C1 Advanced exam format

C1 Advanced is a thorough test of all areas of language ability.

The exam is made up of four papers developed to test your English language skills. You
can see exactly what’s in each paper below.

The formats below are the same for both the digital and paper-based exams.

Paper Content Purpose

Reading and Use 8 parts/ Shows you can deal confidently with different types of text,
of English 56 questions such as fiction, newspapers and magazines. Tests your use of
(1 hour 30 minutes) English with different types of exercise that show how well you
See sample paper can control your grammar and vocabulary.

Writing 2 parts You create two different pieces of writing, such as essays,
(1 hour 30 minutes) letters/emails, proposals, reports and reviews.
See sample paper

Listening 4 parts/ Tests your ability to follow and understand a range of spoken
(about 40 minutes) 30 questions materials, such as interviews, radio broadcasts, presentations,
See sample paper talks and everyday conversations.

Speaking 4 parts Shows you can take part in a conversation by answering and
(15 minutes per asking simple questions. Your Speaking test will be conducted
pair of candidates; usually face to face with one or two other candidates and two
23 minutes per examiners. One of the examiners (who could be online,
group of three) examining remotely) talks to you and the other examiner
See sample paper listens. This makes your test more realistic and more reliable.
Examiners may use their mobile phones for entering marks
using an app.

What’s in the Reading and Use of English

paper?
The C1 Advanced Reading and Use of English paper is in eight parts and
has a mix of text types and questions.

Summary
 Time allowed: 1 hour 30 minutes

Number of parts: 8

Number of questions: 56

Lengths of texts: 3,000–3,500 words to read in total.

Texts may be from: Newspapers and magazines, journals, books (fiction and non-
fiction), promotional and informational materials.

Part 1 (Multiple-choice cloze)

What's in Part 1? A text in which there are some numbered gaps, each of which
represents a word or phrase. After the text there are four
possible answers for each gap and you have to choose the
correct answer (A, B, C or D).

What do I have to practise? Vocabulary – idioms, collocations, shades of meaning, phrasal

verbs, fixed phrases etc.

How many questions are there? 8

How many marks are there? 1 mark for each correct answer.

Part 2 (Open cloze)

What's in Part 2? A text in which there are some gaps, each of which represents
one missing word. You have to find the correct word for each
gap.

What do I have to practise? Grammar and vocabulary.

How many questions are there? 8

 How many marks are there? 1 mark for each correct answer.

Part 3 (Word formation)

What's in Part 3? A text containing eight gaps. Each gap represents a word. At the
end of the line is a ‘prompt’ word which you have to change in
some way to complete the sentence correctly.

What do I have to practise? Vocabulary.

How many questions are there? 8

How many marks are there? 1 mark for each correct answer.

Part 4 (Key word transformations)

What's in Part 4? Each question consists of a sentence followed by a ‘key’ word

and a second sentence with a gap in the middle. You have to use
this key word to complete the second sentence, in three to six
words, so that it means the same as the first sentence.

What do I have to practise? Grammar, vocabulary and collocation.

How many questions are there? 6

How many marks are there? Up to 2 marks for each correct answer.

Part 5 (Multiple choice)

What's in Part 5? A text with some multiple-choice questions. For each question,
there are four options and you have to choose A, B, C or D.

What do I have to practise? Reading for detail, opinion, tone, purpose, main idea,
implication, attitude.
 How many questions are there? 6

How many marks are there? 2 marks for each correct answer.

Part 6 (Cross-text multiple matching)

What's in Part 6? Four short texts with multiple-matching questions. You must
read across all of the texts to match a prompt to elements in the
texts.

What do I have to practise? Understanding and comparing opinions and attitudes across
texts.

How many questions are there? 4

How many marks are there? 2 marks for each correct answer.

Part 7 (Gapped text)

What's in Part 7? A single page of text with some numbered gaps which represent
missing paragraphs. After the text there are some paragraphs
which are not in the right order. You have to read the text and
the paragraphs and decide which paragraph best fits each gap.

What do I have to practise? How to understand the structure and development of a text.

How many questions are there? 6

How many marks are there? 2 marks for each correct answer.

