Assessment Package Introduction

Contents

Test type Quantity Total marks Timing

Placement test 1 100 60 minutes

Grammar quiz (A/B) 16 15 10–20 minutes

Vocabulary quiz (A/B) 8 15 10–20 minutes

Unit test

Vocabulary and Grammar (A/B) 8 40 25–35 minutes

Dictation, Listening and Reading (A/B) 8 30 20–30 minutes

Writing 8 30 30–45 minutes

Review test

Vocabulary, Grammar and Use of English (A/B) 4 50 35–40 minutes

Writing 4 30 30–45 minutes

Speaking (A/B/Teacher’s notes in Answer key) 4 20 8–10 minutes per pair

End of Year test

Listening, Use of English and Reading (A/B) 1 60 40–55 minutes

Writing 1 20 30–45 minutes

Speaking (A/B/Teacher’s notes in Answer key) 1 20 12–15 minutes per pair

Progress test 3 GSE score 60 minutes

Beginning, middle and end of course

1
 Assessment Package Introduction

Introduction Exam preparation

Overview of package As your students are going to be working towards their end
of school exam, the tests also provide regular opportunities
The Focus Assessment Package provides a wide range of
for them to try exam-style tasks in a low-stakes test
tests which can be used at different points in the course.
environment, which should help them feel more confident
Each level has:
going into the final exam.
• 1 x Placement test
We would recommend using past papers or practice
• 16 x A and B Grammar quizzes
papers in addition as you get close to the date of the exam.
• 8 x A and B Vocabulary quizzes
• 8 x A and B Unit tests Expected outcomes
• 4 x A and B Review tests We would expect all students who have completed the
• 1 x A and B End of Year test instructional material to score at least 50%, and the best
students to score 90–100% on any given test. We have
Assessment of learning or deliberately included more challenging questions in each
Assessment for learning? test so as to help you identify students performing above
the level.
Any test can be used either as assessment of learning or
assessment for learning. Assessment of learning usually Tests on paper
takes place after the learning has happened and provides The tests are provided in both PDF and Word format. We
information about what the student is achieving by giving a recommend using the PDF version, as they are. However,
mark of a grade. You can also use the tests as assessment if you do need to edit the tests, this should be possible.
for learning by providing specific feedback on students’ The Unit, Review and End of Year tests have several parts
strengths and weaknesses, and suggestions for to them, and each part is in a separate file. This helps
improvement as part of the continual learning process. makes them flexible, and allows you to assign only the
It is a combination of both types of assessment which can parts you want to or have time to administer and mark.
provide powerful tools for helping your students’ progress. When you are marking papers, there is an extended
Marking Writing and Speaking tests answer key to help you explain why a question is right or
Writing and Speaking tests have detailed mark keys to help wrong, or which part of the text an answer can be found in.
you mark consistently, and to help you give students Tests on MyEnglishLab
meaningful feedback. If you have the mark scheme for the All of the Unit tests can be taken through the MyEnglishLab
exam your students will ultimately take, you may prefer to platform. On MyEnglishLab, all students take the A test.
refer to this. The B test becomes remediation for those students who
Whichever mark scheme you use, it can be very useful to need it.
go through it with your students before they take the test so Most parts of the test are automatically scored, and
they know what they are going to be marked against. You students get instant detailed feedback showing them where
can then refer back to these marking criteria in your they went wrong or how to improve if you have allowed a
feedback. ‘try again’ option. The free-writing and speaking parts need
Versions of tests to be teacher-graded. You assign each part separately, so
Most tests have two versions: A and B. Versions A and B you can choose whether to add these or not.
are designed to be at exactly the same level of difficulty Using Progress to track progress
and feature the same task types, however, the test items in Progress is an optional addition to the Focus corpus. It is a
each are different. For listening tests, the tasks are standardised package of three tests that allows uniform
different but the audio is the same in both A and B testing and comparison of results to improve learning
versions, making it easy to administer. outcomes and accurately show learners’ progress.
You can use the A and B tests in two ways: The tests can be conveniently taken either at school or at
• give half of the class A versions and half of the class B home, and results are delivered very quickly. Progress is
versions – this helps to deter cheating. scored on Global Scale of English and empirically aligned
• give all students the A test and then use the B test either to the CEFR to accurately measure small amounts of
for students who missed the test or as a re-test or progress within a CEFR band. The test reports overall
remedial work for students whose score shows they scores and scores by skill, highlighting strengths and
need a little more work on the unit objectives. weaknesses to help students and teachers focus learning.
For more information see pearsonelt.com/progress

