LanguageCert C1 Expert: Complete Guide for Candidates with PDF Exams [2026]

Discover everything about the LanguageCert C1 Expert: exam structure, duration, prices 2026, assessment criteria, and PDF exams to download.

Updated on 19/02/26

Do you want to certify your C1 level of English with a recognised international certification? The LanguageCert C1 Expert is one of the most flexible and accessible options currently available, as you can take it online from home or in person at an exam centre.

The C1 level of English, also known as the advanced level, is one of the most highly valued in both academic and professional fields. It is the level that allows you to study postgraduate programmes at international universities, access high-skilled job positions, or simply demonstrate that you can communicate with fluency and spontaneity in English. In this article, I am going to tell you everything you need to know about the LanguageCert C1 Expert, its parts, its format, how it is assessed, and, of course, I will provide several PDF exams for you to practice.

What is the LanguageCert C1 Expert exam

The LanguageCert C1 Expert exam is the C1 level examination within the LanguageCert International ESOL series. By taking this exam, the four language skills of the candidates are assessed: listening, reading, writing and speaking. Generally, this exam is designed for those who want to certify an advanced level of English, equivalent to C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

This is an appropriate level of English for communicating fluently and spontaneously in a wide variety of complex contexts, whether personal, professional or academic. It is a level highly valued by universities, companies and institutions worldwide, especially for roles that require a very advanced command of English.

What level does the C1 Expert certify

The aim of the LanguageCert International ESOL C1 Expert is to certify advanced level language competence, as described in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). In this regard, LanguageCert summarises this level with the following competencies:

• Can understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts, both written and spoken, and recognise implicit meaning.
• Can use language fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions.
• Can respond to extensive information and narratives, follow detailed explanations and complex instructions, adapting the response to the audience, medium and context.
• Can engage in discussions in a variety of situations by making clear and effective contributions.
• Can use language flexibly and understand a variety of texts of varying complexity and length for social, academic and professional purposes.
• Can produce clear, well-structured text on complex subjects, showing controlled use of organisational patterns, connectors and cohesive devices.
• Can communicate ideas and opinions effectively, using length, format and style appropriate to the purpose, content and audience.

In short, if you manage to pass the LanguageCert C1 Expert, it means you have an internationally recognised certification of an advanced level of English. This level allows you to operate with confidence in highly demanding academic and professional environments, being able to express complex ideas, participate in sophisticated discussions and produce detailed texts on complex topics.

C1 Expert: Exams and modalities

Exams

Like the rest of the levels certified by LanguageCert International ESOL, the C1 Expert consists of 2 exams. Each exam is a certification in itself:

• Written Exam: Assesses Listening, Reading and Writing.
• Spoken Exam: Assesses Speaking.

Modalities

One of the particularities of LanguageCert is the fact that it offers three modalities (or options) to take the International ESOL exams. Therefore, the C1 Expert can be taken in the following ways:

• In-person: at an exam venue (usually an academy)
  • Computer-based
  • Paper-based
• Online: from home

The important thing about this is that in all cases, the candidate is being invigilated by a person to ensure the security and validity of the results. 🙂

What parts does the LanguageCert C1 Expert have

Below, I present all the parts of the LanguageCert C1 Expert. Please note that I am going to describe all the parts together, but you must remember that the Speaking is done separately.

In summary, the LanguageCert C1 Expert exam is organised as follows:

• Listening: 4 activities (26 questions)
• Reading: 4 activities (26 questions)
• Writing: 2 activities (2 tasks)
• Speaking: 4 activities

Let’s now look at each part of the exam itself.

C1 Expert: Listening

• Tasks: 4 activities
• No. of items: 26 questions
• Duration: 30 minutes

Candidates must demonstrate that they understand conversations and oral texts on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in their field of specialisation. The C1 Expert Listening assesses the ability to follow extended speech, extract key information from dense and complex texts, and understand attitudes, opinions and implicit meanings.

The C1 Expert Listening is divided into the following parts:

Part 1

• No. questions: 6
• Description: 6 unfinished conversations between two people are heard twice. The conversations include idiomatic expressions, colloquialisms, register shifts and the use of stress and intonation to indicate attitude. You must choose the most appropriate response (A, B or C) to complete or continue each conversation.

Part 2

• No. questions: 6
• Description: 3 conversations are heard twice, each with two speakers. You must identify the topic, purpose, context, speakers, gist, relationship between speakers, roles, functions, attitudes, feelings and opinions. For each conversation, there are 2 multiple-choice questions (A, B or C).

Part 3

• No. questions: 7
• Description: A lecture, radio broadcast, narrative, presentation, etc., is heard twice to identify specific information. The listening text contains dense and factual information. You must write down the answers (1 to 5 words) in a message box with 7 headings.

