5 Mistakes That Cost You C1 in Aptis Speaking and Writing

You know a lot of English, but your result is lower than you expect. Sometimes the reason is not your general level. It can be a small number of recurring mistakes that the British Council scales do not reward. This article lists five and shows how to fix each one. For more guides, go to the home page.

1. Listing objects in the photos (Speaking Part 3)

In Part 3 of Speaking, you see two photographs to compare for 45 seconds. A common mistake is to spend all the time listing the objects on screen.

Typical mistake (only describes objects):

"In the first picture there is a woman working with a laptop in an office, and in the second picture there is a park with people sitting on the grass..."

Listing objects usually does not answer the questions you are asked. According to the official British Council scale (TR/2017/001), Part 3 aims at B1, and the C1 of the General Speaking can only come from Part 4. Even so, speculating, contrasting and making hypotheses gives your answer more richness about the feelings, causes or circumstances of the people.

C1 formula (speculate with modal verbs and contrast):

"Whereas the first woman seems to be completely overwhelmed by workplace stress, the second person appears to enjoy far greater autonomy in a relaxed outdoor environment. In all likelihood, they have chosen different work-life balances..."

Golden rule: use contrast words such as "whereas" and verbs of appearance (seems to be, appears to enjoy, might have chosen). Do not say what is there. Make hypotheses about what people feel.

2. Mixing registers in the formal email (Writing Part 4)

Part 4 of Writing has two emails: an informal one to a friend (40-50 words) and a formal one to an authority, a manager or a company (120-150 words). A common mistake is to mix informal phrases or an aggressive complaint into the formal email.

Typical mistake (blunt, informal, with contractions):

"Hi Sir, I don't like the new schedule at all and you must fix it now because it's unfair for everyone. Cheers!"

The formal register asks for two firm rules:

• No contractions. Always write I am, do not, cannot (never I'm, don't or can't).
• Indirect politeness. In professional English, you do not give direct orders (you must change this). You make subordinate proposals with conditionals.

C1 formula (clean formal register):

"Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing to express my strong dissatisfaction regarding the recent schedule changes announced by the committee. I would be grateful if you could consider reviewing these measures... Yours faithfully,"

AI feedback on your text, including a check for contractions, is only an estimate. The official exam score is one holistic score.

3. Long silences in Speaking

Silence while you look at the screen damages fluency. We use a pause of more than 3 seconds as a working threshold. This is our own rule of thumb, not an official one.

If you block in the exam or need time to think of arguments, do not stay silent and do not chain hesitations ("eee... uhm..."). Memorise these two time-buying phrases:

C1 filler phrases to gain 5 seconds:

• "That is a rather intriguing question; looking at it objectively..."
• "As far as I am concerned, it goes without saying that..."

These phrases give you a few seconds to organise your ideas. If you finish answering early, do not wait in silence. Add an example from your own experience ("Speaking from personal experience, I have always found that...") to use the time you have, for example the 45 seconds of Parts 2 and 3.

4. Only "and / but / so" in Writing

If your text relies only on basic links (and, but, because, so), note that the Writing descriptors link "only simple connectors" to the lower bands and "a range of connectors" to the higher ones.

You do not need to make all your vocabulary harder. It is enough to replace these links with C1 organising connectors.

Quick replacement table for C1:

5. Errors in prepositions and fixed phrases

Systematic errors in fixed phrases and agreement can show that your control of basic grammar is weak. Check these four:

• Wrong: "It depends OF the weather." Right: "It depends ON the weather."
• Wrong: "I am interested FOR the post." Right: "I am interested IN the post."
• Wrong: "He explained me the rule." Right: "He explained the rule TO me."
• Wrong: "People is very friendly." Right: "People ARE very friendly."

Try it in a mock exam

Do the Speaking part of a mock exam, with the time shown for each part, and check which of these five mistakes you make. These are AptisBot's own mock exams, not official exams. Any correction is an estimate.

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