Input session · CELTA
Young learners to C2: Cambridge, IELTS, TOEFL and PTE, which exam to recommend, and how to become an examiner yourself.
Every exam in this session sits somewhere on this ladder. Click a rung to see what a learner at that level can actually do.
Exam names love an acronym. Click one on the left, then its full name on the right.
Wander at your own pace. Click any card to open it: level, age group, skills tested, format, and one fact worth knowing. Come back to any you like.
Real questions students ask you in the corridor. What would you suggest?
Teaching exam classes is one path. Marking and examining them is another; many CELTA and DELTA-qualified teachers do both. Click whichever role interests you.
This confirms that you can now tell your KET from your CAE, your IELTS band from your TOEFL score, and that you might fancy a go at examining one day.
Before you go, discuss:
Check the exam facts against this year’s pages if you teach this more than a year after it was written; formats and names move (KET became A2 Key, and so on). Nothing to print.
| Stage | What you do |
|---|---|
| The CEFR ladder | Click each rung from the bottom. Ask where their TP students sit, and where they themselves would sit in a language they are learning. |
| Acronyms | Pairs match the eleven. Ask which they have heard students ask for. |
| The exams | Nine cards, at their own pace on their own devices. Then one fact each that surprised them. |
| Which exam? | Five corridor questions. Pairs choose, Check my recommendations, argue the ones that split. |
| Being an examiner | Two panels. Say what the route looks like from here: a teaching qualification, about two years, an approved centre, standardisation. |
| Wrap-up | The three questions on the page. The certificate is a joke; let it be one. |
On the page: the acronym matches and the scenarios (YLE; TOEFL iBT; PTE Academic; B2 First; IELTS).
Sources. Exam facts are from Cambridge English, IELTS, ETS and Pearson's own published descriptions of each exam.