Cambridge B1 Preliminary for Schools
One unit for every part of the B1 Preliminary exam — then exam-day practice.
- Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking, part by part
- Writing tasks with model answers to compare with
- Homework books, unit tests and full practice tests
✓ Unit 1 is free · ✓ Phone, tablet or computer · ✓ Self-paced
Unit 1 free🎁 Try the first lesson of Unit 1 now. Create a free account to open all of Unit 1 — every lesson, the homework and the unit test.
Cambridge B1 Preliminary for Schools units
Practice tests
Full tests in all four papers — reading, writing, listening and speaking. Do one after each round of four units.
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Everything in one course
Hear every word
Every word, example and listening task has audio — practise your ear as much as your eyes.
Real exam tasks
Every part of the exam, practised in the real Cambridge format — no surprises on exam day.
16 homework books
One homework book per unit to review at home or set as homework by a teacher.
20 unit tests + 10 practice tests
Check progress at the end of every unit, then try full practice tests in every paper.
Clara, your tutor
Clara explains what each lesson is about and what to do next.
XP and progress
Earn XP for every lesson and see your progress unit by unit.
How every unit works
- LearnNew words, grammar and exam strategy
- PractiseExam-style tasks with instant feedback
- HomeworkA homework book to review at home
- Unit testCheck what you know, then move on
What’s in the Cambridge B1 Preliminary for Schools course
This online B1 Preliminary for Schools course has 20 units and 210 lessons, built to the real exam. Each unit teaches first, then practises the exam tasks, and ends with a unit test — plus 16 homework books a teacher can assign.
- Reading Part 1: Notices and short messages — Education · Services · Social interaction
- Reading Part 2: Matching people and texts — Hobbies & leisure · Travel holidays
- Reading Part 3: A longer text — Sport · Entertainment & media · Places: buildings · Environment
- Reading Part 4: Putting sentences back — House & home · The natural world · Shopping · Services
- Reading Part 5: Choosing the right word — Food & drink · Environment · Weather
- Reading Part 6: One word in each gap — Health medicine
- Writing Part 1: The email reply — Education
- Writing Part 2: Article or story — Shopping · Weather
- Listening Part 1: Choose the picture — Weather · Sport
- Listening Part 2: What do they think? — Education
- Listening Part 3: Filling in notes — Places: buildings
- Listening Part 4: The interview — Daily life · Places: buildings
- Speaking Part 1: Talking about yourself — Daily life · Education
- Speaking Part 2: Describing a photo — Education · Sport
- Speaking Part 3: Talking together — Shopping
- Speaking Part 4: The longer conversation — Shopping · Hobbies & leisure
- Exam day: the Reading paper
- Exam day: the Writing paper
- Exam day: the Listening paper
- Exam day: the Speaking test
B1 Preliminary for Schools exam format
Cambridge English: B1 Preliminary for Schools (PET) has 4 papers:
| Paper | Time | Parts | Questions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reading | 45 minutes | 6 | 32 |
| Writing | 45 minutes | 2 | 2 |
| Listening | 30 minutes | 4 | 25 |
| Speaking | 10–12 minutes (in pairs) | 4 | — |
Each of the four papers counts for 25% of the result.
Questions about this course
- Is this an official Cambridge course?
- No. It is an independent 7ESL course that follows the official Cambridge exam format and word lists. The exam itself is taken at an authorised Cambridge English centre.
- What can I try for free?
- Without an account you can try the first lesson of Unit 1. A free account opens all of Unit 1 — every lesson, the homework and the unit test — and the word list of every unit, so you can see how the course works before upgrading.
- How is progress checked?
- Answers are marked as you go, and every unit ends with a unit test. The next unit opens when the unit’s goals are met, so gaps are fixed before moving on.
- Which course comes before or after this one?
- Before: Cambridge A2 Key for Schools. Next: Cambridge B2 First.
Course Cambridge B1 Preliminary for Schools (B1). Cambridge B1 Preliminary for Schools (PET) preparation: 12 units in three rounds through all four papers — Reading (6 parts), Writing (email, article, story), Listening (4 parts) and the paired Speaking test.
Start Cambridge B1 Preliminary for Schools today
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