Pre-A1 Starters Reading & Writing Part 1 — Tick or Cross the Sentence
Reading & Writing Part 1 shows five pictures of objects, each with a short sentence such as 'This is a ball.' Your child ticks the box if the sentence matches the picture and puts a cross if it doesn't.
How Reading & Writing Part 1 works
Your child sees five pictures of single objects, each with a short sentence beside it, such as 'This is a ball.'
They read the sentence and look carefully at the picture.
If the sentence is true of the picture, they draw a tick in the box; if not, a cross.
An example comes first, so the pattern is clear before question one.
Tips for tick-or-cross questions
Revise Starters object nouns by theme — toys, animals, food, school things — with picture cards, because this part is pure word–picture recognition.
Watch for look-alike traps: the sentence often names something similar to the pictured object, so teach precise names, not categories.
Practise drawing clear ticks and crosses so the examiner is never in doubt about the answer.
Get your child to read the whole sentence aloud before deciding — skimming just the noun is how easy marks get lost.
Games that train Part 1
- Vocabulary Tower
Word–picture recognition across the Starters wordlist — exactly the sentence-to-picture judgement Part 1 rewards, one word at a time.
Frequently asked questions
What do the tick and cross mean in Part 1?
Each of the five questions shows a picture of an object with a one-line sentence. If the sentence correctly names what is in the picture, your child draws a tick in the box; if it does not, a cross. Practise making both marks clearly so the examiner is never in doubt.
How many marks is Reading & Writing Part 1 worth?
Five — one mark per question, out of 25 across the whole Reading & Writing paper. The paper lasts about 20 minutes and has five parts. There is no pass mark: results appear as up to five shields per paper on your child's Cambridge certificate.
What vocabulary should we revise for Part 1?
Concrete object nouns from the official Starters wordlist: toys, animals, food and drink, school things, clothes and household objects. Because the wrong answers usually name something similar-looking, teach exact words rather than categories — knowing the difference between a lizard and a crocodile is what earns the mark.
Last updated: 2026-07-02
Ready to practise Reading & Writing Part 1?
Make a free account and your child can start in under a minute. No card needed.