© 2016 Pearson FOCUS 4 PHOTOCOPIABLE 2

 Assessment Package Introduction

Placement test Review tests

The Focus Placement tests are designed to help the There are four Review tests (one every two units). These
teacher to place students at the right level of the Focus are cumulative achievement tests, and so test the learning
series. Each test contains 100 multiple-choice questions objectives from all units so far in the course:
and is designed to last for an hour. If students get less than Review test 1: Units 1–2
60% of the answers right, they should use the lower level Review test 2: Units 1–4
indicated in the title, e.g. for the Focus 2/Focus 3 test they Review test 3: Units 1–6
should use Focus 2. If they get more than 70% of the Review test 4: Units 1–8
answers right, they should use the higher level indicated in Depending on your school year, you may wish to do all of
the title. 60–70% of right answers puts students in the these or just some of them.
middle of the two levels and your decision as to where to
Each test has three parts: Vocabulary, Grammar and Use
place these students should depend on the level of the rest
of English; Writing; Speaking. Vocabulary, Grammar and
of the class.
Use of English papers have A and B versions. There is
Grammar quizzes only one version of the Writing task. Students do the
There are sixteen A and B Grammar quizzes (two per unit), Speaking tasks in pairs: there are separate materials for
which test the grammar taught in each grammar lesson in students A and B for Tests 1 and 3, while for Tests 2 and 4
the Student’s Book. Each Grammar quiz is roughly half a both students use the same materials. Notes for the
page and, depending on the quiz, should take between 10 teacher with questions are incorporated into the Answer
and 20 minutes. key.
The Grammar quizzes can be used at the end of a lesson, As with the Units tests, you can assign all or none of the
for homework, as a review at the beginning of the next parts of the test, depending on the time available.
lesson or later in the unit as quick revision. The tests will take approximately:
Vocabulary quizzes • Vocabulary, Grammar and Use of English: 35–45 minutes
There are eight A and B Vocabulary quizzes, which test the • Writing: 30–45 minutes
vocabulary taught in each vocabulary lesson in the • Speaking: 8–10 minutes per pair of students
Student’s Book. Depending on the quiz, they should take The Review tests as a whole are scored out of 100 marks.
between 10 and 20 minutes each. The parts of the test are split as follows:
The Vocabulary quizzes can be used at the end of a • Vocabulary, Grammar and Use of English: 50 marks
lesson, for homework, as a review at the beginning of the • Writing: 30 marks
next lesson or later in the unit as quick revision. • Speaking: 20 marks
Unit tests End of Year test
There are eight Unit tests, which test the learning The End of Year test provides a skills-based test covering
objectives from each unit. These should be administered learning objectives from the whole course.
after each respective unit review. The test has three parts: Listening, Use of English and
Each test has three parts: Vocabulary and Grammar; Reading; Writing; Speaking. The Listening, Use of English
Dictation, Listening and Reading; Writing. Vocabulary and and Reading paper has A and B versions. There is only
Grammar and Dictation, Listening and Reading papers one version of the Writing task. Students do the Speaking
have A and B versions. There is only one version of the tasks in pairs, and there are separate materials for
Writing task. students A and B (in separate files), as well as notes for
You can assign all or none of these, depending on the time the teacher with questions, which are incorporated into the
available. If you are including the listening test, it is best to Answer key.
run the listening audio first, and then students can do the You can assign all or none of the parts of the test,
other sections in their own time. depending on the time available.
The tests will take approximately: The tests will take approximately:
• Vocabulary and Grammar: 25-35 minutes • Listening, Use of English and Reading: 40–55 minutes
• Dictation, Listening and Reading: 20-30 minutes • Writing: 30–45 minutes
• Writing: 30-45 minutes • Speaking: 12–15 minutes per pair of students
The Unit test score as a whole is out of 100 marks. The The End of Year test as a whole is scored out of 100
parts of the test are split as follows: marks. The parts of the test are split as follows:
• Vocabulary and Grammar: 40 marks • Listening, Use of English and Reading: 60 marks
• Dictation, Listening and Reading: 30 marks • Writing: 20 marks
• Writing: 30 marks • Speaking: 20 marks

© 2016 Pearson FOCUS 4 PHOTOCOPIABLE 3