Free 1st Year Bac English Diagnostic Test (PDF) — Reading, Language & Writing
A free, ready-to-use diagnostic test for 1st Year Bac students — reading comprehension, language skills, and writing — to help you assess where your class stands from day one. Download the PDF.
By My Teacher
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September 8, 2024
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4 min read
The first week with a new 1st Bac class is the hardest one to plan for — you don’t yet know who’s building confidently on their foundational skills, and who’s still shaky on the basics. A short diagnostic test at the very start of the year fixes that, and this one is built specifically for 1st Year Bac students, in line with the Ministry of Education’s guidelines for this level.
It’s free and ready to print.
Why Run a Diagnostic Test at the Start of the Year
1st Bac students arrive with a wide range of ability — some building confidently on strong foundational skills, others still working through gaps from earlier years. A diagnostic test isn’t about grading — it’s about finding out, quickly and honestly, where your class actually stands before you start planning lessons around assumptions.
What it actually gives you
A clear starting picture of your class’s real strengths and gaps across reading, language, and writing — so your first few weeks of lessons target what students genuinely need, not a generic starting point.
What’s Inside This Diagnostic Test
The test covers three sections, matching the core skills 1st Bac students build on throughout the year.
Reading Comprehension
A reading passage followed by questions testing comprehension, vocabulary, and referencing skills — checking how well students can track meaning and connect ideas across a text.
Language Skills
An easy-to-assess exercise focused on grammar, vocabulary, and language functions, using multiple-choice questions that challenge students’ prior knowledge without taking up too much class time to mark.
Writing Task
A writing prompt asking students to organize their ideas, use appropriate language, and convey a clear message in a structured way — an early read on their writing ability for the year ahead.
How to Use It in Class
Run it in a quiet, low-pressure setting
This isn’t a graded exam — treat it that way out loud with students too. A relaxed setting gets you a more honest picture of where they actually stand.
Explain the purpose before you start
Telling students plainly that this helps you plan better lessons for them, rather than just being “another test,” tends to get more genuine effort and less anxiety.
Actually use the results
The real value is in what you do afterward — group students by need, adjust your first few weeks of planning, and revisit the same skills later in the year to see how far they’ve come.
Keeping track of the results
If you’re already using the Teacher Bundle‘s Tracker for your grade sheets, this is a natural first entry for the term — a baseline you can compare later results against.
Download the Diagnostic Test
Completely free.
Looking for material to build on what you learn from this test? The Smart English Worksheets Complete Pack covers all 10 units with matching lesson plans, and a few sample lessons are free to try in the Worksheet Library.
A diagnostic test is given at the start of a term to assess students’ current level across key skills — in this case reading comprehension, language use, and writing — before regular instruction begins, so lessons can be planned around students’ actual needs rather than assumptions.
It’s designed to fit within a single class session, covering all three sections — reading, language, and writing — without needing to split it across multiple lessons.
Yes — it’s designed in line with the Ministry of Education’s guidelines for 1st Year Bac students, covering the same core skill areas built on throughout the year.
The PDF is ready to print and use as-is. If you’d like an editable version to adapt questions or adjust difficulty for your class, let us know and we can look into providing one.