English in the eighth-grade exam: a plan for the final month

What the paper looks like

The modern foreign language exam is the third day of the eighth-grade exam — this year Wednesday 13 May, 9:00. Last year pupils had 110 minutes for the English paper and could score 55 points. You can't 'fail' the exam — there is no pass mark — but the result counts in secondary school admissions (multiplied by 0.3).

The paper tests five areas: listening, language functions (responding in everyday situations), reading, language use (grammar and vocabulary) and writing. The writing task is usually a short text such as an email of 50–120 words.

Where points are easiest to gain

Pupils most often lose points not on hard words but on carelessness and incomplete answers to instructions. A few habits help straight away:

• In the writing task, address every point in the instructions — a missed element costs content points.
• Watch the word limit: a text that is too short or far too long is harder to mark well.
• In language-use tasks check the form: tense, number, preposition — small things that cost points.
• In listening, read the questions and options before the recording; mark a first answer, then check on the second listening.

A five-week plan

About five weeks remain, including the Easter break. 20–30 minutes a day is enough if it is regular.

• Week 1: one full past paper (available on the CKE website) and a list of the weakest task types.
• Weeks 2–3: one short task from the weakest area daily + 10 minutes of listening (exam recordings, podcasts for learners).
• Week 4: two emails a week on topics from past papers, corrected by a teacher or an English-speaking parent.
• Week 5: a second full timed paper, flashcard vocabulary review, a calm last weekend.

Vocabulary to have 'at hand'

Exam tasks often concern a teenager's everyday life: school, home, shopping, travel, sport, health, technology, holidays and celebrations. Prepare short email phrases — openings, apologies, suggestions, invitations, closings — and use them in every exercise until they become automatic.

For parents

You don't need to speak English to help. Ask your child which task types they're practising, have them read their email aloud and explain what they wrote, or watch a short English video with subtitles together. Pupils with an opinion or certificate from a counselling centre may have adjusted exam conditions — check with the school that everything has been submitted.