Formula
English type: British English
Levels: 3
CEFR: B1-C1
Suitable for: Teenagers and young adult learners preparing for Cambridge Exams and Cambridge Exams for Schools
The flexible Formula for exam success.

Is it for me?
Formula is the flexible, unique and enjoyable route to Cambridge exam success. Using Pearson’s trusted exam know-how, Formula takes a fresh approach to topics, units and components to create an effective exam-focused package whatever the teaching and learning scenario.
Available in both print and digital formats, and used alongside a range of digital resources, Formula enables teachers to deliver dynamic print to fully digital courses of different lengths and addressing a range of student needs.
Formula offers two core components – a Coursebook and an Exam Trainer, that can be used separately or to complement each other, depending on how intensive the exam course is, how long the course is, as well as the language and skills students need to develop.
Webinars
Watch a series of webinars in which you can learn about Formula’s key features, experience how it works in a real lesson and be able to create your perfect Formula for exam success.
- Learn about Formula’s building blocks
- Experience a super-intensive Formula exam lesson
- Experience an intensive Formula exam lesson
- Experience a semi-intensive Formula exam lesson
- Experience an extensive Formula exam lesson
- Create your own Formula for exam success
- Teach for exams with senses, colors and numbers
In more detail
Achieving exam success
Formula enables students to achieve their core aim of passing the relevant Cambridge exam at their desired grade. Formula’s syllabus is based on the exam requirements and created by a team of authors and exam consultants to ensure comprehensive, authentic and rigorous exam preparation and practice.
Formula is designed for classes where most students are preparing for the Cambridge exams - it is suitable for those at level or those looking to improve their level.
Keeping students engaged
Formula takes a fresh, unique approach to organising topics. Each level of the Coursebook is organised around a general theme – senses, colours, numbers. This theme becomes the prism through which a number of different topics are covered from different angles, ensuring the material remains fresh, giving a sense of momentum and maintaining everyone’s interest throughout the course as well as giving a more authentic exam experience.
The most flexible course for Cambridge Exams
Formula offers different teaching and learning paths to create a perfect fit for a range of scenarios – for short and long exam courses, for intensive to extensive exam preparation goals, from face-to face learning to fully online teaching and learning contexts.
Choose your course length and create your own formula
Choose your course length and see how Formula’s learning paths have been designed to cover different intensities of exam preparation.
Building Blocks
Create your own Formula for exam success.
You can customize Formula for your class depending on the length of your course and the language and skills your students need to develop. Just follow the two steps:
Step 1: Choose your course length
The configuration and structure of Formula’s two core components allows teachers to flex the course depending on the time available and different learning goals.
Step 2: Customize your course building blocks
Using Formula’s Building Blocks, teachers can configure their course in such a way that it fits the specific needs of their exam students. Select the level of intensity to see how the Building Blocks work for each one.
Super-intensive
Super-intensive exam courses: around 30 hours
For super intensive exam-focused courses, the Exam Trainer is recommended as the main course component. It is also a perfect fit for self-study scenarios.
Block 1: Components
Students:
- Coursebook or the Interactive eBook with digital resources and app
- Exam Trainer or the Interactive eBook with digital resources and app
Teachers:
- presentation tool and/or Coursebook, Teacher's Book and digital resources
Block 2: Sections in class
Use Test and Teach sections from the Exam Trainer.
Block 3: Sections for homework
Use the final Test sections with some exam tasks carried out under exam conditions.
Block 4: Digital resources
Use the About the Exam and Speaking Test videos to develop exam awareness and provide a change of pace, or the photocopiable activities to consiolidate language.
Intensive
Intensive exam courses: around 50 hours
For intensive exam-focused courses, with language revision and consolidation, the Coursebook is recommended as the main course component to be used in class.
Block 1: Components
Students:
- for intensive exam-focused courses, with language revision and consolidation, the Coursebook is recommended as the main course component to be used in class
Teachers:
- presentation tool and/or Coursebook Teacher’s Book and digital resources
Block 2: Sections in class
Use the main lessons from the Coursebook.
Block 3: Sections for homework
Use some of the additional bank of material not completed in the lesson, including relevant Grammar, Vocabulary, Writing file or Exam boost sections.
Use Speaking or Writing from the main lesson – ask students to carry out the writing task.
Block 4: Digital resources
Use the About the exam and Speaking test videos to develop exam awareness and provide a change of pace or the photocopiable activities to consolidate language.
Semi-intensive
Semi-Intensive exam courses: around 80 hours
For longer exam courses with general language development, the Coursebook in class and the Exam Trainer for homework are the recommended options.
