CEFR and Cambridge

Cambridge Assessment have been using this image on the left to show how their various examinations correlate to the CEFR language levels.

The three balloons at the lower end portrayed with the three little hanging monkeys (Cambridge copyright) have been designed especially for very young students and they are the Young Learners suite of examinations (YLE).

Moving up from the YLE, the next three balloons are identified by the characteristic phrase “for Schools”, which means that these examinations are designed with age-appropriate materials and can be easily handled by primary or early secondary school students.

Cambridge offers the same three levels without the indication “for Schools”, which means that they are targeting adult candidates. However, in terms of language skills they are exactly the same.

Moving further up the ladder, we get to the two balloons right up the top, which correspond to the higher CEFR levels of C1 and C2.