Who sets the fee, in one paragraph
Cambridge does not publish a fee for B2 First, C1 Advanced or B1 Preliminary, and it never sells you the exam directly. Its registration page says: "The cost of entering for a Cambridge English exam depends on which exam you take and where you take it. Please contact your chosen exam centre for further information." So every price you see is a centre's price, set in the centre's currency, for that centre's dates. Two named examples, read on 21 October 2026: British Council Greece charges €193 for B2 First and €197 for C1 Advanced; British Council Poland charges 860 PLN for B2 First and 910 PLN for C1 Advanced, in both cases the same for paper and digital. To find your own price you need three things: the exam (and whether you need the for Schools version), the format (paper or digital) and a centre near you, from the official centre finder, which lists "over 2,800 centres in 130 countries". This page gives you the examples, explains why prices differ, walks through registration and lists the costs people forget.
- No central fee. The centre sets the price, the closing date, the late charge and the refund rules.
- Example prices (21 October 2026): Greece €98, €193, €197; Poland 510 PLN, 860 PLN, 910 PLN, for B1 Preliminary, B2 First and C1 Advanced.
- British Council stopped delivering Cambridge exams in Spain (23 April 2023) and Italy (April 2023). Use another authorised centre.
- You register in three steps: choose the exam, find a centre, book. The centre sends your Confirmation of Entry.
- B2 First, C1 Advanced and C2 Proficiency need a photo taken on the day, per the official results page.
Example centre prices, with the date we read them
These are the only centre prices we could read on an official centre page this week. Each is the centre's own figure, not a Cambridge price, and British Council Greece says its fees are subject to change. We show the date we read them and re-check weekly.
| Centre | B1 Preliminary | B2 First | C1 Advanced | Format | Read |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| British Council Greece | €98 | €193 | €197 | Digital or paper, one fee; general and for Schools | 21 Oct 2026 |
| British Council Poland | 510 PLN | 860 PLN | 910 PLN | Digital or paper, one fee; general and for Schools | 21 Oct 2026 |
| IH Bristol (UK) | Entry fee not shown in the page text we could read; late entry charge £45 | Paper and digital | 21 Oct 2026 | ||
For context, the same two British Council pages list A2 Key at €93 and 490 PLN, and C2 Proficiency at €215 and 980 PLN. We show no UK British Council price: the British Council UK Cambridge page we tried on 21 October returned a 404 error. If you sit in another country, the figures above tell you the shape of the ladder, not your price.
What the two price ladders show
| Step | British Council Greece | British Council Poland |
|---|---|---|
| B1 Preliminary to B2 First | +€95 (about double) | +350 PLN (about 1.7 times) |
| B2 First to C1 Advanced | +€4 | +50 PLN |
| Paper versus digital | Same fee | Same fee |
The big jump is from B1 to B2, not from B2 to C1. If you are deciding between B2 First and C1 Advanced, the fee is almost the same at both centres, so decide on level and on what your university or employer asks for. Our scale page shows what each exam can certify.
Spain, Italy, Turkey, Vietnam and India: where the old fee pages lead
If you look for a British Council Cambridge fee page from Madrid, Barcelona, Milan or Rome, you will find a notice that it no longer delivers the exams. We re-read the country pages on 21 October 2026 so you do not have to:
| Country | What the British Council page says (21 October 2026) | What to do instead |
|---|---|---|
| Spain | "From 23 April 2023 onwards, we no longer deliver Cambridge English exams in Spain." | Use the official centre finder and choose Spain; other authorised centres run the exams. |
| Italy | "From April 2023 onwards, we no longer deliver Cambridge English exams in Italy." Its teaching centres in Milan, Rome and Naples still run Cambridge preparation courses for young learners. | Use the centre finder and choose Italy. |
| Turkey | The British Council Turkey Cambridge dates and fees address returns "The page you requested does not exist". | Use the centre finder and choose Turkey. |
| Vietnam | The British Council Vietnam Cambridge dates and fees address returns the same message. | Use the centre finder and choose Vietnam. |
| India | The British Council India Cambridge page would not load past its cookie notice for our fetchers; we could not re-check it this week. | Use the centre finder and ask each centre in your city for its fee. |
| Portugal | The British Council Portugal address we tried returned a 404 error. | Use the centre finder and choose Portugal. |
The centre finder is the one source that is always current: it shows, per country and city, the centres, their contact details and which Cambridge exams each offers. It notes that exams are listed as paper-based "unless they have the word 'Digital' after their name", so a centre listed only as "B2 First" may not run the digital version.
What changes the price, and what does not
From the pages above, these are the things that move the number you pay:
- The exam level. Both British Council ladders rise from A2 Key to C2 Proficiency, with the largest step between B1 Preliminary and B2 First.
- The centre and country. Each centre prices in its own currency and sets its own fee. Cambridge says so on its registration page.
- When you enter. A late entry can cost extra: £45 at IH Bristol. Enter before the closing date and you avoid it.
- Packages. Some centres sell a preparation course and the exam together; Lang LTC in Warsaw and IH Bristol both advertise course and exam packages. That is a course price, not an exam fee; ask for the exam fee on its own so you can compare.
- Optional extras the centre offers. British Council Greece, for example, offers a resit option for B2 First for Schools and C2 Proficiency candidates in the November to December 2026 session, bought at registration under its own terms and conditions.
Two things did not change the price at the centres we read: the format (paper and digital cost the same in Greece and Poland) and the version (B2 First and B2 First for Schools share one fee at both). That makes the format choice a question of dates and speed, which the dates page covers.
How to register, step by step
Cambridge's registration page gives three steps: "1. Choose your exam", "2. Find an exam centre", "3. Book your exam". Here is what each step involves in practice.