Block 1: Components
Students:
- Coursebook or the Interactive eBook with digital resources and app
- Exam Trainer or the Interactive eBook with digital resources and app
Teachers:
- presentation tool and/or Coursebook Teacher’s Book and digital resources
Block 2: Sections in class
Use the main lessons, the additional bank of material and Digital resources.
Introduce students to the relevant exam part for the lesson and refer to the Exam file.
Integrate Grammar, Vocabulary, Writing and Exam file reference and practice.
Block 3: Sections for homework
Use the Exam Trainer page references from the Coursebook.
Use selected exercises from the Test, Teach, Test sections in the Exam Trainer.
Block 4: Digital resources
Use the grammar presentations to present, revise or consolidate language.Use photocopiable worksheets to revise and consolidate vocabulary and grammar.
Use the About the Exam or Speaking Test videos to increase exam awareness and provide a change of pace.
Use the extensive test package to check what students know and idenitify areas for further work.
Use the grammar practice activities on the app for a quick homework.
Extensive
Extensive exam courses: around 100 hours
For longer exam courses with extensive language development, the Coursebook in class and the Exam Trainer for homework are recommended.
Block 1: Components
Students:
- Coursebook or the Interactive eBook with digital resources and app
- Exam Trainer or the Interactive eBook with digital resources and app
Teachers:
- presentation tool and/or Coursebook Teacher’s Book and digital resources
Block 2: Sections in class
Use all the Coursebook content, Test and some Teach sections from the Exam Trainer and Digital resources.
Block 3: Sections for homework
Use selected exercises from the Teach sections and the final Test sections from the Exam Trainer.
Block 4: Digital resources
Use the grammar presentations to present, revise or consolidate language.
Use photocopiable worksheets to revise and consolidate vocabulary and grammar.
Use the About the Exam or Speaking Test videos to increase exam awareness and provide a change of pace.
Use the extensive test package to check what students know and idenitify areas for further work.
Use the grammar practice activities on the app for a quick homework.
Components & ISBNs
Student components
- eight units with each lesson covering one part of each paper from the Cambridge exam and with an exam focus and authentic practice task in each
- a fold-out Exam file booklet in the back of the Coursebook containing Exam boost exercises for improving exam performance
- the Grammar File gives a full page of detailed grammar and language explanation, plus a full page of practice activities for every unit
- the Vocabulary File provides a comprehensive wordlist for the whole unit as well as further practice activities.
- the Writing File provides both example exam questions and model answers for each Writing part, as well as extra help and practice
- each exam part lesson links to the Exam Trainer component for more focused skills and strategies building in that same exam part
- access to digital resources, including course audio and video, as well as the Pearson Practice English App and the Coursebook Interactive eBook
The Coursebook is available as With Key (for self-study) and Without Key versions.
Coursebook Interactive eBook with digital resources and App:
- interactive version of the Coursebook
- learners can complete activities and access audio and course video wherever they are
- interact with texts and activities by highlighting, making notes and adding text boxes
- improve the accessibility of pages by increasing font size
- includes Check Answers and Show Answers functionality
The Coursebook Interactive eBook is available as With Key (for self-study) and Without Key versions.
Exam Trainer with Digital Resources and App:
- works either as a standalone component or in combination with the Formula Coursebook
- easy-to-use preparation in the order of the Cambridge exam, working systematically through each paper and part, from Reading Part 1 to Speaking Part 4
- a Test, Teach, Test approach for each part of each paper
- each section starts with a mini practice task (Test) that reflects the Cambridge exam, which is followed by extensive and focused strategies and skills exercises for improving performance in the exam (Teach) and ends with a full-length, authentic-style exam task (Test)
- includes a full, authentic-style Cambridge exam paper, with audio
- access to digital resources, including course audio and video, as well as the Pearson Practice English App and the Exam Trainer Interactive eBook
The Exam Trainer is available as With Key (for self-study) and Without Key versions.
Exam Trainer Interactive eBook
- digital resources and App Coursebook Interactive eBook, digital resources and App with and without key
- interactive version of the Exam Trainer
- learners can complete activities and access audio and course video wherever they are
- interact with texts and activities by highlighting, making notes and adding text boxes
- improve the accessibility of pages by increasing font size
- includes Check Answers and Show Answers functionality
The Exam Trainer Interactive eBook is available as With Key (for self-study) and Without Key versions.
Fully interactive version of the Exam Trainer material, formatted to work as a companion to the Formula Coursebook.
