The best books for preparing for C1 Advanced (CAE) [Updated 2025]
Are you studying English and need to know what the best books are for preparing for the C1 Advanced (CAE)? Then you can’t miss this article.
Table of contents
Thanks to KSE Academy’s online presence, every week I receive several emails asking for advice on the best books to prepare for Cambridge exams. And thanks to my experience, I’ve had the opportunity to use quite a few preparation books with my C1 students, getting better results and impressions with some of them than with others. That’s why, in today’s article, I bring you a list of the best books to prepare for the C1 Advanced (CAE), commonly known as the Advanced Certificate, even though that’s not its current name 😅. And all this information is based on my own experience, so you can be sure that the books I recommend below are top-notch. In a previous post, I already told you how to prepare for the Advanced Certificate on your own, but in this one, I will focus almost solely on the best books to prepare for Cambridge C1 and some extra materials that I always recommend to my students. So let’s begin.
What is the C1 Advanced (CAE)
The C1 Advanced, commonly known as CAE or Advanced Certificate, is an English examination developed by Cambridge Assessment English, an organisation that is part of the University of Cambridge.
As its name indicates, the C1 Advanced is designed for those with an advanced level of English to officially prove it, thus obtaining a C1 level certificate, according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
Currently, according to the Cambridge Assessment English website, over 8,000 educational institutions, businesses and government departments accept this examination as proof of an advanced level of English.
The Best Books to Prepare for the C1 Advanced (CAE)
When we start to prepare for the C1 Advanced on our own, we must not make the mistake of thinking that a single preparation book will be enough to reach the C1 level of the Advanced Certificate. Therefore, in this section I will present the best books to prepare for the C1 Advanced divided into categories, according to their objective and the use you should give to each one.
General Preparation Books for the C1 Advanced
Firstly, I’m going to tell you about the best general preparation books for the Advanced Certificate. These are books that work all the skills equally and are normally used in English courses to prepare for the C1 Advanced, whether they are annual, intensive or semi-intensive courses. So here are the best books I have used myself to prepare for the C1 Advanced with my students.
Complete Advanced (CAE) – 2nd Edition
This is the preparation book I currently use with my C1 group that has 3 hours a week, and I truly love it. And I don’t think my students have any complaints either. The 14 units it contains are quite comprehensive and, as I’ve already told you, it works all parts of the C1 Advanced examination equally. Furthermore, like most textbooks, it includes a Workbook that emphasizes the grammatical and semantic aspects worked on in each unit, so it’s advisable to use them together.
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Compact Advanced (CAE)
With this book, I prepare students who are already practically at a C1 level and want a general but intensive review of the examination. Therefore, this C1 Advanced book and its workbook are recommended for private lessons and intensive courses.
Therefore, if you are not yet at C1 level or very close, it is better to choose another C1 preparation book, as Compact Advanced offers very good advice on examination techniques and plenty of practice with C1 examination-type exercises, but relatively few explanations.
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Examination Books for the C1 Advanced
The examination books for the C1 Advanced have a great advantage and a great disadvantage. On the one hand, they give you the opportunity to test yourself with real examination exercises. However, the problem they have is that they are limited and most of them don’t teach anything; they simply tell you if you answered correctly or not, and some don’t even tell you how to calculate your Advanced score. Knowing this, we must also distinguish between official examination books from Cambridge University Press, and unofficial examination books from other publishers such as Pearson or Cengage, among others.
Official Books with C1 Advanced Examinations
In this context, we have the crème de la crème in terms of realism. These books offer 4 C1 Advanced examinations that have already been used in previous examination sittings. Therefore, the level they offer is what we should use to get an idea of how well or poorly prepared we are for the examination. The two problems I find with these books are: 1) They are relatively expensive, as they contain only 4 examinations; 2) They don’t teach anything, they simply have examination-type exercises with their respective answers.
Cambridge English Advanced 1 & 2
As I have already mentioned, volume 1 and volume 2 from Cambridge University Press contain 4 real examinations that have appeared in official sittings. Although they are a bit expensive, I highly recommend them, but only for preparing in the final stage before taking the C1 Advanced. That way, you will know if you are well prepared or not.
