By now many students who took the Cambridge English international certification exam at our via Tempio site will have received their results.
But how should we interpret the score obtained and what are the next steps in learning and certifying English?
As for the "Young Learners" exams (Starters, Movers, Flyers), dedicated to younger children, the evaluation is issued through a system of 5 shields, which, divided between the different reading and writing, listening and speaking skills, are blackened according to the candidate's performance during the exam. It is important to understand that these exams, which correspond to the Pre-A1, A1 and A2 levels, are designed to help children familiarize with this kind of examination system and there is no pass or fail.
The "Main Suite", on the other hand, i.e. the exams from A2 Key to C2 Proficiency, which exist both in the “For schools” version and in the general version for adults, are designed to determine the knowledge of the language in a more scrupulous and exhaustive way, through longer and more complex tasks, and are officially recognized in the academic and professional world. The results of these exams are based on a numerical score (from 80 to 230) according to which the test is considered passed or failed.
If you have received a certificate, you can consult the back of the document for a detailed description of the scores for that particular level. Remember that, for each Main Suite exam, after a few weeks, before receiving the official certificate, you will receive a provisional statement of results via email with a detailed description of your performance.
Alternatively, it is possible to consult the "Cambridge English scale", the official assessment scale of Cambridge, complementary to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), which allows us to understand exactly where we are on the English learning path and what is the progress from one level to another.
The scale also compares the alignment of Cambridge English exams specifically to the CEFR and IELTS.
Click here for a larger version of the above diagram.
To learn more about the exam results and get more information about a specific level, visit the official Cambridge English website.
