What A2 Key Reading Part 1 looks like
The A2 Key Reading and Writing paper lasts one hour and has seven parts: 1 to 5 are reading, 6 and 7 are writing. Part 1 gives you six short everyday texts, such as notices, signs, messages and short emails, each with three sentences, A, B and C. Only one says the same as the text. A2 Key for Schools uses the same format.
Step 1: read the whole text and ask why it was written
Read every word before you look at A, B and C, and ask: what is it, and why did someone write it? Notices drop small words: “Sports hall closed on Friday” means “The sports hall is closed on Friday.”
Most texts do one of five jobs, and options like “Mum wants Sam to…” test the job directly:
- Tell you about a change: “Swimming club is in Pool 2 today, not Pool 1.”
- Give a rule: “Phones must be off during the film.”
- Ask someone to do something: “Can you feed the cat before school?”
- Explain or say sorry: “Sorry, I can’t come tonight. I’ve got a cold.”
- Invite: “Pizza at my place on Friday? Bring a game!”
Step 2: match the meaning, not the words
The right option usually says the same thing in different words. Collect pairs like these:
- “closed on Friday” = “you can’t go in on Friday”
- “every Monday” = “once a week”
- “for two weeks” = “for fourteen days”
- “must stay in the library” = “you can’t take it home”
One notice, three options, out loud
Listen to two students, Zara and Amara, working through one notice. B is right: it says “a different day” instead of repeating “Saturday”. A is wrong because practice still happens, and C stretches “on Friday” into “all week”.
Zara Let's try one. The notice says: "Sports hall closed on Friday. Basketball practice is on Saturday this week."
Amara A says: "There is no basketball practice this week." That's wrong. There is practice, on Saturday.
Zara B says: "This week, practice is on a different day."
Amara Yes! That's the same idea in different words.
Zara And C says: "The sports hall is closed all week." No, only on Friday. So it's B.
How the wrong options trick you
A wrong option keeps most of the text and changes one detail. Check:
- Day or time: “on Friday” becomes “all week”.
- Place: “in the sports hall” becomes “on the outside court”.
- Number or length: “three books for two weeks” becomes “two books”.
- Done or not done: “I’ll do my part at the weekend” is not “My part is ready”.
- Small words: “only”, “all”, “not”, “every” and “until” change the whole meaning.
Common mistakes
These cost marks even when you know the words:
- Word spotting: picking the option that repeats the most words.
- Reading half the text: details like “this week” often come at the end.
- Using real life: an option can sound sensible but not be what this text says.
- Missing a negative: “can’t” and “don’t” are easy to miss when you read fast.
- Staying too long on one text: mark your best guess and come back later.
Your 5-minute exam routine
The paper sets no time per part, but about five minutes for Part 1 leaves time for writing. Practise with sets of six texts, without help. If you don’t finish, do the last text afterwards and record that score separately, so you know your real timed score.
- Minutes 1–4: for each text, say what it is and why it was written, then choose.
- Minute 5: check the small words.
- Afterwards: for each wrong option, name the detail it changed.
- At home: copy a real notice, write one sentence with the same meaning and two traps. Swap with a friend or parent.
What comes next
The same skill helps in Part 5, where you fill six gaps in a short text, often an email, and in Part 6, where you write a short email. At B1 Preliminary, Reading Part 1 works the same way: five short texts, three options each.