Starters Listening Part 1 shows children one big picture and five names. They listen to a dialogue and draw a line from each name to the correct person in the picture. There are 5 questions, no writing at all, and it tests recognising English names and following simple descriptions of people.
Your child sees one big, busy picture with people doing different things, plus a set of names around it.
A dialogue between two speakers plays, describing who each named person is — what they are doing, wearing or holding.
Your child draws a line from each name to the matching person in the picture.
There are five questions plus an example, and the recording plays twice so every answer can be checked.
Learn the common English first names on the Starters wordlist — Sam, Kim, Sue, Tom, Ann, Bill — so hearing the name is never the hard part.
People are identified by what they are doing or wearing, so practise present continuous phrases like 'the boy who is riding a bike' and clothing words.
Use the two playings deliberately: draw lines on the first listen, check and correct on the second.
Draw light, clear lines — a line to the wrong person cannot earn the mark, and light lines are easy to change.
Hear-it, find-it listening rounds that build the same audio-to-picture reflex Part 1 uses when your child hunts for the right person.
Plays a phrase and asks your child to pick the matching picture — the core listen-and-match skill behind drawing lines from names to people.
The exact big-picture, draw-a-line format isn't fully gamified yet. The games above train the underlying listen-and-match skill, and the free 15-minute readiness test at /readiness-test gives a quick check of your child's Starters listening level.
There are five questions, and Part 1 is always the first task on the Listening paper. Your child sees one big picture and a set of names, listens to a dialogue between two speakers, and draws a line from each name to the correct person. The whole Listening paper has 20 questions across four parts.
Yes. In every part of the Starters Listening paper, including Part 1, the recording is played twice. Encourage your child to draw their lines on the first listening and use the second playing to check each answer — lines can still be changed if they spot a mistake.
No. Part 1 involves no writing at all — children only draw lines from names to people in the picture. That makes it one of the friendliest parts for young learners, but they still need to recognise common English first names such as Sam, Kim, Sue and Tom when they hear them.
The speakers identify each person by what they are doing, wearing or holding — for example, 'the boy who is riding a bike'. Preparing means practising present continuous verbs, clothing words and simple descriptions, because your child links a name to a person purely from those spoken clues.
Last updated: 2026-07-02
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Last updated: 2026-07-02