In our fifth post on ICAS 2025, we look at how to prepare for the English paper. English is available for NZ students in year 3 to 13, with sitting dates between 10 to 15 August.
What’s involved in the assessment?
The English assessment is the second of three English-related papers (the two others are Writing and Spelling Bee). English focuses on a student’s ability to understand and evaluate written texts. The number of questions and test duration depends on the year level and paper.
Key skills and knowledge
The key skills assessed are:
The English paper is particularly important, as these key skills underly a student’s ability to work with texts in any subject and in real-life situations. In addition, reading often forms the basis for many writing skills, including essays, reports, and presentations, for which all students need to develop competency.
Students are asked to demonstrate comprehension of explicit and implicit textual information; to identify, explain and analyze the use of literary techniques; name grammatical features such as word classes, clause and sentence types, and punctuation; and define a range of vocabulary. Texts used range from narratives, to reports, to poetry and more.
You can see more information on the English paper on the ICAS website here.
Preparation tips
As with all the ICAS Assessments, English is a digital assessment. Students should therefore be familiar with the device they will be using in the test. We made some suggestions in our Tips & Tricks post last time on this topic. Here are some further tips to help your child prepare.
Vocabulary quizzes. Improving your child’s vocabulary knowledge will assist all aspects of their reading skills. We suggest tools such as vocabulary.com where your child can experience and explore vocabulary appropriate for their age and knowledge.
Inferencing practice. Inferencing is a critical aspect of full comprehension and is usually more difficult than comprehending the text literally. Your child can practice their inferencing using exercises such as those on Ereading Worksheets. Make sure to talk through the answers with your child to reinforce their understanding.
Grammar revision. Many questions in ICAS English rely on a student’s knowledge of grammar terms and purposes. There are a range of materials your child can use to improve their grammar, including workbooks and coursebooks. There are also digital tools such as Khan Academy which can aid in reinforcing your child’s grammar knowledge.
Past papers. As we discussed in our ICAS Prep: Tips and Tricks post, practicing past papers can aid your child to get used to the structure of the test and to help you identify areas where they may need extra revision. You can purchase past papers for ICAS English here. We suggest looking at the skill descriptions for each question your child gets wrong and focus revision on those areas.
Reading widely. In general, the more a student reads, the better their vocabulary, grammar, comprehension, and writing will be. Encourage your child to read widely from a range of fiction, non-fiction, drama and poetry as appropriate for their age and skill level. Ask your child about what they have read to encourage their engagement with the text and follow up on any questions they may have.
ICAS English at Focus Education
Focus Education offers ICAS preparation classes customized to our students’ needs. If you want to find out more about these, please contact us.
If you have registered your child for ICAS with us, keep an eye on your email for notifications, as well as instructions on the day.
We hold our ICAS Assessments in a BYOD (bring-your-own-device) format, which means that your child should be able to prepare for English on the device they will be using in the test. Check the technical readiness of this device via the ICAS website here.
We wish all students registered for ICAS English the best!
Look for our next post, ICAS Prep: Science!
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