- Relevant sections of Exam Trainer material directly linked from Coursebook eBook lessons
- Instantly graded activities with supportive feedback
- Gradebook for teachers and students to review performance
Part of the Pearson English Connect ecosystem
Pearson Practice English App:
- gives access to videos about the exam as well as Speaking test videos and the extensive Coursebook and Exam Trainer audio
- includes fun interactive practice of the course grammar
- can be accessed via the code in the Coursebook and Exam Trainer
Teacher components
Teacher’s Book with presentation tool, digital resources and App:
- teaching notes with a wealth of additional and alternative classroom ideas, including warmer and cooler tasks, flexible follow-up tasks and ideas for fast finishers
- dyslexia focus boxes identify course resources and give ideas for alternative treatment of tasks
- full answer key, including smart answers for exam tasks
- how to sections giving advice on using the Exam file, using Formula for different course lengths, teaching for exams, developing your students as independent learners and mindfulness for exams
- speaking and writing success criteria at the back of the book to help you and your students understand what a solid answer, a good answer and an ‘acing it’ answer in the exam looks like
- access to digital resources and Pearson Practice English App
- teaching notes for the Exam Trainer
- editable detailed grammar PowerPoint presentations for use with each unit’s grammar points
- four photocopiable worksheets (two for Vocabulary and two for Grammar) per Coursebook unit, with full teaching notes and answer key
- vocabulary maps for exam wordlist
- Coursebook and Exam Trainer audio.
- extensive test package to use throughout the course, including Diagnostic, Unit, Progress and End of level tests
- dyslexia-friendly versions of each test
- both the standard and dyslexia-friendly versions of the test package available as editable Word documents or ready-to-print PDFs
- two full practice exams
- answer keys and audio files
Presentation tool available on Pearson English Portal:
- front-of-class teacher’s tool with fully interactive version of the Coursebook (including the practice activities from the Grammar file, the Vocabulary file and the Exam file)
- static activities from the Exam Trainer with embedded audio and answer key
- the Coursebook is interleaved with the relevant sections of the Exam Trainer for an easy back-and-forth between the components
- provides a planning mode, including teaching notes, as well as a teaching mode
- provides time-coded scripts for audio embedded in the activities
- easy navigation via either the book page or lesson flow
- score and timer tools for teacher-led activities
ISBNs
Component | ISBN |
Coursebook and Interactive eBook with key | 9781292391335 |
Coursebook and Interactive eBook without key | 9781292391359 |
Exam Trainer and Interactive eBook with key | 9781292391366 |
Exam Trainer and Interactive eBook without key | 9781292391373 |
Coursebook with key and eBook with Online Practice Access Code | 9781292446783 |
Coursebook without key and eBook with Online Practice Access Code | 9781292446790 |
Coursebook Interactive eBook with key | 9781292376493 |
Coursebook Interactive eBook without key | 9781292376516 |
Exam Trainer Interactive eBook with key | 9781292376530 |
Exam Trainer Interactive eBook without key | 9781292376554 |
Coursebook eBook with Online Practice Access Code | 9781292446844 |
Teacher's Book with Presentation Tool, Digital Resources and App | 9781292391380 |
Component | ISBN |
Coursebook and Interactive eBook with key | 9781292391410 |
Coursebook and Interactive eBook without key | 9781292391427 |
Exam Trainer and Interactive eBook with key | 9781292391434 |
Exam Trainer and Interactive eBook without key | 9781292391441 |
Coursebook with key and eBook with Online Practice Access Code * | 9781292446806 |
Coursebook without key and eBook with Online Practice Access Code * | 9781292446813 |
Coursebook Interactive eBook with key | 9781292376394 |
Coursebook Interactive eBook without key | 9781292376400 |
Exam Trainer Interactive eBook with key | 9781292376424 |
Exam Trainer Interactive eBook without key | 9781292376417 |
Coursebook eBook with Online Practice Access Code * | 9781292446851 |
Teacher's Book with Presentation Tool, Digital Resources and App | 9781292391458 |
*Available late December 2022
Component | ISBN |
Coursebook and Interactive eBook with key | 9781292391489 |
Coursebook and Interactive eBook without key | 9781292391496 |
Exam Trainer and Interactive eBook with key | 9781292391502 |
Exam Trainer and Interactive eBook without key | 9781292391519 |
Coursebook with key and eBook with Online Practice Access Code * | 9781292446820 |
Coursebook without key and eBook with Online Practice Access Code * | 9781292446837 |
Coursebook Interactive eBook with key | 9781292376509 |
Coursebook Interactive eBook without key | 9781292376523 |
Exam Trainer Interactive eBook with key | 9781292376547 |
Exam Trainer Interactive eBook without key | 9781292376561 |
Coursebook eBook with Online Practice Access Code * | 9781292446868 |
Teacher's Book with Presentation Tool, Digital Resources and App | 9781292391526 |
*Available late December 2022
How to place an order
To place an order, please contact your local Pearson rep.
Levels & samples
Download the Scope and Sequence documents:
Download a unit sample:
Download the Scope and Sequence documents:
Download a unit sample:
Download the Scope and Sequence documents:
Download a unit sample:
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