[amazon box=»1107654963,1316504492″]
Cambridge English Advanced Trainer
This preparation book is the only official material with real examinations that does offer some preparation. It is a C1 Advanced examination preparation book that offers 6 practice examinations, and the first 2 come with preliminary exercises to refine examination techniques and help us better prepare each part of the examination. I usually use it as complementary material in class, along with the Complete Advanced, mentioned in the section above.
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Unofficial Books with C1 Advanced Examinations
In this section, I will talk about preparation books for the Advanced Certificate that have not been published by Cambridge University Press, but by other publishers. The great advantage of these books is that, in addition to being at a lower price, they usually contain more examinations, and many of them include explanations, guides, and other resources that help us learn. The only problem is that, sometimes, some of the parts may seem a little easier or more difficult than those in the real examinations from the previous books. But, and I speak from experience as a Cambridge examination preparer, they are really worth it for practising and measuring our skills.
Exam Essentials: Cambridge English Advanced 1 & 2
In these books, both in part 1 and part 2, you will find 8 examinations at a much lower price than the official books. On the other hand, these C1 Advanced preparation books have annotations in the margins, which help you develop appropriate techniques for taking the examinations, and they come with a DVD-ROM containing the audio for the Listenings, videos of Speaking examinations, and tips for facing the Speaking examination. This, in my opinion, is a great point in favour of these two books, which I often use with my own students.
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Cambridge English Advanced Practice Tests Plus Volume 1
Like Cengage’s practice books, Pearson offers this preparation book with 7 practice examinations to which it adds a multitude of extra materials: examples of Writings, Speaking test videos, downloadable audio, transcripts, etc. I have a copy in the academy that I often turn to when I need extra practice material.
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Books to Prepare Each Part of the C1 Advanced
In this section, we are going to delve into each of the parts of the C1 examination. This way, if you need more practice or support for one of the parts, you can turn to one of these to ensure sufficient preparation before taking the C1 Advanced.
Books to Prepare for the C1 Advanced Reading & Writing
Although one of the most recommended ways to prepare for the Reading and Writing parts of the Advanced Certificate is to read books and articles regularly, there are also some books that help you with the specific techniques (skimming, scanning, etc.) that you will need in this Cambridge examination. In fact, I always recommend the following:
Reading for Advanced
As the title indicates, this book will help you pass this part of the examination which, although it may not seem like it, can present significant difficulties for many people who do not read regularly in English. If you want, you can see an example of a unit from the book.
Cambridge English Skills Real Reading & Writing (Level 4)
The Cambridge Real Skills series is highly recommended for working on each language skill separately. Therefore, if you want to prepare for the CAE, you can take a look at these books, as they can be incredibly helpful for reinforcing.
Writing for Advanced
This is a very affordable option which, although it doesn’t specifically focus on each type of text that appears in the C1 Advanced, helps you with the use of advanced structures and essential C1 vocabulary in your Writing.
Books to Prepare for the C1 Advanced Use of English
To prepare for the Use of English section of the Advanced, there are many more options than for preparing the Reading. However, I have my favourites, and these are the following:
Use of English C1: 10 Use of English Tests for C1 Advanced (CAE)
This book, written by me and published in April 2022, contains 10 completely new, unpublished examinations, to work on each of the parts of the Use of English examination and the first part of the Reading (which used to be Use of English!). Get it on Amazon (paperback) or from my online shop (PDF). It’s a book that completely matches the level and format of these C1 Advanced Use of English tasks. And although it may not be appropriate for me to say so because I wrote it, I think it is of very good quality. 🙂 And if you want to know more, you can visit the website I created for it (useofenglishc1.com).
[amazon box=»B09X5N274N» description=»This book contains ten practice tests for the Use of English of the C1 Advanced test, formerly known as Certificate in Advanced English (CAE), an examination developed by Cambridge Assessment English.»]
100 Key Word Keyword Transformation Sentences
In this book, completely original and created by me, you will find 100 completely original sentences to practise part 4 of the C1 Advanced Use of English. With special emphasis on phrasal verbs, idioms, and collocations, each of these 100 sentences will help you practise the specific and typical grammatical and semantic points of the examination. Without a doubt, one of the best books to prepare for the Advanced that I use with my own students. Get it on Amazon.
