diff --git a/packages/compiler-cli/test/compliance/BUILD.bazel b/packages/compiler-cli/test/compliance/BUILD.bazel
index b37fe372c1..e9ca4aae4e 100644
--- a/packages/compiler-cli/test/compliance/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/packages/compiler-cli/test/compliance/BUILD.bazel
@@ -6,11 +6,15 @@ ts_library(
     srcs = glob(
         ["**/*.ts"],
     ),
+    visibility = [
+        ":__subpackages__",
+    ],
     deps = [
         "//packages:types",
         "//packages/compiler",
         "//packages/compiler-cli",
         "//packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/file_system",
+        "//packages/compiler-cli/test/compliance/mock_compile",
         "//packages/compiler/test:test_utils",
         "@npm//typescript",
     ],
diff --git a/packages/compiler-cli/test/compliance/mock_compile/BUILD.bazel b/packages/compiler-cli/test/compliance/mock_compile/BUILD.bazel
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0dd814d256
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/compiler-cli/test/compliance/mock_compile/BUILD.bazel
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+load("//tools:defaults.bzl", "ts_library")
+
+ts_library(
+    name = "mock_compile",
+    testonly = True,
+    srcs = ["index.ts"],
+    visibility = [
+        "//packages/compiler-cli/test/compliance:__subpackages__",
+    ],
+    deps = [
+        "//packages:types",
+        "//packages/compiler",
+        "//packages/compiler-cli",
+        "//packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/core:api",
+        "//packages/compiler-cli/src/ngtsc/file_system",
+        "//packages/compiler/test:test_utils",
+        "@npm//typescript",
+    ],
+)
diff --git a/packages/compiler-cli/test/compliance/mock_compile.ts b/packages/compiler-cli/test/compliance/mock_compile/index.ts
similarity index 91%
rename from packages/compiler-cli/test/compliance/mock_compile.ts
rename to packages/compiler-cli/test/compliance/mock_compile/index.ts
index 2f4185c8bd..4c56d03741 100644
--- a/packages/compiler-cli/test/compliance/mock_compile.ts
+++ b/packages/compiler-cli/test/compliance/mock_compile/index.ts
@@ -5,13 +5,13 @@
  * Use of this source code is governed by an MIT-style license that can be
  * found in the LICENSE file at https://angular.io/license
  */
-import {AotCompilerOptions} from '@angular/compiler';
 import {escapeRegExp} from '@angular/compiler/src/util';
 import {arrayToMockDir, MockCompilerHost, MockData, MockDirectory, toMockFileArray} from '@angular/compiler/test/aot/test_util';
 import * as ts from 'typescript';
 
-import {NodeJSFileSystem, setFileSystem} from '../../src/ngtsc/file_system';
-import {NgtscProgram} from '../../src/ngtsc/program';
+import {NgCompilerOptions} from '../../../src/ngtsc/core/api';
+import {NodeJSFileSystem, setFileSystem} from '../../../src/ngtsc/file_system';
+import {NgtscProgram} from '../../../src/ngtsc/program';
 
 const IDENTIFIER = /[A-Za-z_$ɵ][A-Za-z0-9_$]*/;
 const OPERATOR =
@@ -196,12 +196,8 @@ function buildMatcher(pieces: (string|RegExp)[]): {regexp: RegExp, groups: Map<s
   };
 }
 
-
-export function compile(
-    data: MockDirectory, angularFiles: MockData, options: AotCompilerOptions = {},
-    errorCollector: (error: any, fileName?: string) => void = error => {
-      throw error;
-    }): {
+export function doCompile(
+    data: MockDirectory, angularFiles: MockData, options: NgCompilerOptions = {}): {
   source: string,
 } {
   setFileSystem(new NodeJSFileSystem());
@@ -226,3 +222,18 @@ export function compile(
 
   return {source};
 }
+
+export type CompileFn = typeof doCompile;
+
+/**
+ * The actual compile function that will be used to compile the test code.
+ * This can be updated by a test bootstrap script to provide an alternative compile function.
+ */
+export let compile: CompileFn = doCompile;
+
+/**
+ * Update the `compile` exported function to use a new implementation.
+ */
+export function setCompileFn(compileFn: CompileFn) {
+  compile = compileFn;
+}
diff --git a/packages/compiler-cli/test/compliance/prelink/BUILD.bazel b/packages/compiler-cli/test/compliance/prelink/BUILD.bazel
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c0e657d274
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/compiler-cli/test/compliance/prelink/BUILD.bazel
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+load("//tools:defaults.bzl", "jasmine_node_test", "ts_library")
+
+ts_library(
+    name = "prelink_bootstrap",
+    testonly = True,
+    srcs = ["bootstrap.ts"],
+    deps = [
+        "//packages:types",
+        "//packages/compiler-cli/test/compliance/mock_compile",
+    ],
+)
+
+jasmine_node_test(
+    name = "prelink",
+    bootstrap = [
+        "//tools/testing:node_no_angular_es5",
+        ":prelink_bootstrap_es5",
+    ],
+    data = [
+        "//packages/compiler-cli/test/ngtsc/fake_core:npm_package",
+    ],
+    shard_count = 4,
+    tags = [
+        "ivy-only",
+    ],
+    deps = [
+        "//packages/compiler-cli/test/compliance:test_lib",
+    ],
+)
diff --git a/packages/compiler-cli/test/compliance/prelink/bootstrap.ts b/packages/compiler-cli/test/compliance/prelink/bootstrap.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..38d8efa990
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/compiler-cli/test/compliance/prelink/bootstrap.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+/**
+ * @license
+ * Copyright Google LLC All Rights Reserved.
+ *
+ * Use of this source code is governed by an MIT-style license that can be
+ * found in the LICENSE file at https://angular.io/license
+ */
+import {CompileFn, doCompile, setCompileFn} from '../mock_compile';
+
+/**
+ * A function to compile the given code in two steps:
+ *
+ * - first compile the code in partial mode
+ * - then compile the partially compiled code using the linker
+ *
+ * This should produce the same output as the full AOT compilation
+ */
+const linkedCompile: CompileFn = (data, angularFiles, options) => {
+  const result = doCompile(data, angularFiles, {...options, compilationMode: 'partial'});
+  // TODO: additional post linking
+  return result;
+};
+
+// Update the function that will do the compiling with this specialised version that
+// runs the prelink and postlink parts of AOT compilation, to check it produces the
+// same result as a normal full AOT compile.
+setCompileFn(linkedCompile);