C1 Business Higher exam format

C1 Business Higher

Who accepts C1 Business Higher?

These are just a few of the leading organisations that will accept your certificate:

Casio
Procter & Gamble
Adidas
StudyPortals
Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS)
Berlin School of Economics and Law
London South Bank University
ICN Business School

Paper	Content	Marks (% of total)	Purpose
Reading (1 hour) See sample paper	6 parts	25%	Shows you can deal confidently with different types of text.
Writing (1 hour and 10 minutes) See sample paper	2 parts	25%	You need to be able to write a variety of different items such as memos, letters, emails, reports and proposals.
Listening (about 40 minutes, including transfer time) See sample paper	3 parts	25%	You need to be able to follow and understand a range of spoken materials, such as presentations, interviews and discussions.
Speaking (16 minutes per pair of candidates) See sample paper	3 parts	25%	Shows you can take part in a conversation by answering and asking simple questions. Your Speaking test will be conducted usually face to face with one or two other candidates and two examiners. One of the examiners (who could be online, examining remotely) talks to you and the other examiner listens. This makes your test more realistic and more reliable.

What’s in the Reading paper?

The C1 Business Higher Reading paper has six parts with different types of texts and questions. For each part, you have to read one long text or two or more shorter, related texts.

Summary

Time allowed:	1 hour
Number of parts:	6
Number of questions:	52
Marks:	25% of total
Length of texts:	150–600 words per text

Part 1 (Matching)

What's in Part 1?	Either a single text which is divided into sections or five short, related texts and a series of statements. You have to match each statement to the section or text where you can find the information.
What do I have to practise?	Reading for gist and global meaning.
How many questions are there?	8
How many marks are there?	One mark for each correct answer.

Part 2 (Matching)

What's in Part 2?	A text with six numbered gaps, each of which represents a missing sentence, followed by some sentences (A–H). You have to read the text and the sentences and decide which sentence best fits each gap.
What do I have to practise?	Understanding structure and reading for detail.
How many questions are there?	6
How many marks are there?	One mark for each correct answer.

Part 3 (Multiple choice)

What's in Part 3?	A text followed by some multiple-choice questions. These may be either whole questions or incomplete sentences. For each one, there are four options and you have to choose A, B, C or D.
What do I have to practise?	Understanding general points and specific details.
How many questions are there?	6
How many marks are there?	One mark for each correct answer.

Part 4 (Multiple-choice cloze)

What's in Part 4?	A text with some numbered gaps, each of which represents a missing word. You have to choose the right word for each gap from four options (A, B, C or D).
What do I have to practise?	Reading – vocabulary and structure.
How many questions are there?	10
How many marks are there?	One mark for each correct answer.

Part 5 (Open cloze)

What's in Part 5?	A text with some numbered gaps, each of which represents a missing word. You have to identify the right word for each gap.
What do I have to practise?	Reading – text structure and discourse features.
How many questions are there?	10
How many marks are there?	One mark for each correct answer.

Part 6 (Proofreading)

What's in Part 6?	A text in which some lines are correct and some lines have an extra, unnecessary word. If the line is correct, you write 'CORRECT' on your answer sheet. If the line is not correct, you have to write the extra word down.
What do I have to practise?	Reading – understanding sentence structure, error identification.
How many questions are there?	12
How many marks are there?	One mark for each correct answer.

What’s in the Writing paper?

In the two parts of the C1 Business Higher Writing paper, you have to show that you can write different types of text in English.

Summary

Time allowed:	1 hour 10 minutes
Number of parts:	2
Number of questions:	Part 1: one compulsory question Part 2: one question from a choice of three
Marks:	25% of total.

Part 1

What's in Part 1?	A guided writing task. You have to write a short report (memo or email) based on some input in the form of graphs, bar charts or pie charts.
What do I have to practise?	Analysing graphic information and expressing it in words: describing or comparing figures, making inferences.
How many questions are there?	One compulsory question.
How much do I have to write?	120–140 words
How many marks do I get?	This question has a total of 10 marks.