[amazon box=»B08C8XFC3W» description=»This book contains 100 key word transformation sentences for C1 Advanced (CAE), administered by Cambridge Assessment English. These sentences have been specially written for students to practise the Use of English Part 4, one of the eight parts of the C1 Advanced (CAE) Reading & Use of English test.»]
Advanced Dependent Prepositions
If there is one topic that causes significant difficulties at all levels in English, especially at C1 level, it is prepositions. To help with this, in this book I take you through 166 combinations of advanced dependent prepositions. Furthermore, the material is presented on cards that you can cut out and study. It is ideal material for drilling prepositions, being useful for all parts of the Use of English, especially part 2.
With these books, especially Michael Vince’s Advanced Language Practice, you will cover practically all the important grammatical and semantic points you should work on before taking the Advanced Certificate. In fact, Advanced Language Practice is, in my opinion, the best C1 Advanced preparation book available today for Use of English, grammar, and vocabulary.
Books to Prepare for the C1 Advanced Listening & Speaking
Cambridge English Skills Real Listening & Speaking (Level 4)
Here we have another book from the Real Skills series, in this case for Listening & Speaking, all in one.
But to improve Listening and Speaking, I always recommend other materials such as those you will find in the next section.
Other Recommended Resources for the C1 Advanced (CAE)
As this is a C1 level of English, the best books to prepare for the Advanced Certificate may not be enough to achieve an optimal level to face the examination. Therefore, in this section, I will recommend what I believe are the best extra resources to prepare for the C1 Advanced.
Scribd
Scribd is a very versatile platform that offers a variety of resources that can help you in many aspects: audiobooks, ebooks, pdf documents, magazines, etc. Currently, I subscribe to Scribd (approximately €8/month), and I primarily use it to listen to audiobooks. Therefore, I highly recommend it to all my students, as listening to audiobooks is a great way to improve listening, vocabulary, grammar, and practically everything related to English. Also, since Scribd also offers ebooks, you can read and listen at the same time, which is undoubtedly of great help for improvement.
Netflix & Amazon Prime Video
Any online streaming platform for watching films and series is highly recommended for improving our English. And if you want to prepare for the Advanced, I strongly recommend trying one like Netflix or Amazon Prime Video. The second one, I remind you, is completely free if you are an Amazon Prime member. If you want to try Amazon Prime and Amazon Video, I recommend the 30-day free trial of Amazon Prime, which is what I did before subscribing.
English Class 101
Among all the podcasts for learning English that I know, English Class 101 is, without a doubt, one of the best. With many lessons not only at C1 level but at all lower levels, you can listen to audio, watch videos, and download them along with their transcripts. Without a doubt, one of the best ways to improve Listening for the C1. If you want to know more, don’t hesitate to click below.
Videos of the C1 Advanced Speaking Examination
With all the materials I’ve recommended above for preparing for the C1, you now know all the parts of the Advanced. However, it’s always a good idea to watch some videos of real Speaking examinations to get a good idea of what a real C1 Advanced Speaking examination is like. So here’s one from the official Cambridge Assessment English channel, so you can start preparing for what awaits you. 😅
Conclusion, What are the Best Books to Prepare for the Advanced Certificate?
- Complete Advanced – 2nd Edition
- Compact Advanced
- Cambridge English Advanced 1 & 2
- Cambridge Advanced Trainer
- Exam Essentials: Cambridge English Advanced 1 & 2
- Cambridge English Advanced Practice Tests Plus Volume 1
- Reading for Advanced
- Cambridge English Skills Real Reading
- Cambridge English Skills Real Writing
- Writing for Advanced
- 50 Keyword Transformation Sentences Volume 1
- 50 Keyword Transformation Sentences Volume 2
- Advanced Dependent Prepositions
- Advanced Language Practice
- Destination C1 & C2
- Advanced Grammar in Use
- Cambridge English Skills Real Listening & Speaking
Great. Done. You now know the best books to prepare for the C1 Advanced and complementary materials that can be more than helpful for you to succeed. If there is any book or resource that you think I should try and include in this list, feel free to leave me a comment below. I will be happy to take a look and try it with my students. And if you found this article useful, why not share it with your friends, colleagues, and other English students and teachers. And don’t forget to follow KSE Academy on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Google+ and YouTube. 🙂