The C1 Advanced essay is compulsory and it is not an opinion piece. You are given three points and asked to discuss two of them, weigh them against each other, and reach a conclusion. This page shows the shape that scores, the phrases that carry it, and where candidates lose marks they have already earned.
‘Which is more effective’ and ‘discuss the advantages’ ask for different essays. The task verb decides whether your conclusion compares, recommends or merely summarises.
Not the two that interest you most. Pick the pair you can develop with concrete examples in the vocabulary you actually have, and leave the third alone entirely.
Introduction, point one plus evaluation, point two plus evaluation, comparison, conclusion. Write the plan in the margin in note form. Five minutes here prevents the paragraph that goes nowhere.
Rephrase the issue in your own words and state what the essay will do. Copying the prompt wastes words and gives the examiner nothing of your English to assess.
Open with the claim, then support it, then judge it. A paragraph that starts with an example and reaches its point in the last line is much harder to follow.
‘Admittedly, the initial cost is high, but the saving over ten years is considerable.’ Concession is what makes an argument sound like reasoning rather than assertion, and it is well rewarded at C1.
If the task asks which measure is more effective, the last paragraph must say which one and why. A conclusion that lists both sides again adds nothing.
Leave four minutes. Pass one for verb tenses and agreement, pass two for articles and prepositions, pass three for spelling. Checking everything at once catches almost nothing.
Not thisIn my opinion I think that personally the government should act.
ThisThe government should therefore act.
Stacked opinion phrases add words and weaken the sentence. One clear statement of position is stronger than three hedges.
Not thisWriting about all three points from the input.
ThisWriting about two of them in real depth.
Covering three in the same word count guarantees that none is developed, and development is what the mark scheme rewards.
Not thisNowadays, in this modern world, technology is everywhere.
ThisSmartphone use among under-16s has roughly doubled in a decade.
Empty openings say nothing and cost thirty words. Start with something specific about the actual question.
Not thisThe scheme is very very expensive and a bit bad for business.
ThisThe scheme is costly and may damage small businesses.
Repetition and vague evaluation read as B1. Precise adjectives are the cheapest way to raise the level of an essay.
Not thisFirstly… Secondly… Thirdly… Finally… in every paragraph.
ThisLinking that names the relation: as a result, by contrast, admittedly, even so.
Sequencers show order but not reasoning. Examiners look for linking that reflects the logic of the argument.
Not thisEnding with ‘In conclusion, there are many arguments on both sides.’
ThisEnding with a judgement: ‘Of the two, investment in transport will do more.’
A conclusion that refuses to conclude leaves the task incomplete, however good the paragraphs before it.
Not thisCopying whole phrases from the input text.
ThisRephrasing the input idea in your own words.
Borrowed language cannot be credited as yours, and an essay built from it has almost nothing for the examiner to reward.
40 original questions. The first 10 are open to everyone. Answers are checked in your browser and never sent to us, so you can share this page with a class as it is.
2Complete the sentence.
3Complete the sentence.
6Complete the sentence.
7Write the plan for a C1 Advanced essay in five lines.
One good answer
1 Introduction: rephrase the issue, name the two points to be discussed. 2 Point one: claim, brief example, evaluation. 3 Point two: claim, brief example, evaluation. 4 Comparison: which does more, and on what grounds. 5 Conclusion: the judgement the task asked for, in two sentences.
9Complete the sentence.
10Complete the sentence.
13Complete the sentence.
15Complete the sentence.
16Complete the sentence.
17Your essay is well over the word limit with five minutes left. What do you do?
One good answer
Do not start deleting sentences at random. Cut the emptiest material first: an opening generalisation, any repetition of the task wording, and a second example where one was enough. Then make sure the conclusion is intact, because an essay that stops without concluding loses more than one that is slightly long.
19Complete the sentence.
21Complete the sentence.
23Complete the sentence.
27Complete the sentence.
29Complete the sentence.
30Write two sentences that evaluate a point: state it, then judge it.
One good answer
Supporters argue that charging drivers to enter the centre reduces congestion at once. The evidence from comparable cities supports this in the short term, although the effect appears to fade unless public transport improves at the same time.
31Complete the sentence.
37Complete the sentence.
38How should the introduction to this essay be structured?
One good answer
Two or three sentences. First, rephrase the issue in your own words so the examiner sees your language rather than the prompt’s. Second, narrow it to the two points you will discuss. Third, if the task asks for a judgement, signal that one is coming, without giving the whole argument away.
39Complete the sentence.
Note
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Around 220 to 260 words. Much shorter and the points cannot be developed; much longer and accuracy usually falls away. Learn what that length looks like in your own handwriting so you do not have to count.
Yes, where you state or defend a position. What reads badly is a string of opinion markers — in my opinion, I personally think, from my point of view — stacked into one sentence.
You must engage with two of them, but in your own words and with your own support. Adding an idea of your own alongside them is fine; replacing them with three ideas of your own is not answering the task.
Develop fewer. Two points with claims, examples and evaluation beat four points asserted and left. Depth is visible in the mark scheme; coverage is not.
Both are assessed, but at C1 a moderately ambitious essay written accurately outscores an ambitious one full of slips. Stretch in one or two sentences per paragraph rather than in all of them.