CEFR C1 Writing Prompts: Tasks and Model Answers [2026]

At C1 level, writing is about control and nuance. You can already organise an argument; the step up is developing it with precision, qualifying your claims accurately, and matching register exactly to the task. This guide gives advanced writing prompts with model answers pitched at C1, each showing the structure, cohesion and careful wording examiners reward. Read them for how they argue and hedge, not only for what they say.

Argumentative essay

"Governments should prioritise economic growth over environmental protection." To what extent do you agree?

Model answer: The claim that economic growth should take priority over the environment rests on a false separation, and I largely disagree with it, though not without qualification. Its supporters argue, reasonably enough, that prosperity funds the very technologies that later reduce harm, and that people in hardship cannot be expected to prioritise distant ecological concerns. There is some force in this. Yet the argument falters on timing: much environmental damage, once done, is effectively irreversible, whereas economic setbacks, however painful, tend to be recoverable. To trade a permanent loss for a temporary gain is rarely prudent. A more defensible position, in my view, is that the two goals are increasingly interdependent, since a degraded environment ultimately undermines the economy it was sacrificed to protect. The priority, then, should not be growth over protection, but growth designed to be sustainable.

Proposal

Write a proposal to your college recommending an improvement to student facilities.

Model answer: This proposal sets out the case for extending the library's opening hours during examination periods. At present, the library closes at nine, which many students report as insufficient in the weeks before exams, when quiet study space is at a premium. Extending closing time to midnight for that limited period would address a clear and recurring need, at relatively modest cost. I would recommend a trial during the coming exam season, with usage monitored to confirm demand before any permanent change. Should the trial prove popular, as I expect it would, the college could consider making the arrangement standard. The benefit, a measurable improvement in study conditions when they matter most, seems to me to outweigh the limited additional staffing required.

Review

Write a review of a book or film that divided opinion.

Model answer: Few recent novels have provoked such disagreement, and having finished it, I can see why. Its admirers praise the ambition of the structure, which withholds important information until the final chapters; its detractors find that same device manipulative. Both, I think, are partly right. The writing is undeniably accomplished, and the central character is drawn with real subtlety. Yet the novel asks a great deal of the reader's patience, and not every thread earns the wait. I would recommend it, but with a caveat: this is a book to admire more than to love, and readers who prefer a clear emotional payoff may leave it frustrated rather than moved.

How to get the most from these

Plan the shape of your argument before writing, and make each paragraph earn its place. At C1, examiners look for accurate hedging, a controlled shift of register between an essay and a proposal, and cohesion achieved through varied devices rather than repeated connectors; our guide to linking words in English can help you widen that range. Reading your work back specifically for over-strong claims, and softening them where the evidence is genuinely mixed, is one of the quickest ways to sound more like a C1 writer.

At this level, honest external feedback is hard to get and worth a great deal. For contrast, A2 writing prompts show the beginner end, and C1 listening is the listening counterpart at this level. Our guide to all the CEFR levels shows what separates C1 from the levels around it, so you can see whether your writing has reached C1 and exactly what still holds it back.