Part 2

What's in Part 2?	A choice of three questions: a piece of business correspondence (letter, fax or email), a report (memo or email), or a proposal (memo or email). For the question you choose, you have to read some input material which describes a situation and write the specified response.
What do I have to practise?	Writing a report (describing, summarising), correspondence (explaining, apologising, reassuring, complaining) or a proposal (describing, summarising, recommending, persuading).
How many questions are there?	One question from a choice of three.
How much do I have to write?	200–250 words
How many marks do I get?	This question has a total of 20 marks.

What’s in the Listening paper?

The C1 Business Higher Listening paper has five parts. For each part you have to listen to a recorded text or texts and answer some questions. You hear each recording twice.

Summary

Time allowed:	About 40 minutes, including time to transfer your answers onto the answer sheet.
Number of parts:	3
Number of questions:	30
Marks:	25% of total

Part 1 (Note completion)

What's in Part 1?	A monologue of 2–3 minutes which contains some information. To answer the questions, you have to take notes or complete sentences using a word or a short phrase (up to three words).
What do I have to practise?	Listening for and noting specific information.
How many questions are there?	12
How many marks are there?	One mark for each correct answer.

Part 2 (Matching)

What's in Part 2?	Five short monologues linked by theme or topic, by five different speakers, followed by two tasks which relate to the content and purpose of the monologues. You listen to the recordings and you then have to match each speaker to one of the items (A–H) in Task 1 and one of the items (A–H) in Task 2.
What do I have to practise?	Listening to identify topic, context, function, speaker’s opinion, etc.
How many questions are there?	10
How many marks are there?	One mark for each correct answer.

Part 3 (Multiple choice)

What's in Part 3?	A conversation/interview/discussion between two or more people and some multiple-choice questions. You listen to the recording and then choose the correct answer from three options (A, B or C).
What do I have to practise?	Listening for gist, specific information, attitudes, etc.
How many questions are there?	8
How many marks are there?	One mark for each correct answer.

What’s in the Speaking paper?

The C1 Business Higher Speaking test has three parts and you take it together with another candidate. There are two examiners. One of the examiners (the interlocutor) conducts the test and the other examiner (the assessor) listens to what you say and takes notes.

Summary

Time allowed:	16 minutes per pair of candidates
Number of parts:	3
Marks:	25% of total
You have to talk:	with the examiner with the other candidate on your own

Part 1 (Interview)

What's in Part 1?	Conversation with the interlocutor. The interlocutor asks you questions on a number of personal or work-related subjects.
What do I have to practise?	Giving personal information and expressing opinions.
How long do we have to speak?	About 3 minutes

Part 2 (Long turn)

What's in Part 2?	A 'mini-presentation' on a business theme. The examiner gives you a choice of three topics (A, B or C). You have 1 minute to prepare to give a speech lasting approximately 1 minute. Listen carefully when your partner speaks as you have to ask a question when they have finished.
What do I have to practise?	Talking on your own about something: giving information, and expressing and justifying opinions.
How long do we have to speak?	About 6 minutes

Part 3 (Collaborative task)

What's in Part 3?	A discussion with the other candidate. The examiner gives you a business-related situation with two discussion points to talk about. You have to talk to the other candidate about the situation and decide together what to do. The examiner will then extend the discussion.
What do I have to practise?	Turn-taking, negotiating, collaborating, exchanging information, expressing and justifying opinions, speculating, comparing and contrasting, agreeing and/or disagreeing, etc.
How long do we have to speak?	About 7 minutes

openbook What’s in the Reading paper?

Summary

Part 1 (Matching)

Part 2 (Matching)

Part 3 (Multiple choice)

Part 4 (Multiple-choice cloze)

Part 5 (Open cloze)

Part 6 (Proofreading)

compose What’s in the Writing paper?

Summary

Part 1

Part 2

playlist What’s in the Listening paper?

Summary

Part 1 (Note completion)

Part 2 (Matching)

Part 3 (Multiple choice)

megaphone What’s in the Speaking paper?

Summary

Part 1 (Interview)

Part 2 (Long turn)

Part 3 (Collaborative task)

What’s in the Reading paper?

What’s in the Writing paper?

What’s in the Listening paper?

What’s in the Speaking paper?