Speaking Success: A Guide to the C1 Advanced (CAE)

The exam's structure, and all four parts of the Speaking test — practised by Philo and Sophia.

•The Speaking test, at a glance

The C1 Advanced Speaking test lasts 15 minutes and is taken in pairs, with two examiners present: the Interlocutor, who talks to you and runs the test, and the silent Assessor, who only listens and grades. It has four parts, each testing something slightly different:

1. Interview
2 min
2. Long Turn
~2 min
3. Collaborative Task
3 min
4. Discussion
5 min

Speaking is one of four skills tested across the whole C1 Advanced exam (alongside Reading and Use of English, Writing, and Listening) — but the rest of this guide is about Speaking's own four parts, below.

1Interview (2 minutes)

The examiner asks each candidate questions about themselves — interests, studies, work, and future plans. At this level, a one-line answer is never quite enough: examiners are listening for you to develop an idea, not just state a fact.

ExaminerPhilo, how important is it for you to keep learning new things?
PhiloVery important — I'd say it's less a preference than a habit I can't switch off. I catalogue scrolls at the Library, so I'm constantly running into things I didn't know I didn't know, which I find more satisfying than frustrating.
ExaminerSophia, what do you think makes someone a good teacher?
SophiaPatience is the obvious answer, but I'd actually say curiosity matters more — a teacher who's still genuinely interested in the subject tends to notice when a student is stuck, rather than just repeating the same explanation more loudly.

Tip

Give your answer a shape: a direct response, then a reason, example, or a small qualification. "Yes, because..." with nothing after it will sound thin next to a partner who develops their answers.

2Long Turn (about 2 minutes)

Each candidate is given three pictures on a shared theme and a written question. You talk about two of the three pictures — the examiner will tell you which — for about a minute, without interruption. Your partner then comments briefly, for about 30 seconds, on a related question about your pictures. This isn't a description exercise: you're expected to compare the two pictures, and speculate sensibly about what you can't be certain of.

Comparing

  • "One thing these two have in common is..."
  • "Whereas in this picture..."
  • "Unlike the first photograph..."

Speculating

  • "It could well be that..."
  • "I imagine this is..."
  • "There's a good chance that..."
  • "My guess would be that..."

Structuring your turn

  • "I'll start with the picture on the left."
  • "Moving on to the second picture..."
  • "To sum up the two..."

Addressing the question

  • "As for why this matters to them..."
  • "What the question really asks is..."

Partner's comment

  • "I'd add that..."
  • "Building on what Philo said..."
  • "I saw it slightly differently —..."

Remember

Worked example — two pictures of people learning something new

The examiner's question: "Why might the people be finding these activities difficult?"

Philo I'll start with the picture on the left, showing the young man learning to sail. He's finding it difficult, I'd guess, because he's having to coordinate several things at once — the wind, the rope, his own balance — and none of them wait for him to catch up. Moving on to the second picture, the woman practising calligraphy seems to be struggling for a different reason: it's not physical difficulty so much as precision. Whereas the sailor's mistakes are immediately obvious — he'll simply capsize — hers are subtle, and I imagine that's almost more frustrating, because she can't always tell whether she's improving. One thing these two have in common, though, is that both skills probably only start to feel natural after a great deal of quiet, unglamorous repetition.
ExaminerSophia, which of the two do you think would be harder to learn as an adult?
SophiaI'd add that the calligraphy is probably harder for an adult specifically, because by then your hand has already learned other habits it has to unlearn first.

3Collaborative Task (3 minutes)

The examiner gives you both a set of written ideas around a theme — for example, several ways a city might encourage more people to visit its public library — and a task to talk about them together for about two minutes. After that, the examiner asks a follow-up question that requires you to reach a decision together within about a minute. As at earlier levels, you don't have to agree in the end, but you must show you're genuinely negotiating, not simply taking turns to state opinions.

Weighing an idea

  • "There's a strong case for..."
  • "The trouble with that is..."
  • "That would work well, provided that..."

Conceding a point

  • "I take your point, but..."
  • "Fair enough, although..."
  • "You may be right about that."

Redirecting

  • "Perhaps we should prioritise..."
  • "Shall we come back to that one?"
  • "Setting that aside for a moment..."

Reaching a decision

  • "On balance, I think..."
  • "What tips it for me is..."
  • "So we're agreed, then, that..."

Beyond "I think"

A handful of near-synonyms that let you vary your language without changing your meaning

Instead of "I think"

  • "My instinct is that..."
  • "It seems to me that..."
  • "I'd be inclined to say..."

Instead of "good idea"

  • "That has real merit."
  • "That's a compelling option."

Instead of "but"

  • "That said,..."
  • "Having considered that, though,..."
  • "On the other hand,..."

Worked example — encouraging visitors to the Library

SophiaShall we start with the evening lecture series? There's a strong case for it — it would draw people who can't come during the day.
PhiloI take your point, but the trouble with that is cost — someone has to pay the scholars who give the lectures. What about the free scroll-copying scheme instead?
SophiaThat has real merit, though it might only appeal to people who already visit. Perhaps we should prioritise something that reaches people who've never set foot inside.
PhiloFair enough. In that case, the open market day in the courtyard seems the strongest option — it brings in people who weren't looking for the Library at all.
SophiaOn balance, I agree. So we're agreed, then, that the market day is our recommendation.

4Discussion (5 minutes)

The examiner extends the topic from Part 3 into a broader discussion, asking each of you more abstract or opinion-based questions. This is the least predictable part of the test, and the most conversational — the examiner may follow up on something you said, or introduce a new angle entirely.

ExaminerDo you think public institutions like libraries need to compete for people's attention nowadays?
PhiloI think they do, whether we like it or not — people's time is finite, and there are simply more things asking for it than there used to be.
SophiaI'd go further and say that's not entirely a bad thing — it forces institutions to think about who they're actually serving, rather than assuming people will show up out of duty.

•How Speaking Is Scored

Examiners assess six things. Five are marked by the silent Assessor, and one — Global Achievement — is marked by the Interlocutor who has been talking to you throughout:

Grammatical Resource

Controlling a wide range of grammar, from simple to complex structures, accurately.

Lexical Resource

Using a wide range of appropriate vocabulary, including for less familiar topics.

Discourse Management

Producing extended, coherent stretches of language with very little hesitation.

Pronunciation

Clear stress, intonation and individual sounds, understood without effort.

Interactive Communication

Interacting with ease, linking what you say to your partner's contributions, and moving discussions toward an outcome.

Global Achievement

An overall impression of how effectively you communicated across the whole test.