Aptis Advanced Reading has four parts in 60 minutes. See why every option fits in Part 3, the B1 to C2 cut scores and how to prepare.
You have 60 minutes, four parts and a text where every answer looks possible. The Advanced Reading is not a harder General Reading with the same tasks. The format changes, and Part 3 asks for something the General does not: you must understand the whole text to solve each gap.
General certifies up to C1. Advanced measures B1 to C2 and is the only variant that certifies C2. See the home page for other guides.
| Part | What it asks |
|---|---|
| 1 · Opinion matching | Four people and seven statements: choose who says each one |
| 2 · Long text comprehension | Match a headline to each paragraph of a text |
| 3 · Reading for global understanding | Short text of about 300 words with gaps; choose a word or phrase from a drop-down list |
| 4 · Reading across two texts | Two texts on the same topic by different authors, with gaps spread across both |
The official source says the tasks start at B1 level and get more difficult. The exam becomes harder as you move through the parts.
The description of what each part asks comes from the official guide. The traps and techniques are AptisBot's view, not official.
Part 1. You must identify what each person thinks. Recognising single words is not enough. - Trap: the statement repeats a word from the wrong person's paragraph, but with a different intention. - Technique: before reading the statements, write a short phrase next to each person with their position ("in favour, with reservations"). Match each statement to that position, not to the vocabulary.
Part 2. - Trap: two headlines seem to fit one paragraph. One picks up a detail; the other gives the idea that organises the whole paragraph. - Technique: summarise each paragraph in three or four words before reading the headlines. Start with the obvious paragraphs and leave the doubtful ones for last.
Part 3. The official guide is clear:
"This isn't a grammar test so all the options can fit grammatically into the sentence. You need to understand the whole text to choose the correct one." (Test format overview 2023, Advanced)
In the General, looking at the sentence with the gap may be enough. Here it is the way to fail. What decides is what the text said before and what it will say next. - Technique: read the whole text once without touching any drop-down. For each gap, ask what relation it needs: contrast, consequence, an example, the author's position? Then look at the options. If two seem valid, reread the previous and next sentence.
Part 4. The gaps are spread across both texts, so you cannot solve them by reading only one. - Trap: filling a gap with an idea that does appear in the text, but belongs to the other author. If an option seems perfect, check who says it. - Technique: after each text, write one line with the author's main point and one thing where they might disagree with the other.
The source does not set a time per part. This split is AptisBot's view, not official. Adjust it with your mock exams.
| Part | Minutes | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | A lot of short text |
| 2 | 13 | A long text, but the task is summarising |
| 3 | 15 | You need the whole reading first |
| 4 | 20 | Two texts to read and compare |
| Total | 60 |
If you are stuck for more than a couple of minutes, mark the item, move on and come back at the end.
Advanced Reading cut scores (out of 50):
| B1 | B2 | C1 | C2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | 28 | 40 | 50 |
The Advanced has no A1 or A2: below the B1 cut there is no level to report. C2 starts at 50 out of 50.
The global level on the certificate is not the sum of the scores. It is the rounded average of the levels of the four skills. The Core can also raise you one level if your score is just below a cut and your Core is strong.
The British Council sample report we have is for Aptis General (April 2025), not Advanced. We have not verified the Advanced report descriptors, so read these as guidance.
| Level | Descriptor (in our words) |
|---|---|
| B1 | You read factual texts on topics in your field or interest with satisfactory understanding |
| B2 | You read with a large degree of independence: you adapt style and speed to the text and purpose, and use reference sources selectively |
| C1 | You understand long, complex texts in detail, whether or not they relate to your area of speciality |
| General | Advanced | |
|---|---|---|
| Time | 35 minutes | 60 minutes |
| Parts | 4 | 4 |
| Tasks | Gap sentences with three options, ordering sentences, matching opinions, headlines | Matching opinions, headlines per paragraph, gaps where all options are valid, two texts |
| Levels | A0 to C1 | B1 to C2 |
| B2 cut | 38 | 28 |
| C1 cut | 46 (the "C" of the General) | 40 |
The scales are not equivalent. A 28 in the Advanced and a 38 in the General do not mean one is easier. Compare only within the same variant.
AptisBot's view, based on how each task works. - Practising with General material. If your exercises are gap sentences with three options, you are not training for your exam. - Solving Part 3 by grammar. Rejecting options because they "don't sound right" uses a criterion the exam has removed on purpose. - Reading one text in Part 4 and guessing the other. - Matching by repeated words in Part 1. The word matches; the position does not. - Never timing the full 60 minutes. Time all four parts at least once a week.
The skills cannot be taken separately, according to the British Council FAQ: you sit the complete exam, and the global level is given only if you do all four skills.
Aptis® is a trademark of the British Council. AptisBot is an independent project, and its scores are an estimate, not an official result.
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Test format overview 2023 (Advanced); "Aptis Scoring System" v2.1 (TR/2024/002) for the cut scores and the global level; Aptis General sample score report (British Council, 25 April 2025) for the descriptors; "Aptis ESOL FAQs" from the British Council (18 July 2023). The time split, techniques and common mistakes are AptisBot's view.
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