Clarification details
Updated December 2019. This document addresses issues that have arisen from moderation.
Dictionary use (Guidance Information 8)
Learners may use a bilingual and/or a monolingual English dictionary, but not electronic devices, to help them read and understand the simple written texts. Monolingual dictionaries should be those designed for English language learners at level 1.
Abridged written texts (Guidance Information 11(iv))
Abridged versions of written texts could include graded readers used in an extensive reading programme. These are graded by vocabulary level. Readers with a vocabulary level of around 800 - 1100 headwords would be appropriate for this level 1 standard. See the Graded Reader Equivalence Chart on the Extensive Reading Foundation website for guidance.
Go to the Extensive Reading Foundation site (external link)
Vocabulary Levels (Guidance Information 11(v))
Guidance Information 11(v) indicates that the vocabulary of the text must be guided by the first 1000 words of the New General Service List (NGSL).
New General Service List (external link)
This means that most of the words will be within the first 1000 high frequency words. However, it is expected that texts will also include topic-specific vocabulary relevant to the everyday contexts.
Assessors may find the NGSL Vocabulary Profiler or English Profile Text Inspector tools useful for analysing the vocabulary level of texts to confirm suitability.