Cambridge English Qualifications · B2 · C1 · C2
Cambridge tests a level, and the certificate does not expire.
You do not sit "Cambridge" — you sit B2 First, C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency, and you pick the one that matches the level you already have. Choose too high and you fail it; choose too low and you cannot show more than its ceiling. Everything is reported on one 80–230 scale, and the result has no expiry date.
Score scale
- B2 First
- C1 Advanced
- C2 Proficiency
176 on the Cambridge English Scale is roughly IELTS band 7.0. Which exam you enter decides how much of the scale you can reach at all.
- Score scale
- 80–230
- Length
- ~3.5–4 hours
- Delivery
- Computer or paper
- Results
- ~2–6 weeks
- Validity
- Does not expire
Who sits it
Cambridge English is the right test for some people, not everyone.
B2 First · C1 Advanced · C2 Proficiency
Sit this test if you are
- Anyone who wants a qualification with no expiry date on the certificate
- Employers and universities in Europe that quote CEFR levels directly
- Candidates who prefer a paired, face-to-face speaking test
- Long-term proof of level rather than a result for one application
Confirm the test is accepted before you book. The university, employer or immigration authority names which ones it takes, and they are not interchangeable.
Test structure
What you sit, in order.
Timings are the published ranges for Cambridge English. Exam formats are revised periodically — confirm the current structure with your test centre when you book.
Reading & Use of English
~75–90 minutes
The paper with no IELTS equivalent. Open and multiple-choice cloze, word formation, and key word transformations that test grammar and collocation directly rather than through a passage.
Writing
~80–90 minutes
Two pieces. A compulsory essay, then a choice from a report, review, proposal, article, letter or email — each with its own conventions and register, and you are marked on getting them right.
Listening
~40 minutes
Four parts of interviews, monologues and short extracts. Unlike IELTS, most parts are played twice.
Speaking
~14–19 minutes
Taken with another candidate, in front of two examiners. There is a collaborative task where you have to discuss, disagree and reach a decision with your partner — a skill no other major test assesses.
Score comparison
What Cambridge English is worth in IELTS bands.
Cambridge reports every exam on the same scale, which is what makes this comparison possible: B2 First reports 160–190, C1 Advanced 160–210, and C2 Proficiency 180–230. Pick the exam whose range brackets your target — sitting C1 Advanced when you are a band 5.5 candidate wastes the fee.
| Cambridge English Scale | IELTS band |
|---|---|
| 200–230 | 8.5–9.0 |
| 191–199 | 8.0 |
| 185–190 | 7.5 |
| 176–184 | 7.0 |
| 169–175 | 6.5 |
| 160–168 | 6.0 |
| 151–159 | 5.5 |
| 142–150 | 5.0 |
Indicative comparison only. No test score converts into another, and no institution accepts a converted score in place of the test it asked for.
Task types
Every task you will meet.
The full set of question and task types used across Cambridge English. Knowing which ones cost you marks is the difference between practising and just re-sitting.
Preparing here
What carries over from IELTS practice.
Cambridge-format papers are not in the library. Use of English in particular has no IELTS counterpart, so treat our practice as level-building and band measurement rather than exam rehearsal for this one.
Writing is still four criteria
Content, communicative achievement, organisation and language — different names, the same four things IELTS calls task response, coherence, lexis and grammar. Our feedback maps onto all of them.
Range and accuracy carry the grade
Use of English rewards exactly the grammatical range our writing reports measure, quoted from your own sentences rather than described in the abstract.
Speaking under pressure
The paired task is harder than an interview, not easier. Fluency, coherence and pronunciation are scored the same way, and those are three of our four speaking criteria.
Find out where you stand first.
A full mock under exam conditions gives you a band, and the table above turns that band into a realistic Cambridge English Scale target. The free plan includes one every month.