Table of Contents
C1 Advanced Essay
What is a C1 Advanced Essay?
A C1 Advanced Essay is a writing task which forms part 1 of the C1 Advanced exam writing paper. There are 2 parts in the CAE writing paper. There is one question in Part 1 and this is always an essay. The aim is to answer this question, writing between 220-260 words.
If you follow the order of information on this page, you will know exactly what you need to do to pass the C1 Advanced essay and get the examiners smiling 🙂
The information follows a specific order, so make sure you don't skip any parts!
Before we continue, I want to tell you about my new e-book of writing samples. It contains 6 essays with my corrections and feedback. You can get it with a free Kindle Unlimited trial in some countries:
i. C1 Advanced Essay - Example Question
In part 1 you are given only one question to answer.
Here is an example essay question from page 33 of the Cambridge English Advanced Handbook for teachers: https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/images/167804-cambridge-english-advanced-handbook.pdf.
Write your answer in 220-260 words and in an appropriate style on the separate answer sheet.
The question tells us to only talk about two of the facilities. That gives us three options:
- Museums and sports centres
- Sports centres and public gardens
- Public gardens and museums.
We also have to explain which is more important, which means we need to develop our points giving reasons to support them.
ii. C1 Advanced Essay Advice
Let's have a look at some instructions that are given for writing essays in the Cambridge English Advanced Handbook for teachers.
The advice above is important for the Communicative Achievement marking criterion.
It's important to know who your target reader is as this will effect the level of formality or register. We know from the information above that our target reader is likely to be an academic tutor, which means that your writing should be formal.
CAE Essay Tip: sorry this tip is available for higher level members only. Register/upgrade here >>
Okay, so the information above means we need to find the most important issues with regard to a topic and back these up with reasons, extra points and extra ideas if you can think of them.
This will help with the Organisation marking criterion. You should follow a clear structure with a good flow. If the examiner can see that the points are developed in a clear way, you will get higher marks.
"Holding the target reader's attention" is important for the Communicative Achievement criterion. The way to hold their attention is to write in a way which is appropriate for the target reader, while using your Language to express simple and complicated ideas. The way you Organise and structure your essay as a whole and on an individual paragraph level can also help hold the reader's attention.
CAE Essay Tip: sorry this tip is available for higher level members only. Register/upgrade here >>
Personally, I think planning your answer is also really important. I have a plan template which you can complete online here >> or print off here >>
My friend Charles Cornelius, a former IELTS examiner, runs a tutoring website for his IELTS students and he has some really useful tips for essay planning, including his 4 step essay planning approach.
iii. C1 Advanced Essay - Example Answer
While reading the answer, you should write down any mistakes you find here, along with their corrections.
I'd also like you to read the essay below which is based on the question above and give it a mark from one to five for each of the 4 marking criteria (Content, Communicative Achievement, Organisation and Language). You can use this online template or print this hard copy. Remember 1 is the worst mark and 5 is the best. If you give the content 5 out of 5 for example, write why it is so good.
THINK LIKE AN EXAMINER
If you can think like the examiner then you will get much better marks in the essay. In the words of Faithless, you can 'come 1' 😉 If you're tired, play their song, get up, jump around and then come back and complete the task with the example answer below the Faithless video...
https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/images/167804-cambridge-english-advanced-handbook.pdf
iv. Examiner Comments
Now we're going to look at what the real examiner thought about this essay. I'd like you to compare the examiner's marks with your own marks and see if you had similar ideas or if you had different ideas. I recommend reading the examiner's comments in detail, this will help you know exactly what the examiners are looking for when you're writing your essay. Take as long as you like to do this...
https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/images/167804-cambridge-english-advanced-handbook.pdf
Okay so hopefully you've read the comments above, so now I would like to show you some of the bits which I thought were really important from these comments:
Content
This means the person answered all parts of the question. They have poured the perfect pint 😉
Communicative Achievement
The opening paragraph and conclusion leave no room for doubt that where the money should go. Having a clear structure and argument mean it's easier to follow the writing.
Consistency is key. Remember that 😉
This writing is consistently formal and it is objective, which is important. You should try to be objective and use objective language rather than subject language.
Clear paragraphs help to keep the reader's attention as well. This comes down to flow and organization as well as communicative achievement.
Organisation
There are a lot of different cohesive devices used. Cohesive devices are linking words (moreover, however) and organisational patterns (using parallel structures, 'He thinks x, while she thinks y'. Cohesive devices link different ideas and sentences together.
Language
There is a range of vocabulary which is relevant to the topic. There is also a range of simple and more complex grammatical structures.
