The London 2012 test events, branded as the "London Prepares" series, will include the first competitive sports to take place on the Olympic Park.

The first four ticketed events are mountain bike at Hadleigh Farm in Essex on July 31, 2011, beach volleyball at Horse Guards Parade on August 9-14, 2011, basketball at the Basketball Arena on the Olympic Park on August 9-14, 2011 and BMX at the BMX Track on the Olympic Park on August 19-20, 2011.

Tickets are now on sale at www.ticketmaster.co.uk/londonpreparesseries priced between £5 ($8) and £35 ($57) using Visa cards only.

Applications can also be made on the telephone by calling 0844 248 5079.

London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe said: "These events provide us with vital opportunities to test our venues, but also test our staff, our technologies and planning assumptions.

"They will also provide people with a fantastic opportunity to see some world class sport in these venues ahead of the Games – a snapshot of what is to come next year.

"These events are a huge stepping stone for us, helping us to prepare for and iron out any creases ahead of the greatest show on earth next year."

The Hadleigh Farm Mountain Bike International will see some of the world's best men and women's mountain bikers to the new, purpose-built course at Hadleigh Farm in Essex while the Visa FIVB Beach Volleyball International will be an intercontinental women's exhibition event featuring 24 teams.

A total of 54 matches will be played across the six days of competition, with tickets available for two sessions each day.

The London International Basketball Invitational will see six top men's teams from around the world come to London to compete in the new Basketball Arena on the Olympic Park – Great Britain, Australia, China, Croatia, France and Serbia.

The third round of the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup Series at the BMX Track in the Olympic Park will see 130 men and 40 women riders from all over the world compete for the first time on the Olympic Park.

This event will receive funding from UK Sport's World Class Events programme which invests National Lottery funding to help stage international events.

London 2012 has confirmed that 250 tickets for these events will be donated to schools in the six Host Boroughs through the Get Set network, its education programme.

Tickets will also be donated to a selection of Host Borough "Young Leaders", through the official London 2012 Young Leaders programme, sponsored by BP.

Between now and 2012, London 2012 will run a number of test events at all of its venues.

There will be different types of events including ticketed international invitation events run by London 2012, non-ticketed events and existing events at which LOCOG will have a presence.

The testing programme will focus on testing the sporting field of play; results, timing and scoring systems; how London 2012 teams work together and how people move around venues.

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