 'shields' that record their progress.
What will your children get from YLE?
Young Learners English is based around teaching children English as early in life as possible, and making the experience effective and enjoyable. English is a skill that will help children achieve their full potential in later life and the sooner they start learning, the better.
We help you track your child’s progress
The YLE) tests provide a reliable and consistent measure of how well your child is doing in the skills of listening, speaking and reading and writing.
Why take YLE with the British Council?
In Spain, we have many years' experience working with young learners and the Young Learner English tests -as well as a suite of exams and courses they can move onto when they’re older.
What’s in the exam?
The exam covers all four language skills in three parts:
- reading and writing,
- listening,
- speaking.
Find out more about the exam and how to prepare for it.
How to Register
Registering is easy: register for your YLE exam.
Useful Links
YLE: official Cambridge exam site.
Register for your Cambridge YLE exam
Registering for your exam is simple:
- Check exam dates and locations in the table below.
- Download and complete the registration form and instructions for your exam.
You’ll find all the information you need on the exam registration form for your centre.
- Registration forms are only available during the registration periods shown in the table below.
- The registration forms below are for individual candidates only.
- If you are a school, academy or other organisation and want to register multiple candidates, please visit our exams for schools and academies page.
About the YLE
The YLE test has three levels - Starters, Movers & Flyers – designed to measure how well 7-12 year olds are doing in the four key language areas: reading, writing, listening and speaking. The structure of the test is the same at all three levels, though the length and difficulty increases. The information below gives an outline of the type of questions and tasks the test will contain, but this is only a guide.
Starters
- Listening: They will listen to a few recorded conversations and then answer some simple questions about what they have heard.
- Reading and writing: They will answer some multi-choice questions, based on a large picture. They’ll also have to complete a missing word in a simple sentence by rearranging jumbled letters.
- Speaking: They will answer some simple questions about objects in a large picture; you’ll also be asked questions about their friends, family, hobbies etc.
Learn more about preparing for YLE Starters at the Cambridge website.
Movers
- Listening: They will listen to a few recorded conversations and then complete some missing words from the conversation. For another series of conversations, they’ll have to choose the picture that best illustrates what’s being said.
- Reading and writing: They will match words with possible definitions. They’ll also have to fill in the missing word in a number of sentences.
- Speaking: They will tell a simple story based on a sequence of pictures they’re shown. They’ll also have to describe the differences between two nearly identical pictures. Plus, they’ll be asked to talk a bit about themselves – their friends, family, school and hobbies.
Learn more about preparing for YLE Movers at the Cambridge website.
Flyers
- Listening: They will listen to a few recorded conversations and then match pictures of people named in the conversations with other named places or objects. For another series of conversations, they’ll have to choose the picture that best illustrates what’s being said.
- Reading and writing: They will match words with possible definitions. They’ll also see descriptions for a series of pictures and will have to decide if they’re correct or not. They’ll also read one half of a conversation and then choose the second speaker’s answers from a list of possible responses.
- Speaking: They will answer questions about a picture, and then ask questions about another, similar picture. Plus, they’ll be asked to talk about yourself – their friends, family, school and hobbies.
Learn more about preparing for YLE Flyers at the Cambridge website.
How to prepare for YLE
There is a wide range of support to help you prepare for your exam. Take a look at the Cambridge ESOL exam preparation site. You can download many free materials, such as a short booklet about the exam, information for candidates, sample exam papers and sound files for the Listening Test materials.
Do you have a disability?
If you have a disability, please contact your local British Council Exams centre to find out how we can help. You can also get more information on the Cambridge exams site.
Your Cambridge YLE results
All Young Learners will receive an award that will give them – and you – a clear view of their progress, and their strengths and weaknesses in different areas. The award will show how many ‘shields’ your child received. The test is in three parts and the maximum score is five shields for each part of the test (15 in total). A result of one shield means your child has room for improvement in that skill; five shields mean that your child did very well in that skill and answered most questions correctly.
If they get 10 or 11 shields and above, then your child should be ready to move on to the next Cambridge YLE exam in the series – and then progress onto one of our exams for young adults such as Cambridge First Certificate in English (FCE).