C1-C2 Speaking Paper – Part 1 – The interview

The day has come and you will have to face your speaking exam. Keep reading and we will share some of the things you will need to prepare for the C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency Speaking Paper Part 1 .

If you need more information about all the other parts, don’t miss our post on Why Students Fail the Speaking part.

First, let’s take a look at some basic information that will help you plan for Part 1:

QUICK INFO ABOUT C1-C2 SPEAKING PAPER PART 1: The Interview

• Time for this part: 2 minutes per candidate
• Number of questions asked: Usually 4-5
• Task: Talk about personal aims, plans and opinions with the examiner

Now, let’s take a look at how the speaking part usually starts.

This is part of a sample Speaking exam:

Examiner:

Good morning / afternoon / evening. My name is …….. and this is my colleague …….. . And your names are …….. ?

Could I have your mark sheets, please?
Thank you.

First of all, we’d like to know something about you.

Where are you from (Candidate A)? And you (Candidate B)?

[addressing Candidate B] Are you working or studying at the moment?

[addressing Candidate A] And you?

The examiner will the select a further question for each candidate:

• You said you’re from (candidate’s home town/area). Is that an interesting place to live?
• How much free time do you have at the moment?
• How good are you at organising your time?
• What would your dream job be?
• Do you have much opportunity to travel?
• How important is the internet to you?

Once these questions are asked the examiner might choose to ask two or three questions more. Here’s a list of questions that you can prepare to answer the most common questions examiners ask.

Each answer shouldn’t take longer than 30 seconds. It’s really important to avoid just saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Try to always offer your opinion and a reason or example to back it up.

If you’d like to practise your speaking for any of the Cambridge exams, don’t forget to sign up to any of our weekly classes. You can check out our calendar here.