One candidate’s Merit route (2018): a 3-month tutor-marked course, heavy reading with colour-coded notes, two rounds of past papers, terminology drilled on Quizlet, and a fixed task order and timing for each paper.
One candidate's strategy, 2018 exam
Not Cambridge guidance. Check the current handbook. This is the third task numbering in the vault after Swift (2012) and Pinard (2013).
Plan
- Distance Delta M1 course (~3 months, tutor-marked mock).
- Notes on every input reading (hers ran to 104 A4 pages).
- Past papers twice; examiner reports where still available.
- Quizlet: two sets of 300+ terms.
- Treat preparation as a project with deadlines.
Her timings (2018 format)
- Paper 1: T1 5 min · T2 10 · T3 10 · T4 20 · T5 45. Order: T5 b–d → T4 → T3 → T2 → T5a → T1.
- Paper 2: T1 15 · T2 40 · T3 35. Order: T2 → T3 → T1.
Reading list
Parrott, Grammar for English Language Teachers; Thornbury, About Language and The New A–Z of ELT; Richards & Rodgers, Approaches and Methods or Larsen-Freeman & Anderson, Techniques & Principles; Hedge, Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom; Lightbown & Spada, How Languages are Learned.
Connections
DELTA Module 1 Paper 1 - task-by-task technique · DELTA Module 1 - exam technique by task (old format) · Before DELTA - rest, phonemics, Word skills, reading