Course description

B2 First and C1 Advanced are well-known English qualifications, used for work, study and personal goals. Each exam has four papers, Reading and Use of English, Writing, Listening and Speaking, and each part rewards particular skills. When you know what each part asks for and practise it with a clear method, you can show your real level on the day.

This course prepares you for both exams, side by side. You'll start by choosing the right exam and making a study plan. Then you'll work through every part of every paper: the four Use of English tasks, the reading parts, the essay and the Part 2 writing tasks, the four listening parts and the four speaking parts, with original practice tasks, scripts and model answers at B2 and C1 level. You'll also cover the grammar and vocabulary the exams reward, how to book through an exam centre, what happens on exam day and how results work. You'll finish with a full practice paper set at both levels and a way to mark it yourself.

There are 10 sections and 50 written lessons, each with a worked example, common slips, questions people often ask and a short task to try. You follow three learners through 2026: Burak, a night receptionist in Nottingham taking B2 First; Xochitl, a lab technician in Sheffield taking C1 Advanced; and Sevda, a teaching assistant in Leeds who changes her mind about which exam to take. Every section has a practice pack with a worksheet, example answers and a cheat sheet, plus tools such as a study planner spreadsheet, word formation and transformation banks, writing models and checklists, listening scripts, speaking prompt cards, study plans and a collocation bank.

What you'll learn

• Choosing your exam and making a plan: what B2 and C1 mean, how to choose between B2 First and C1 Advanced, the four papers, the Cambridge English Scale and results, and a study plan and log.
• Use of English: the cloze tasks: multiple-choice cloze and open cloze: collocations, fixed phrases, prepositions, linking words, articles and auxiliaries.
• Word formation and key word transformations: suffixes, prefixes and spelling changes, how transformations are marked, and the grammar patterns that come up again and again at B2 and C1.
• Reading: multiple choice, gapped text and multiple matching, cross-text matching at C1, reading for meaning, and timing the whole paper.
• Writing: the essay and how writing is marked: the four subscales, the essay at B2 and C1, planning, linking and editing your own work.
• Writing Part 2 tasks: letters and emails, articles, reviews, reports and proposals, with model answers written for this course.
• Listening: short extracts, sentence completion, multiple matching and longer interviews, with scripts to read aloud or record.
• Speaking: the interview, the long turn with photos, the collaborative task and the discussion, and how to work with your partner.
• Grammar, vocabulary and exam day: the grammar the exams reward, collocations and phrasal verbs, booking through an exam centre, exam day, results and study plans.
• Final project: a full practice paper set at both levels, with answer keys, scripts, model answers, a self-marking guide and a marking log.

Who it's for

Adults whose first language isn't English, at around B1 to C1 level, who are preparing for B2 First or C1 Advanced, or deciding between them. You should be able to read these lessons comfortably. You'll need a computer, tablet or phone to read the lessons, a PDF reader for the practice packs, a spreadsheet app if you'd like to use the planner, banks and marking log, and a way to record yourself for listening and speaking practice.

What this course is, and isn't

Rootlet is independent. This course isn't connected to, or endorsed by, Cambridge University Press & Assessment, and it doesn't include official exam materials. Every practice task, text, script and model answer was written for this course. Exam formats, fees and rules can change, so the course points you to the official Cambridge English website and your exam centre to check the details before you book. If you need English for a UK visa, check GOV.UK first. The people in the course are fictional.

What will I learn?

• Choose between B2 First and C1 Advanced, check what an organisation or visa route accepts, and understand the four papers, the Cambridge English Scale and how results work
• Answer multiple-choice cloze and open cloze tasks by reading for collocations, fixed phrases, prepositions, linking words and grammar words
• Form words with the right suffixes, prefixes and spelling, and complete key word transformations within the word limit at B2 and C1
• Read for gist, detail, opinion and text structure in multiple choice, gapped text and multiple matching, and plan your time across the whole paper
• Write a clear, well-organised essay at B2 or C1 level, and understand the four areas examiners use to mark writing
• Write letters and emails, articles, reviews, reports and proposals in the right register for the reader
• Follow short extracts, talks and interviews, predict answers, spot distractors and spell answers correctly in Listening
• Speak with confidence in all four Speaking parts: answer interview questions, compare photos, discuss with a partner and develop your opinions
• Use the grammar, collocations, phrasal verbs and linking words the exams reward, book through an exam centre and plan your exam day
• Take a full practice paper set under exam conditions, mark it yourself and plan your final weeks before the exam

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