Band 1 (Non-user) represents the very first English words every learner encounters, survival vocabulary, basic pronouns, and everyday objects.
Absolute beginners. Band 1 corresponds to the lower half of CEFR A1.
Band 1 is classified as a non-user: the candidate has essentially no ability to use English beyond a few isolated words. At this stage vocabulary is limited to the most concrete, high-frequency items, greetings, numbers, days, basic objects, and common verbs like be, have, and go. There is no sentence-building to speak of yet, just recognition and recall of single words. This corresponds to the lower half of CEFR A1, the very start of the journey.
You're at band 1 if you can recognise or say only a handful of English words and cannot yet form a simple sentence or answer a basic question. This is the realistic starting point for absolute beginners and for learners whose first script and language are very distant from English. Nobody targets band 1 as a goal; it is a baseline you move off quickly. The practical aim is to reach the point where you can produce simple, memorised phrases.
Focus entirely on a core of a few hundred everyday words, the things around you, basic actions, numbers, and survival phrases, before worrying about grammar. Use spaced repetition with images rather than translations where you can, so the word binds to the thing, not to your first language. Keep daily sessions short but unbroken; consistency matters far more than volume this early. Say each word aloud as you review it, because at band 1 pronunciation and recognition are learned together.