All of the above are positive points that you should try to incorporate into your writing. If you are confused by some of the terminology above, it explains most of these words and their meanings in more detail on pages 37 and 38 of the Handbook for Teachers: https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/images/167804-cambridge-english-advanced-handbook.pdf
I highly recommend having a look at my CAE writing samples book as well. I mention all these terminology while critiquing 21 CAE writings. If you read that book you will have a much better understanding of what the examiners want and how to get top marks in the exam.
iv. My Comments
Compare my mistakes, marks, comments and improvements below with yours...
Sorry, the content below is for members only. Register here >>
Subscale | Mark (1-5) | Commentary |
Content | 3 | This is a very well written essay. You could address the question a bit more closely during the body of the essay. Stating more explicitly why improved communication is a good thing, or why your points about accessibility are not as important as your points about communication. You could then re-iterate this main idea in the conclusion. |
Communicative Achievement | 4 | Your points are communicated in a clear manner and they are easy to understand. |
Organisation | 4 | You have organised your essay well. It has a clear introduction and conclusion with well balanced paragraphs in the body of the essay. |
Language | 3 | You have used a variety of simple and complex vocabulary and grammatical structures to good effect. For example: ‘not only...but also…’ The language is slightly informal for an essay at times, e.g. ‘keep in touch’. |
C1 Advanced Essay 3
i. Question
Here is a question which one of my students submitted via my CAE writing assessment service. It has come from the 'Ready for Advanced' coursebook (written by my friend Roy):
ii. CAE Essay 3 - Sample Answer
Read the essay answer below and note down any mistakes you find in this document.
Write a mark with a comment for each of the marking criteria on this document.
iii. My Comments
If you have written your mistakes here and completed the assessment scale, then you should compare your notes with mine...
"It goes without saying that the urban environment is a vitally important part of every city (Good first sentence - using a less common expression). Councillors often do everything they can to sustain (We don’t normally say ‘sustain’ + noun + adjective. You can say ‘sustain this diverse system in a clean way’, or you could simply replace the word ‘sustain’ with the word ‘keep’) this diverse system clean but not messy (‘messy’ is a slightly informal/colloquial word). The majority of people doesn't (‘people’ is plural so say ‘people don’t...’) care about the environment at all. Although, throwing away (‘throwing away’ can have the same meaning as ‘throwing in the rubbish bin’ so it would be better to rephrase this) things such as plastic bottles instead of putting them into a rubbish bin has a detrimental effect on the whole eco-system. If we were more considerate of the urban environment, we would be able to achieve amazing results in terms of reducing pollution. What would be the most effective method to ensure this?
First of all (‘Firstly’ is better to use here as it is more formal), I have to mention the (don’t put ‘the’ unless you specifically mention which ‘legislation’ you are referring to) legislation. It could be said that if we put forward ‘and enforce’ (‘put forward’ is only to suggest or propose) tougher laws, we would achieve amazing results. As far as I am concerned, I am not fully convinced about that. (Could you write the previous sentences without using first person pronouns (‘I have to…’ ‘I am...’). According to a recent study, implementing tougher laws can result in disrespect for the local council. Moreover, it can lead to rebellion.
Another way of tackling the problem would be to focus on public services such as the underground, buses, hospitals etc. (don’t write ‘etc.’ in formal writing). If the government put a huge amount of money into funding new electric buses, it (‘this initiative’) would contribute to the decrease in air pollution and noise.
To sum up, I think the advantages of the second solution weight up ‘outweigh’ those which are mentioned in the first one. From my point of view, if we want to sustain ‘keep’ the urban environment clean, we should embark on the refurbishment of public services."
Examiner Assessment Scale Feedback
Sorry, the critique below is for higher level members only. Register/upgrade here >>
C1 Advanced Essay 4
Instructions
- Read the example CAE essay question and answer below and write down any mistakes you notice on a separate piece of paper.
- Complete the examiner's assessment scale below, according to the marking criteria you examined on the previous page. You can download a template of the assessment scale here.
- Read the answer again with my comments.
- Read what I wrote on the examiner's assessment scale.
i. Question
Here is the same question that we looked at in example 1 above:
https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/Images/167804-cambridge-english-advanced-handbook.pdf
ii. C1 Advanced Essay 4 - Sample Answer
CAE Essay Answer With My Comments
Sorry, the content below is available for higher level members only. Register/upgrade here to access now >>
CAE Essay Marks
Sorry, this section is available for higher level members only. Register or upgrade here >>
C1 Advanced Essay 4 - Pass or Fail
Sorry, this section is available to higher level members only. Register/upgrade here >>
CAE Essay Examples
I created a book recently with loads of sample writings that students have sent me. I think this is the best body of work I have produced:
If you do not want to access the book, I also have a few more essay samples on my CAE essay examples page here.
When I have time I critique them according to the examiners assessment scale and sometimes turn them into a video for my YouTube channel.