C1 assessment
Check everything from C1: advanced grammar, nuanced vocabulary, academic and professional skills, and complex listening and reading.
In this lesson you will
- Review all C1 grammar and vocabulary
- Identify weak areas
- Decide whether you’re ready for C2
Learn
This assessment covers the whole C1 course: inversion, clefts, advanced passives, the subjunctive, ellipsis and substitution, fronting, advanced future forms, nominalisation, collocations, idioms, hedging, register, academic and professional writing, and inference.
Your results are saved as topic statistics; the Progress page will highlight your weakest areas.
80% or more: you’re ready for C2 Proficiency. Below 80%: revisit weak topics — at this level, progress comes from precision and wide reading and listening.
Examples
- Inversion: Not until the results came in did we understand.
- Subjunctive: It is vital that she be informed.
- Hedging: The data appear to suggest a modest effect.
Vocabulary
proficiency
the C2 level: near-native command
precision
exactness
range
variety
sophistication
advanced, subtle quality
benchmark
a standard for comparison
Practice
No sooner ___ than the lights went out.
Listening: A panel on the future of work
Audio isn’t available in this browser — read the transcript instead.
Host: Will AI eliminate more jobs than it creates?
Dr Osei: In all likelihood, it will transform more jobs than it eliminates. The evidence so far suggests tasks change faster than jobs disappear.
Ms Clarke: I’d go along with that up to a point, but ‘transform’ is a rather comforting word for people whose roles vanish.
Dr Osei: That’s a fair challenge. I’m not saying there won’t be losses — merely that the picture is more complex.
Ms Clarke: Credit where it’s due, retraining schemes have improved. Whether they’ll be enough remains to be seen.
1.What is Dr Osei’s main view?
2.Ms Clarke’s response is…
3.“Credit where it’s due” shows…
4.Ms Clarke is certain retraining will be enough.
Speaking
Final speaking task (three minutes): present and defend a nuanced position on “Universities should prioritise employability over academic knowledge”, using hedging, speculation and diplomatic disagreement with an imagined opponent.
Writing
Final writing task (300–350 words): a discursive essay on “To what extent should governments regulate social media?” using academic style, cohesion and a range of advanced structures.
- ☐ Nuanced thesis
- ☐ Several perspectives presented fairly
- ☐ Hedging and precise vocabulary
- ☐ Advanced structures (inversion, cleft, nominalisation)
- ☐ Evaluative conclusion
Lesson quiz
Under no circumstances ___ the door be left unlocked.
Review
Key points
- 80%+ → move on to C2.
- Below 80% → revisit weak topics on your Progress page.
- Read and listen widely; write regularly with editing.
What you learned
- ✓ I have finished C1.
- ✓ I know my strengths and weaknesses.
- ✓ I’m ready for C2 (or know exactly what to review).
Grammar reference: Inversion for emphasis, Cleft sentences, The passive voice, Conditionals: zero, first, second and third