C1 Advanced · Choose your activity
C1 Writing practice
Improve structure, tone, task fulfilment, and language control across every C1 Advanced writing format available on the platform.
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Choose a writing format
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How does the C1 Advanced Writing paper work?
How the C1 Advanced Writing paper works
C1 Advanced Writing, often called CAE Writing, has two parts. You have 90 minutes for both answers, and you write 220–260 words in each. Use that time to plan, write and check two complete responses.
Part 1: the compulsory essay
Everyone answers the essay question. Develop two of the points in the task, explain which is more important, and support your decision with reasons. Build an argument rather than a list of opinions.
One required task · 220–260 words
Part 2: choose one task
Choose one of three prompts. The possible formats are a review, report, proposal or letter/email. Follow your chosen prompt: its reader and purpose determine the tone, structure and information you need.
One task from three · 220–260 words
A useful practice starting point is about 45 minutes per answer, including planning and checking. This is a suggested time split, not a separate exam limit for each part.
Format reference: official C1 Advanced exam format.
Choose your Part 2 task with the reader in mind
Before choosing a favourite format, read all three prompts. Pick the task for which you can answer every instruction with specific, relevant ideas. A familiar topic helps only if you can also write for the reader.
- Name the reader. A college principal, a magazine audience and a friend need different levels of formality. Identify who will use your text before deciding how it should sound.
- Identify the decision or response you want. A report might help a manager understand a situation; a proposal might persuade them to approve a change. A review helps readers judge an experience. A letter or email must respond to its particular recipient and purpose.
- Make a quick content check. Write a short note for each instruction. If one is hard to address, compare another prompt before committing. Do not force a memorised answer onto the question.
Report or proposal?
A report on a college study area could evaluate its current opening hours and facilities before recommending improvements. A proposal for a new study area could set out a plan, explain who would benefit and justify the resources it needs. Both may include recommendations; the prompt determines what you must investigate or propose.
Review or letter/email?
A review of a language-learning podcast should help its intended readers decide whether to listen: explain what works, what does not and who would find it useful. A letter to its producer might instead explain a problem and request a change. The same topic needs a different response because the reader and purpose have changed.
Explore a C1 review sample or practise a C1 letter or email.
What the four writing criteria check
- Content: Did you fulfil the instructions and give the reader the information they need?
- Communicative Achievement: Does the style suit this format, reader and purpose?
- Organisation: Can the reader follow how your ideas develop and connect?
- Language: Do you use a suitable range of vocabulary and grammar with control?
Each answer receives a mark from 0 to 5 for each criterion. These are assessment marks, not Cambridge English Scale scores. A model essay or automated practice estimate cannot establish your official exam result. See how Cambridge English Scale scores and grades work for that distinction.
For the official assessment overview, see Cambridge English’s C1 Advanced information for candidates (PDF).
Review the message before polishing the language
After a practice answer, use two separate checks. First, match each instruction in the question to a passage in your response. If you cannot find a passage, add the missing idea before searching for more impressive vocabulary. For an essay, check that the reader can identify your choice between the two points and the reason for it.
Next, choose one paragraph to revise for clarity. Replace a vague phrase such as it is good for students
with the specific benefit and an explanation of how it occurs. Check that each linking word expresses the relationship you intend: however
needs a contrast, while therefore
needs a consequence. Keep a short record of the recurring problem to check in your next answer.
See the criteria in a complete essay
Read an original task, a short plan and a full model answer, then see how individual passages meet the four criteria. The guide also compares a weak passage with a more effective revision.
Read the complete C1 essay with explained assessment
The guides and worked example are public. Sign in or create an account when you want to use the practice workspace.
Explore a C1 writing example
Encouraging residents to repair household items
Full exam-style writing task with a complete model response. Original independent practice, not an official exam paper.
Your class has listened to a discussion about how a local council could encourage residents to repair household items instead of replacing them. You have made these notes: practical repair workshops; a tool-lending service; public awareness campaigns. Some opinions expressed were: “People need the confidence to try a repair.” “Buying tools for one job is expensive.” “Many residents do not realise how much they throw away.” Write an essay for your tutor discussing two of the methods in your notes. Explain which would be more effective, giving reasons to support your opinion. You may use the opinions above, but use your own words as far as possible. Write 220–260 words.
Read the model and explanation
Repairing household items can reduce waste, but residents may hesitate because they lack either equipment or practical knowledge. A council wishing to change this behaviour should consider what prevents people from attempting repairs in the first place. Workshops and a tool-lending service address different parts of that problem.
A lending service would remove an obvious financial obstacle. Someone repairing a chair, for example, might need an expensive tool only once. Borrowing it would make the repair more attractive than buying a replacement. However, access to equipment does not ensure that people know how to use it safely. Without advice, some residents might borrow nothing at all, while others could damage the object they hoped to save.
Practical workshops would tackle this lack of confidence more directly. Working alongside an experienced instructor would allow residents to ask questions, practise basic techniques and recognise jobs that require professional help. Those skills could then be applied to future repairs, so the benefits would extend beyond a single session. Workshops would cost more to staff than a lending scheme, but small groups and partnerships with existing repair organisations could keep the programme manageable.
Although both approaches have value, workshops should therefore take priority. Equipment is useful only when people feel able to use it, whereas knowledge can influence many later decisions. A modest lending service could support successful workshops once the council had established which tools participants actually needed.
Task, reader and position
The tutor expects an essay evaluating two methods, not a proposal describing all three. This response chooses workshops and tool lending, develops both and explicitly prioritises workshops. It does not have to discuss the awareness campaign. The neutral tone suits an academic reader without sounding like a personal letter.
Plan and progression
The introduction identifies two barriers. Paragraph two explains the benefit and limit of lending; paragraph three shows how workshops address that limit and weighs their cost. The conclusion compares the methods using confidence and lasting usefulness as criteria. This creates an argument rather than two unrelated lists.
Content: make the comparison do work
“Access to equipment does not ensure that people know how to use it safely” supplies the weakness that the workshops paragraph answers. The chair example makes the financial benefit concrete. Both methods receive genuine evaluation, although the final view favours one.
Communicative achievement and qualification
“Small groups and partnerships ... could keep the programme manageable” acknowledges a limitation and suggests why it does not overturn the conclusion. Could avoids presenting a possible solution as a proven fact. No invented survey figures or guaranteed savings are needed to persuade the reader.
Organisation and language
“This lack of confidence” links paragraph three to the previous paragraph. “Whereas” in the conclusion makes the final contrast explicit. The conditional meaning of would fits a council considering action; phrases such as financial obstacle and practical knowledge are precise without obscuring the argument.
Alternatives and pitfalls
A well-supported essay could favour tool lending or select the awareness campaign instead. The requirement is to compare two methods and justify which is more effective. Avoid discussing all three superficially, copying the supplied opinions unchanged or introducing an unsupported new priority in the conclusion. This is one possible response, not an awarded score.
Original teaching material, not an official exam response or an automatic writing score.
How should I plan my writing practice?
Choose a focus
Identify the reader, purpose and format before planning your response.
Practise with intention
Plan your ideas, write a response and leave time to review it.
Review and return
Compare your choices with the model, revise one paragraph and note a useful improvement for your next attempt.