Prepare for Cambridge English with Glossom
Glossom is an English exam prep app for iPhone and iPad. It prepares you for the Cambridge English exams B2 First, C1 Advanced and C2 Proficiency with a daily path to your target score in each skill, six courses, and AI feedback on your speaking and writing.
Coming soon to iPhone and iPad
What the Cambridge English exams test
Cambridge University Press & Assessment makes three exams for this range, each aimed at one level of the CEFR, the common European scale of language levels: B2 First at B2, C1 Advanced at C1 and C2 Proficiency at C2. Each has four papers, taken on paper or on a computer at an exam centre; B2 First takes about three and a half hours in all.
Reading and Use of EnglishTexts with questions, and tasks on grammar and vocabulary: choosing, forming and changing words so they fit a text.
WritingTwo pieces, such as an essay, an article, a letter, a report or a review.
ListeningConversations, interviews and talks, with questions on detail, opinion and attitude.
SpeakingUsually taken with a partner, in front of two examiners: you talk about yourself, speak on your own for a minute or two, and discuss a topic together.
Results come on the Cambridge English Scale: a score for each skill and for Use of English, and an overall score that is their average. You reach the level an exam is aimed at from 160 on B2 First, 180 on C1 Advanced and 200 on C2 Proficiency, and on B2 First and C1 Advanced a high enough score is reported at the level above.
Exam centres, dates and results are on the Cambridge English website.
How Glossom prepares you
In Glossom you choose Cambridge English once. Your targets are Cambridge English Scale scores, so the same path works for all three exams: aim for 160 for B2 First, 180 for C1 Advanced or 200 for C2 Proficiency, in each skill.
Vocabulary and grammar firstUse of English is vocabulary and grammar under pressure. Glossom’s vocabulary course teaches 6,000 words and phrases, collocations and phrasal verbs among them, and its grammar course has 121 short lessons, each followed by practice and review.
Writing with feedbackOpinions, messages, responses to something you read or heard, and chart descriptions. An AI coach shows what to fix and gives your text back, improved at your level, for you to retype.
Speaking with feedbackAnswer a question, finish an argument, argue the other side or retell a short talk, in about 30 seconds. The coach shows what to fix, then you read the improved answer aloud.
Reading and listening at your levelReading sets of ten paragraphs with questions on detail, meaning and how ideas connect, and listening in US and UK voices, from short clips to longer talks.
Start at your levelSix short timed tests suggest a starting score on the Cambridge English Scale, with a likely range.
Glossom has no Cambridge practice tests and does not copy Cambridge tasks. Before your exam day, practise full papers too.
Glossom levels and the Cambridge English Scale
Cambridge publishes the lowest Cambridge English Scale score for each IELTS band. Glossom uses those scores for every skill: level 1 is 142 (IELTS 4), level 13 is 185 (IELTS 7), and finishing level 20 is 230, the top of the scale, where Cambridge puts IELTS 9 at 209 and above.
| Glossom level | Scale score |
|---|---|
| Level 1 | 142 |
| Level 3 | 147 |
| Level 5 | 154 |
| Level 7 | 162 |
| Level 9 | 169 |
| Level 11 | 176 |
| Level 13 | 185 |
| Level 15 | 191 |
| Level 17 | 200 |
| Level 19 | 205 |
| Level 20 done | 230 |
On the scale, B1 starts at 140, B2 at 160, C1 at 180 and C2 at 200. The table shows every other level: each level in between sits about halfway to the next row. Source: Cambridge’s comparison of its scale scores with IELTS. Dates, levels and scores are estimates from your study path, not a promise of your exam result.
Questions
Which Cambridge English exam should I take?
The one aimed at the level you need: B2 First for B2, C1 Advanced for C1, C2 Proficiency for C2. Your path in Glossom shows when your scores should reach 160, 180 or 200 in each skill.
Are these the old FCE, CAE and CPE?
Yes. B2 First was called First (FCE), C1 Advanced was Advanced (CAE), and C2 Proficiency was Proficiency (CPE).
Does Glossom practise Use of English tasks?
Not in their exam format. Glossom teaches the vocabulary and grammar those tasks test, with its own lessons and practice.
Start your path
Start without signing up. Choose Cambridge English, take the level tests, and your path is ready in a few minutes.
Coming soon to iPhone and iPad