Test99In March 2004, the first candidates will sit the updated KET and PET exams. The changes, which are relatively minor, are summarised below.www.test99.com

Test99Reading/Writingwww.test99.com

Test99The previous Part 1 questions 1-5 (short signs and notices with three-option multiple-choice format) have been removed, as similar text types appear elsewhere in the paper.www.test99.com

Test99The previous Part 2 dictionary definition matching exercise has been converted into a productive task (Part 6 of the updated test).www.test99.com

Test99There is a new multiple-choice vocabulary section (Part 2 of the updated test).www.test99.com

Test99The previous Part 7 information transfer exercise now samples a wider range of input and output text in the updated test (Part 8 of the updated test).www.test99.com

Test99In the continuous writing question (Part 9 of the updated test), candidates must now write 25-35 words (as opposed to 20-25 words).www.test99.com

Test99Listeningwww.test99.com

Test99There are no changes to this paper.www.test99.com

Test99Speakingwww.test99.com

Test99The Personal Question Activities have been removed from Part 2 of the test, so all candidates will now use the current Non-Personal Question Activity type.www.test99.com

Test99Preliminary English Testwww.test99.com

Test99Readingwww.test99.com

Test99Part 1 of the test (signs and notices) is now three-option multiple-choice instead of four-option and samples a wider range of formats, including short personal messages such as e-mails and‘post-its’.www.test99.com

Test99Writingwww.test99.com

Test99In the Part 1 sentence transformation task, candidates will be given the beginning and end of the sentence. www.test99.com

Test99The previous Part 2 form-filling task has been replaced with a guided writing task. This expands the range of text types that PET students produce in the writing component.www.test99.com

Test99In Part 3 (extended writing), there is now a choice of task to reflect the types of writing that PET-level students are currently producing.www.test99.com

Test99Listeningwww.test99.com

Test99Parts 1 and 2 are now three-option multiple-choice (rather than four-option).www.test99.com

Test99Speakingwww.test99.com

Test99Part 1 is now interlocutor-led, but still focuses on the same area of personal information.www.test99.com

Test99The new KET and PET handbooks for teachers take account of these changes. Further information, including the 2004 exam dates, seminars on the updated tests and a list of publishers producing materials for Cambridge ESOL exams, is available from www.CambridgeESOL.org, www.CambridgeESOLcn.orgwww.test99.com