Sant Gregori School is fully aware of the importance of English in the academic and professional world nowadays. That is why two years ago we started a really exciting project called “CAE Preparation”, which endeavours to get ESO 4 and Batxillerat 1 students to pass CAE (Certificate in Advanced English) by the second term of Batxillerat 2.

Students in these two groups have an outstanding level of English and the full commitment to do their best both in and outside the classroom. These two are the basic requirements for the project to be successful and for the students in the CAE groups to be able to rise to the challenge of passing this renowned Cambridge University examination, which corresponds to the C1 level in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

Taking into account that this project is designed on a two-year basis, it is essential for the students to fully commit to it and take responsibility for their own learning. In this sense, students in the CAE Preparation group are expected to do their utmost in order to get as much exposure to English as possible (for example, by reading books in English, watching films and TV series in English with English subtitles and maximising their opportunities to talk to English-speaking people around them).

The focus in the CAE groups is on increasing the students’ range of vocabulary, collocations and idioms and to develop a “feel for the language”, as well as to train them intensively on exam techniques (by doing mock texts and analysing sample answers) so that after-school English lessons are not a must at all.

This year there are 14 students in the ESO 4 CAE Preparation group and only 8 in the Batxillerat 1 one, which allows for really personalised feedback and interaction. Also, the 9 students in the Batxillerat 2 CAE Preparation group took their exam in April and 8 out of the 9 passed it! Two students even with a B and one also even passed Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE)!

Both teachers and students alike are really excited about this new project and we encourage ESO 3 students to do their very best in order to be able to get into the CAE group next year!

With everyone’s enthusiasm, hard work and commitment, the CAE Preparation Project is turning out to be a roaring success!