The C1 examination, which turns the world into your oyster.

As a C1 exam mentor, here is my advice, as well as my thoughts if you are considering writing the English CAE examination.

Why would you want to do the exam?

There are many reasons to consider - including wanting to gain entrance to a European university of your choice which requires this certificate. Some students who are highly qualified already wish to gain entrance to international academic institutions to study further; some aspire to achieving an internationally accepted certificate that could open many career doors for them; some wish to improve their general English language skills. Your goal may be to reach a very high proficiency level in all areas of the English language; wanting to challenge yourself simply because you love learning; and the list goes on....

I have students who come from all over the world and for whom working towards the C1 exam is a journey they are excited to embark on. Some want to be able to communicate better in business meetings and some want to reach a stage where they are outshining their native speaker counter-parts in business. Some like the idea of the challenge. It is, after all, a formidable exam.

One of my students wanted to progress to complete their doctorate in a European university, and the completion of the C1 exam held the key to their acceptance into that next level of their journey.

Some students of mine are business people who find themselves at a disadvantage when communicating in online meetings, and feel that the C1 exam will give them the confidence and the edge in a massively competitive world.

Remember the C1 exam can be done in person at an exam centre, or online.

Why not IELTS or TOEFL?

I have trained to teach the C1 examination because I love the challenge of it and because it is European focused. I have tried the IELTS programme, but personally, I did not like elements such as having to interpret graphs and charts; in addition I found that the standard of language is generally not as high, and the certificate is only valid for two years. The Cambridge CAE C1 certificate is valid indefinitely.

Both IELTS and TOEFL are more geared to get you into English speaking countries, including the USA. Some US universities and institutions insist on you having either the IELTS or the TOEFL qualification, so do your homework if you have a particular academic institution in mind. Universities like Cornell, Columbia, Berkeley require international students to have evidence of English proficiency as demonstrated by having either of these certificates. Universities like Stanford recommends having these certificates.

European universities on the other hand, require students to demonstrate that they can cope with the demands of the course-work by meeting the standards of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR).

The TOEFL and IELTS examinations are more expensive to write than the C1 CAE exam, and remember that, as I said before, the C1 is valid indefinitely. The C1 exam can be written and booked online with very little notice given, and you get your results back very fast. It is money very well invested.

The TOEFL is classed as the most academic of the three examinations, and is geared very specifically for university and academic purposes. Non-native speakers of English will benefit from gaining this qualification if they enter English-speaking universities, especially in the US. While the standard of the C1 examination is very high and will certainly help you as you continue your journey into academia, the range of topics is also broader and will serve those who are in business or who aim to upscale their level of conversation at work, socially, intellectually, in research as well as academic fields.

I hope this brief overview will help you with your decision making, should you be contemplating taking any of these exams.