Part 8 (Multiple matching)

What's in Part 8? A series of multiple-matching questions followed by a text or

several short texts. You have to match a prompt to elements in
the text.
 What do I have to practise? Reading for specific information, detail, opinion and attitude.

How many questions are there? 10

How many marks are there? 1 mark for each correct answer.

C2 Proficiency exam format

C2 Proficiency is made up of four papers developed to test your English skills. You can see
exactly what is in each paper below.

The formats below are the same for both the digital and paper-based exams.

Paper Content Purpose

Reading and Use of 7 parts/ Shows you can deal confidently with different types of
English 53 questions text, such as fiction and non-fiction books, journals,
(1 hour 30 minutes) newspapers and manuals.
See sample paper

Writing 2 parts Requires you to be able to write a variety of text types,

(1 hour 30 minutes) such as essays, reports and reviews.
See sample paper

Listening 4 parts/ Requires you to be able to follow and understand a

(about 40 minutes) 30 questions range of spoken materials, such as lectures, speeches
See sample paper and interviews.

Speaking 3 parts Shows you can take part in a conversation by

(16 minutes per pair of answering and asking simple questions. Your Speaking
candidates; 24 minutes per test will be conducted usually face to face with one or
group of three) two other candidates and two examiners. One of the
See sample paper examiners (who could be online, examining remotely)
talks to you and the other examiner listens. This makes
your test more realistic and more reliable. Examiners
may use their mobile phones for entering marks using
an app.
What’s in the Reading and Use of English
paper?
The C2 Proficiency Reading and Use of English paper has different types of
text and questions. In one part, you may have to read one long text or
three or more shorter, related texts.

Summary

Time allowed: 1 hour 30 minutes

Number of parts: 7

Number of questions: 53

Length of texts: About 3,000 words to read in total

Texts may be from: Books (fiction and non-fiction), non-specialist articles from
newspapers, magazines and the internet.

Part 1 (Multiple-choice cloze)

What's in Part 1? A single text with eight gaps. Candidates must choose one word
or phrase from a set of four to fill each gap.

What do I have to practise? Idioms, collocations, fixed phrases, complementation, phrasal

verbs, semantic precision.

How many questions are there? 8

How many marks are there? 1 mark for each correct answer.

Part 2 (Open cloze)

What's in Part 2? A modified cloze test consisting of a text with eight gaps.
Candidates think of the word which best fits each gap.
 What do I have to practise? Awareness and control of grammar with some focus on
vocabulary.

How many questions are there? 8

How many marks are there? 1 mark for each correct answer.

Part 3 (Word formation)

What's in Part 3? A text containing eight gaps. Each gap corresponds to a word.
The stems of the missing words are given beside the text and
must be changed to form the missing word.

What do I have to practise? Vocabulary, in particular the use of affixation, internal changes
and compounding in word formation.

How many questions are there? 8

How many marks are there? 1 mark for each correct answer.

Part 4 (Key word transformations)

What's in Part 4? Six discrete items with a lead-in sentence and a gapped response
to complete in 3–8 words including a given ‘key’ word.

What do I have to practise? Grammar, vocabulary and collocation.

How many questions are there? 6

How many marks are there? Up to 2 marks for each correct answer.

Part 5 (Multiple choice)

 What's in Part 5? A long text followed by some multiple-choice questions, each
with four options (A, B, C or D).

What do I have to practise? Identifying detail, opinion, attitude, tone, purpose, main idea,
implication and how a text is organised.

How many questions are there? 6

How many marks are there? 2 marks for each correct answer.

Part 6 (Gapped text)

What's in Part 6? A text from which paragraphs have been removed and placed in
jumbled order after the text. Candidates must decide from where
in the text the paragraphs have been removed.

What do I have to practise? Understanding of cohesion, coherence, text structure, global

meaning.

How many questions are there? 7

How many marks are there? 2 marks for each correct answer.

Part 7 (Multiple matching)

What's in Part 7? A text, or several short texts, preceded by multiple-matching

questions. Candidates must match a prompt to elements in the
text.

What do I have to practise? Understanding of detail, opinion, attitude and specific

information.

How many questions are there? 10

How many marks are there? 1 mark for each correct answer.