Part 4

• No. questions: 7
• Description: A discussion between two speakers is heard twice to identify gist, examples, facts, opinions, contrasts, purposes, key ideas, attitudes, cause and effect. There are 7 multiple-choice questions (A, B or C).

C1 Expert: Reading

• Tasks: 4 activities
• No. of items: 26 questions
• Duration: 2 hours and 40 minutes (taken together with Writing, without a break)

In this part of the C1 Expert, candidates must demonstrate that they can understand long and complex texts, on both concrete and abstract topics. They must also be able to appreciate distinctions of style and purpose, understand how meaning is constructed in discourse, locate specific information and understand implicit meanings, as well as the stances and attitudes of the writers.

The C1 Expert Reading is divided into the following parts:

Part 1

• No. questions: 5
• Description: You read a text that includes idiomatic language, narrative or academic ideas, arguments and opinions. You must determine if 5 statements about the text are true or false.

Part 2

• No. questions: 6
• Description: You must read a text with 6 sentences removed (e.g., topic sentence, summary sentence, idea development, emphasis of a point, opinion, contrast, sequence, forward and backward reference, transition to a new idea). 8 sentences are provided to choose from (2 are distractors). You must fill the 6 gaps with the appropriate sentences.

Part 3

• No. questions: 7
• Description: There are 4 short texts (e.g., email, article, advert, brochure) with a common theme but different purposes. There are 7 questions and you must choose which text (A, B, C or D) answers each question.

Part 4

• No. questions: 8
• Description: A continuous text is read: narrative, descriptive, explanatory, expository, biographical or instructional. You must answer 8 open «wh-« type questions requiring short answers of up to 5 words.

C1 Expert: Writing

• Tasks: 2 Writing activities
• Duration: 2 hours and 40 minutes (taken together with Reading, without a break)

In the C1 Expert Writing, candidates must complete 2 Writing tasks, always responding and adhering to a set of prior instructions. The tasks assess the ability to write clear, well-structured texts on complex subjects, showing controlled use of organisational patterns, connectors and cohesive devices, varying length, format and style according to purpose and audience.

Part 1

• Length: 150 – 200 words
• Description: Instructions are given to write a letter, report, argument or article using a written, graphic or visual input text specifying the intended reader and expressing stance, opinion, justification and argumentation as appropriate. A formal response for an intended public audience must be produced.

Part 2

• Length: 250 – 300 words
• Description: Instructions are given to write a personal letter, a narrative composition/story or a descriptive composition. An informal piece of writing for a specific reader must be produced to persuade, argue or hypothesise, expressing mood, opinion, justification, evaluation, etc.

C1 Expert: Speaking

• Tasks: 4 parts
• Duration: 15 minutes

The LanguageCert C1 Expert Speaking exam is individual, unlike Cambridge exams, and is conducted face-to-face with an interlocutor (even in the online version). One of the particularities of this exam is that the interlocutor is only in charge of conducting the exam, not assessing it. It is recorded and sent to be assessed by qualified examiners.

The C1 Expert Speaking exam is divided into the following parts:

Part 1

In this part, at the start of the exam, the candidate must:

• Say their name and spell it.
• State their country of origin.
• Answer 5 questions.

The questions are grouped under five themes and require communicating opinions and ideas on a variety of topics and giving personal opinions on contemporary matters.

Part 2

The interlocutor presents 2 or more situations to which the candidate must respond and initiate interactions. The candidate must communicate appropriately in real-life situations using a wide range of functional language and appropriate use of register.

Part 3

Consists of holding a brief discussion to make a plan, organise or decide something using a written text as a stimulus. The candidate must participate in the discussion and justify, challenge and persuade when expressing and requesting opinions.

Part 4

The candidate has 30 seconds of preparation time. Afterwards, they must speak about a topic provided by the interlocutor for 2 minutes. At the end, they must answer a series of follow-up questions from the interlocutor. The aim is to demonstrate the ability to speak in depth about a subject from a wide range of abstract and complex topics.

Official C1 Expert Speaking exam video

Below you can watch a video of a real example of the C1 Expert Speaking, where you can see a candidate taking the oral exam.

LanguageCert C1 Expert exams in PDF

Now that we know all the parts and tasks of this certification, I will provide some LanguageCert C1 Expert exams in PDF for you to download. I hope you find them very useful!

