The CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) is the standard most English course books, worksheets, and placement tests use to describe how much a student can actually do in the language — not how many grammar points they've "covered." That distinction matters more than it sounds: a student can technically have "learned" the present perfect and still be solidly A2, because CEFR levels are about real communicative ability, not a checklist of tenses.
Here's what that means in practice for the levels you'll teach most often.
A1 — Beginner
An A1 student can understand and use very basic phrases aimed at satisfying concrete needs: introducing themselves, asking simple questions about where someone lives or what they do, and interacting slowly with a patient speaker. Grammatically, this is verb-to-be, basic present simple, simple plurals, basic prepositions of place, and a core vocabulary of everyday objects and routines.
What A1 worksheets should look like: short sentences, high visual support (label-and-learn style vocabulary sheets work very well here), heavily controlled exercises (matching, fill-in-the-blank with a word bank) rather than open production. Explore the full set of A1 worksheets.
A2 — Elementary
A2 students can communicate in simple, routine tasks requiring a direct exchange of information on familiar topics — describing their family, their job, their neighborhood, in simple terms. This is where past simple, present continuous, comparatives, and the first modal verbs (can, must, should) typically get introduced, alongside a wider vocabulary range across everyday topics.
What A2 worksheets should look like: slightly longer texts (a short story, a simple dialogue), a mix of controlled and semi-controlled exercises, and the first real writing tasks — a short paragraph rather than single sentences. See the full set of A2 worksheets.
B1 — Intermediate
A B1 student can deal with most situations likely to arise while travelling, produce simple connected text on familiar topics, and describe experiences, events, and ambitions with brief reasons and explanations. This level introduces present perfect in more depth, the full range of past tenses working together (past simple vs. past continuous), first and second conditionals, and reported speech.
What B1 worksheets should look like: authentic-feeling texts (an email, a blog post, a news snippet), open-ended comprehension questions, and writing tasks that ask for opinion and justification, not just description. Browse the full set of B1 worksheets.
B2 — Upper Intermediate
A B2 student can understand the main ideas of complex texts on both concrete and abstract topics, take part in a discussion with enough fluency that native speakers don't have to adjust for them, and write clear, detailed texts that weigh up arguments. The jump from B1 is less about new tenses and more about control and range: using the grammar they already know accurately and choosing between structures for effect.
Grammar at this level includes mixed and third conditionals, past modals of deduction and criticism (must have, should have), the passive across all tenses and reporting structures (It is said that…), gerunds and infinitives that change meaning (stop doing / stop to do), defining, non-defining and reduced relative clauses, causatives (have/get something done), and cohesion devices such as nominalisation and reference. Vocabulary widens to phrasal and multi-word verbs, stance adverbs (admittedly, arguably) and gradable vs. non-gradable adjectives.
What B2 worksheets should look like: longer authentic texts (articles, reviews, formal emails, opinion essays), tasks that ask students to analyse, transform and justify rather than just identify, and extended writing of 150–250 words with a clear structure. See the full set of B2 worksheets.
A quick way to level-check a worksheet before you use it
- If most sentences are 5 words or fewer and everything is present tense → almost certainly A1.
- If the text mixes tenses and includes connectors like "because," "but," "so" → A2 territory.
- If a text requires students to explain a reason or describe a past experience in some detail → you're already at B1.
- If students must compare arguments, rephrase ideas with different structures, or write a formal text of 150+ words → that's B2.
Browse the full catalog by level and skill, or start with grammar, vocabulary, reading, or writing worksheets.