Cambridge Starters, Movers and Flyers explained: no pass or fail, five shields per skill, and a strict spelling rule in Listening

Each level has three papers: Listening, Reading and Writing, and Speaking. The paper-based version has a face-to-face Speaking test. Lengths are Cambridge's own approximate totals.

A child gets shields for Listening, for Reading and Writing together, and for Speaking. So the certificate shows three results, not four, and reading and writing share one.

One bold shield means the child took the test but can still improve a lot in that part. Five mean they did very well.

Four or five shields in every skill is Cambridge's sign that a child is ready to start preparing for the next exam.

Our reading: a child with five shields in Listening and two in Speaking has not met that description, whatever the certificate looks like at a glance. The lowest result is the one to look at when deciding about the next level.

The FAQ sheets for all three levels say the same thing: in most parts of the Listening test, spelling has to be 100% correct. In Part 2, some misspellings are allowed for words that are not spelled out on the recording.

Our reading: a child can understand the recording and still lose the mark on the word they write down. Practising listening alone does not cover that. Practise writing the words from the level's word list too.

British or American is fine. Both are in the vocabulary lists, the Listening test uses both accents, and answers in either standard form are accepted.

Listening: coloured pencils or pens (red, blue, green, yellow, orange, pink, purple, black, brown and grey), plus an ordinary pen or pencil. Reading and Writing: an ordinary pen or pencil. Speaking: nothing.

Marking: the centre sends the Listening and Reading and Writing papers to Cambridge, where trained markers mark them. The Speaking examiner marks Speaking and sends the marks in with the papers.

Certificates usually arrive three to four weeks after the test or earlier. Your exam centre can tell you when.

The Statement of Results lists the shields, the child's strengths, and ideas for improving. It comes in English and in bilingual versions with French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Turkish and Vietnamese, plus Russian for the paper-based test only.

There is also a digital version, in which children move through the exam as an avatar that later appears on the certificate. Ask your centre which version it runs.

Fees: Cambridge's general exam FAQ, which we read in September 2026, says the cost depends on the exam and the place, and sends you to the exam centre.