Language Certificates

Hi everyone,
It seems that I have to take a language test for the C1 level in English. I have a variety of tests to chose from but was wondering if any fellow members have taken one of the tests (or maybe more) and can fill me in on their experience and maybe let me know which one was the ost difficult etc.

Here are the tests:

CEP (Certificate of Proficiency in English)
IELTS
TOEFL
CAE (Certificate in Advanced English)

Thanks!

Reply 1

Eileen_

I was about to start a thread asking the very same question so if you don't mind I'll just follow this :tongue:

I need a certificate to be able to start studying in the UK in 2012. I was supposed to do CAE though school, long story, it all turned out to be impossible because they're not doing it until next year (right, I will have left by then :tongue:

) and they don't want to be bothered with my ambitions anymore.

Since CPE requires a better knowledge/higher level of English I think it would be wiser to choose CAE. However, IELTS or TOEFL seem to be easier to take when you're an individual, from what I've heard at least. I don't know about TOEFL, but IELTS seems to publish results earlier than CAE (they claim that IELTS results are published in just 13 days, whereas I believe I read somewhere that CAE can take 3-6 weeks to be published, not sure though) and there are more exam dates, where I live at least.

I believe TOEFL is administered via the internet, depends on what you prefer then, I think I'd rather have a test in a paper-based format, when it comes to testing I feel more comfortable having some paper to hold while reading and writing (useless reason but that's just how I feel about it :tongue:

)

Another problem I'm dealing with- I stated on my ucas application that I was taking CAE, but since IETLS and TOEFL are accepted as well, that shouldn't be a problem to change, right?"

Reply 2

xmarilynx

18

IELTS and TOEFL are the best known so, studies aside as they're all accepted by universities, you're best off doing one of those. That way you can put it on your CV later, as they are the ones that employers have heard of :smile:

Reply 3

Matrick

OP

Have you taken either?

Original post by xmarilynx

IELTS and TOEFL are the best known so, studies aside as they're all accepted by universities, you're best off doing one of those. That way you can put it on your CV later, as they are the ones that employers have heard of :smile:

Reply 4

Matrick

OP

Anyone else?

Reply 5

Morgana

Hey there!
I'm also a european applicant :smile:

Well, I sat and passed both the CAE and IELTS. The former turned out to be extremely tough and challenging, plus you have to wait ages to have ur results. I found the IELTS much more simple since it doesn't really require any kind of preparation. you're right, I sat the exam on the 10th of December and got my results today and a certificate has already been sent to my address :smile:

Reply 6

Matrick

OP

Original post by Morgana

Hey there!
I'm also a european applicant :smile:

Well, I sat and passed both the CAE and IELTS. The former turned out to be extremely tough and challenging, plus you have to wait ages to have ur results. I found the IELTS much more simple since it doesn't really require any kind of preparation. you're right, I sat the exam on the 10th of December and got my results today and a certificate has already been sent to my address :smile:

What sections were the hardest? Mind sharing your score breakdown?

Reply 7

Morgana

I passed the CAE with B (78/100) and the IELTS test with 8.0 The Use of English section in the CAE is undoubtedly very hard, as for the IELTS I'd say the graph descriptions might be quite tricky at times.