All you need to know
The Cambridge Advanced exam is an internationally recognised exam which tests skills of candidates at a level of C1. Apart from its recognition in education it also has widespread recognition as a measure of very good English skills in the workplace.
The exam can be done in the traditional way as a paper exam or as a computer exam. All written components take place the same day.
There are five parts to the exam with the Reading and Use of English combined as one single exam. Each component is marked separately.
The exam is 1 hour and 30 minutes and combines Reading and Use of English and there are 8 tasks. Parts 1-4 are the reading tasks and there are four Use of English exercises.
The Writing exam is 1 hour and 30 minutes and consists of two parts. Part 1 is the mandatory essay question. Part 2 has a three writing exercises from which candidates choose one. Each exercise has a word limit of 220-260 words.
The listening test is about 45 minutes. It consists of 4 parts which candidates will hear twice. There is extra time at the end of the exam to copy answer on to the answer sheet. There are 30 questions in this exam.
The speaking exam is 15 minutes and generally done in pairs with a partner. It can take place the same day as the rest of the exams or some time before or after them, depending on the centre you choose. The exam consists of fours parts and includes some tasks speaking on your own and some tasks in discussion with a partner.
Learn all about the Cambridge First exam, how it is organised and what each of the different parts is about.
– Explore each part of each exam.
– Learn key strategies.
– 6 hours of extra practice exercises to improve reading, Use of English and Writing performance.