C1 / CAE Cambridge Advanced Exam
Reading and Use of English
The reading and use of English exams papers is two
Time
Part 1: Reading: Multiple choice cloze
Part 2: Use of English: Open cloze
Part 3: Use of English: Word Formation
Part 4: Use of English: Keyword transformation
Part 5: Reading: Multiple choice
Part 6: Reading: Cross text multiple matching
Part 7 : Reading: Gapped text
Part 8: Reading: Multiple matching
Listening
Time: 40 minutes
C1 /CAE Listening exam – Part 1 (Multiple choice) – Three short extracts from conversations between interacting speakers. There are two multiple-choice questions for each extract and you have to choose A, B or C. There are 6 questions worth 1 mark each.
Part 2 (Sentence completion)– A monologue lasting approximately 3 minutes. You have to complete the sentences on the question paper with the missing information which you hear on the recording. There are 8 questions worth 1 mark each.
Part 3 (Multiple choice) – A conversation between two or more speakers of approximately 4 minutes. You have to answer some multiple-choice questions by choosing the correct answer from four options (A, B C or D). There are 8 questions worth 1 mark each.
Part 4 (Multiple matching) – A series of five themed monologues of approximately 30 seconds each. On the question paper, there are two tasks and for each task you have to match each of the five speakers to one of eight possible answers. There are 10 questions worth 1 mark each.
Writing:
Time:
20%
Candidates written work is marked out of 20 with 5 marks given in each of the following criteria:
Content – Does you writing fully answer the points of the task.
Communicative Achievement –
Organisation –
Language – Has the candidate used a Are there mistakes that affect the understanding of the piece,
The test conists of two parts:
C1 / CAE Writing Exam Part 1 – Compulsory Essay
C1 / CAE Writing Exam Part 2 – Report, Proposal, Review , Letter/Email
Speaking:
The speaking test is normally conducted in pairs or as a three.
Can
C1 / CAE Speaking Exam – Part 1 – Short answer questions
C1 / CAE Speaking Exam Part 2 – Long turn
C1 / CAE Speaking Exam Part 3 – (Collaborative task)
C1 / CAE Speaking Exam Part 4 – (Discussion)
C1 Speaking Assessment
The C1 Advanced (CAE) has 5 components and each one has a particular number of parts and items. Read the following information carefully, because while the test is done in 4 parts, it has 5 components because the Reading and the Use of English are assessed separately::
- Reading: 34 items = 50 points
- Part 1: 8 items (1 item = 1 point)
- Part 5: 6 items (1 item = 2 points)
- Part 6: 4 items (1 item = 2 points)
- Part 7: 6 items (1 item = 2 points)
- Part 8: 10 items (1 item = 1 point)
- Minimum score to pass: 32 points
- Use of English: 22 items = 28 points
- Part 2: 8 items (1 ítem = 1 point)
- Part 3: 8 items (1 ítem = 1 point)
- Part 4: 6 items (1 ítem = up to 2 points)
- Minimum score to pass: 16 points
- Writing: 2 items = 40 points
- Part 1: 1 item = 20 points
- Part 2: 1 item = 20 points
- Minimum score to pass: 24 points
- Listening: 30 items = 30 points (1 item = 1 point)
- Part 1: 6 items
- Part 2: 8 items
- Part 3: 6 items
- Part 4: 10 items
- Minimum score to pass: 18 points
- Speaking: 75 points in total (not divided into items or parts). In this case, the score is assigned to different competences:
- Grammar: 5 points (up to 5 points, but multiplied by 2)
- Lexis: 5 points (up to 5 points, but multiplied by 2)
- Discourse: 5 points (up to 5 points, but multiplied by 2)
- Pronunciation: 5 points (up to 5 points, but multiplied by 2)
- Interaction: 5 points (up to 5 points, but multiplied by 2)
- Global: 25 points (up to 5 points, but multiplied by 5)
- Minimum score to pass: 45 points
Okay, so now the process to calculate your score is easy peasy. Pay attention, because I’m going to tell you exactly how to calculate your C1 Advanced score, but be careful not to make a mistake, because it’s pretty easy to mess up. Follow these steps:
- Add up the points for each part separately. For example: R = 30 points; UoE = 19 points; W = 32 ; L = 25 point; S = 51 points.
- Work out the percentage for each part. In order to do so, divide the points of each part by the number of items, and then multiply by 100. Like this:
- Formula: (score/no. items) x 100
- R = 30/50×100 = 60%
UoE = 19/28×100 = 68%
W = 32/40×100 = 80%
L = 25/30×100 = 83%
S = 51/75×100 = 68%
- Calculate the average percentage:
- Formula: Average % = (R + UoE + W + L + S)/5
- My average percentage = (60 + 68 + 80 + 83 + 68)/5
- My average percentage = 72%
- Use this calculator to transform the percentage into the Cambridge English Scale score. If you type 72%, it will transform it into 190 points, which means I would have passed.