A2 Flyers, explained
Where a child stops answering questions and starts telling you things
Pre-A1 Starters, A1 Movers and A2 Flyers are Cambridge English Qualifications. Cambridge is a trademark of Cambridge University Press & Assessment; AylaraTalks is not affiliated with or endorsed by it.
A2 Flyers is the last of the three young learner tests and the one that finally looks like an English exam. A child reads longer texts, writes sentences rather than words, listens for detail rather than gist, and in the speaking part is expected to keep a conversation going rather than answer and stop.
It is still gentle by the standards of what comes after it, and it still ends in a certificate with shields rather than a pass mark. But the language behind it is real A2: past tenses, comparisons, opinions with reasons. A child who reaches this level can hold a simple conversation with a stranger, which is a genuine thing to have achieved by eleven.
As on the other two level pages, what follows is our own coverage of the themes this level is organised around — our free packs, matched honestly, with the gaps named rather than hidden.
📄 The official word list
We do not reproduce the official word list on this page. Cambridge publishes it free as a PDF, it is the only version that is current, and it is the one to work from — the link is right below. What you will find here is our own topic packs, honestly matched to the themes the level is built around.
🗂️ Our coverage of this level's themes
The themes this level's vocabulary is organised around, and our free packs for each. Rows marked as a gap are themes we do not cover.
Animals
The body and health
Clothes
Describing people and feelings
Food and drink
The home
Places and directions
School and study
Sports and leisure
Weather and seasons
Work and jobs
The world around us
Materials and shapes of things
We do not cover thisHalf covered. We have a shapes pack, but not the materials words — plastic, wood, metal — which you will need to bring from elsewhere.
Time, dates and the calendar
We do not cover thisA gap. Our teaching clock covers reading a clock face, but months, dates and ordinal numbers are not in our word bank.
🌟 Practice and printables for this level
Each pack has a tap-to-hear word wall and four printable sheets; the practice link turns it into a five-minute listening quiz a child can do at home.
🕰️ On the day itself
- In the speaking part, answering in one word costs marks even when the word is right. Practise adding a second sentence to every answer — the reason, or an example.
- The story task needs a beginning, a middle and an end. Rehearse the shape until it is automatic; the vocabulary is rarely what goes wrong there.
- Timed reading is a skill of its own. Practise finishing rather than practising perfection — an unfinished paper scores worse than an imperfect one.
- Teach the polite repair phrases properly: "Sorry, I mean…", "Could you repeat that?" A child who can recover from a stumble sounds far more fluent than one who cannot.
- The last week is for confidence, not content. Familiar games, a good night's sleep, and a reminder that a certificate arrives either way.
❓ Common questions
What comes after A2 Flyers?
The teenage and adult exams begin at around B1, and there is usually a gap of a year or two between Flyers and being ready for one. Cambridge's own site is the place to check which exam suits a particular child next.
Is A2 Flyers hard for an eleven-year-old?
It is a real A2, so it is a genuine step — but it is designed around what an eleven-year-old finds interesting, and the tasks are age-appropriate. The children who struggle are usually the ones pushed through Movers too quickly rather than the ones who found this level hard.
How do we practise speaking at home?
One question, one answer, one follow-up — that is the whole exercise, and five minutes of it a day beats an hour on Sunday. Question cards work well because the child is answering a card rather than being interrogated by a parent.
Will these pages get my child through the test?
We will not promise that, and you should be wary of anyone who does. This is free, playful practice for vocabulary, listening and speaking that belongs alongside official preparation — the exam materials themselves come from Cambridge.
Pre-A1 Starters, A1 Movers and A2 Flyers are Cambridge English Qualifications. Cambridge is a trademark of Cambridge University Press & Assessment; AylaraTalks is not affiliated with or endorsed by it. cambridgeenglish.org