Written Exam

• C1 Expert Written Answer Sheet (ZIP)
• C1 Sample Written Test PDF 1 (ZIP)
• C1 Sample Written Test PDF 2 (ZIP)
• C1 Sample Written Test PDF 3 (ZIP)
• C1 Sample Written Test PDF 6 (ZIP)

Spoken Exam

• C1 Expert Sample Speaking Test Video (ZIP)
• C1 Expert Sample Spoken Test PDF 1 (ZIP)
• C1 Expert Sample Spoken Test PDF 2 (ZIP)
• C1 Expert Sample Spoken Test PDF 3 (ZIP)
• C1 Expert Sample Spoken Test PDF 6 (ZIP)

Duration of the C1 Expert exam

The total duration of the LanguageCert C1 Expert exam depends on whether you take only the Written Exam, only the Spoken Exam, or both. Below I detail the duration of each part:

• Listening: approximately 30 minutes
• Reading & Writing: 2 hours and 40 minutes (no break between both parts)
• Speaking: 15 minutes

Therefore, if you take the full Written Exam, you will be at the exam centre for approximately 3 hours and 10 minutes. If you also take the Speaking, you will need to add 15 minutes more, although you should keep in mind that the Speaking can be done on a different day from the Written Exam.

Price of LanguageCert C1 Expert

Below are the official prices for the LanguageCert C1 Expert according to the information published on their official website in February 2026. Remember that these prices may vary, so I recommend checking them directly on the LanguageCert website or contacting me to confirm the updated rates.

Important note: There are two exams available at this level: Written and Spoken. Both exams can be taken together or independently.

How the LanguageCert C1 Expert is assessed

In general, it is quite simple to calculate the score for the LanguageCert C1 Expert, and it is the same as for other LanguageCert International ESOL exams. But first, let’s present the score for each part:

Assessment of the Written Exam (Listening, Reading and Writing)

• Listening: 26 points (1 question = 1 point)
• Reading: 26 points (1 question = 1 point)
• Writing: 24 points (1 activity = 12 points)

Writing is assessed according to four criteria aligned with CEFR descriptors:

• Task Fulfilment: Measures the extent to which the candidate has completed/addressed the task and whether the candidate has done what was requested.
• Accuracy and Range of Grammar: Measures the range, appropriateness and accuracy of grammar.
• Accuracy and Range of Vocabulary: Measures the range, accuracy and appropriateness of vocabulary, as well as spelling accuracy.
• Organisation: Measures how ideas are coherently linked in the text and how accurate the punctuation is.

Assessment of the Spoken Exam (Speaking)

• Speaking: 12 points (global)

ESOL oral exams are assessed according to the following four criteria:

• Task Fulfilment and Coherence: The ability to manage tasks appropriately for the level and link expressions into coherent discourse.
• Accuracy and Range of Grammar: The ability to vary and demonstrate control of grammatical structures according to the task.
• Accuracy and Range of Vocabulary: The ability to vary and demonstrate control of lexis and register according to the task.
• Pronunciation, Intonation and Fluency: The ability to produce the sounds of English to be understood with appropriate stress and intonation and maintain the flow of speech.

Each of the four parts of the exam is given equal importance. Candidates receive a score from 0 to 3 for each of the four criteria, so the maximum raw scores they can obtain across the four parts of the exam is 12. Scores are subsequently converted to a scale of 0 to 50.

Grading scale

Next, each score obtained must be equated to 50 points. For example:

• Listening: 20 points → We calculate 20/26×50 = 38 points (approximately).
• Reading: 18 points → We calculate 18/26×50 = 35 points (approximately).
• Writing: 16 points → We calculate 16/24×50 = 33 points (approximately).
• Speaking: 9 points → We calculate 9/12×50 = 37 points (approximately).

And now we add everything up for each exam. Remember we have Written (Listening, Reading and Writing) and Spoken (Speaking).

• Written: 38 (L) + 35 (R) + 33 (W) = 106 points
• Spoken: 37 points

Finally, we compare it to the LanguageCert scale, valid for all levels:

Written Exam:

• Fail: 0 – 74 points
• Pass: 75 – 100 points
• High Pass: 101 – 150 points

Spoken Exam:

• Fail: 0 – 24 points
• Pass: 25 – 37 points
• High Pass: 38 – 50 points

Based on this, we would have obtained the following grade in the C1 Expert:

• Written Exam: High Pass
• Spoken Exam: Pass

Results and certificates of the C1 Expert

Once you have taken your LanguageCert C1 Expert exam, you will receive your results and certificates as follows:

• Statement of Results (SoR) and electronic certificate sent via email or through the exam centre.
• 3 business days for online exams with live remote invigilation.
• 5 business days for computer-based exams.
• 10 business days for paper-based exams.
• Digital badges available within 10 business days and sent via email.
• Hard copy certificates sent to the candidate or the exam centre shortly after the results are released.

It is important to note that LanguageCert certificates do not have an expiry date, although some institutions may require the certificate to have been obtained within a certain period.

More information

If you need more information, I recommend leaving me a comment. I will reply as soon as possible, I promise. Additionally, I recommend reading the candidate information available on the official LanguageCert website.

And until the next article, don’t forget to keep smiling!