1. Choose the exam, the version and the format
Pick B1 Preliminary, B2 First or C1 Advanced by the level your target asks for. If you are of school age, ask whether your school enters you for the for Schools version: same level and format, topics chosen for school-age learners. Then choose paper or digital. The registration page says "you can choose whether you take your exam on a computer or on paper", but only if your centre offers both.
2. Find a centre
Open the centre finder, choose your country and city, and check which exams each centre offers. All centres "are inspected by Cambridge English", per the finder. A centre can run exams in other locations, so always ask where the test venue is.
3. Ask the centre these questions before you pay
| Ask | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Which dates do you run for my exam and format? | A centre does not run every official date. IH Bristol lists paper C1 Advanced only on 5 December for the rest of 2026. |
| When is my Speaking test? | It is often on a different day. IH Bristol's 12 December paper B2 First has Speaking on 11 December. |
| What is the closing date, and is there a late charge? | Cambridge's ways-to-take page gives only a general guide (about 4 weeks before for paper, up to 2 working days for digital). At the two centres we read, deadlines ranged from a few days to seven weeks before the exam. |
| What is the fee, in total, for this exam alone? | So you can compare centres and separate the exam from any course. |
| Which ID do I need, and will you take my photo? | You may not be able to sit without the right ID and photo. |
| What happens if I am ill or need to change the date? | Refund and transfer rules are the centre's. |
| Do I need special arrangements? | Applications go through the centre before the closing date for entries. |
4. Book and pay through the centre's own system
Each centre uses its own booking system. British Council Greece sends candidates to its examination-services portal, British Council Poland to its exam finder, IH Bristol to a booking form. You pay the centre, not Cambridge.
5. Keep your Confirmation of Entry
After you enter, the centre sends a Confirmation of Entry. IH Bristol, for example, sends it by email "no later than 10 days before the session date". It matters for three reasons: it has your timetable; per the official results page it "states the final date by which results will be available"; and it carries your Candidate ID and Secret Number, which you need to register for the free Results Service for Candidates. The official B1 Preliminary information for candidates booklet suggests registering for that service a few weeks before your exam. The results page walks through the login.
Late entry, refunds and transfers
None of these is a Cambridge rule; each is set by the centre and printed in its terms. What the centres we read say:
- Late entry. IH Bristol: "If you enter for the exam after the closing entry date, there will be a charge of £45." Its table shows, for the 12 December 2026 paper B2 First, a late-entry period from 11 November and a last booking date of 23 November.
- Illness or emergency. IH Bristol says that if you cannot take the exam for medical reasons or because of a family emergency, with a letter, it will move your registration to another session or refund your full exam fee.
- Changing centre. British Council Greece and Poland both say that once a digital booking is confirmed, transfers between examining centres (Athens to Kos, Katowice to Kraków) are not permitted, and that digital exams are taken at a partner venue, not at home.
If your plans might change, a centre with a clear refund or transfer rule is worth a little more than a cheaper one without it.
ID, photo and special requirements
The official exam day page tells you to bring identification, for example a passport or national ID card, and says it must be the original document with your photo and valid on the day of your exam; check with your centre which form of ID to bring. Centres can be stricter: IH Bristol says that for C1 Advanced you must bring the same ID you used when you registered.
The official results page adds a photo rule: "For B2 First, C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency a photo is required. You may not be allowed to sit the exam without one." For B2 First for Schools and the other exams it is optional, but Cambridge recommends it if you plan to use the result for university, work or visas, because it helps organisations confirm your identity.
If you need access arrangements, such as extra time, supervised breaks, enlarged print, a reader or scribe, or separate invigilation, Cambridge's access arrangements page says to contact your centre "as soon as possible and before the closing date for entries". The registration page puts it the same way: ask your centre to make a Special Requirements application.
Costs after the exam
The entry fee is not always the last payment. These are the costs that come later, with the centre examples we found:
| Service | What Cambridge says | Centre example (IH Bristol, 21 October 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Enquiry on Results, Stage 1 | A full clerical re-check, outcome within 5 working days; submitted by the centre; fee and deadline from the centre | £25.75; ask within 14 days of the date results came out |
| Enquiry on Results, Stage 2 | A full re-mark of your Writing test, within 15 working days; Speaking cannot be re-checked because it is not recorded | £77 for Preliminary and Preliminary for Schools; £119 for other exams |
| Fee refund | If an enquiry leads to a grade change, Cambridge refunds all enquiry fees | Not a centre charge |
| Change of certificate address | Not a Cambridge service | £25 administration fee if notified on or after the exam date |
| Certifying Statement (after 12 months) | Ordered online; the form calculates the fee | Not applicable |
The Cambridge facts are from its enquiries and appeals page and its lost certificates page, both read on 21 October 2026. Free things, by contrast: the Results Service for Candidates, the Results Verification Service for the organisations you apply to, and the official sample tests listed on our official resources page.
A worked budget, written by TalkDrill
Example: an Athens candidate choosing between B2 First and C1 Advanced
She is a strong B2 who would like C1. Using British Council Greece's prices of 21 October 2026: B2 First costs €193, C1 Advanced €197. The difference is €4, so the fee does not decide it. Two facts from the official results page do. A C1 Advanced score of 160 to 179 is still reported at Level B2, so entering the higher exam does not leave her with nothing if she falls short. A B2 First score of 180 to 190 earns a certificate stating C1, but nothing above it. The real question is whether her target institution asks for C1 Advanced by name or for C1 level. If it names the exam, she enters C1 Advanced; if it accepts C1 level, either exam can get her there. Her other costs: one possible extra trip if her Speaking test is on a separate day, and, only if she needs it, a Stage 1 enquiry at the centre's fee.
Whichever you enter, the cheapest way to protect the fee is to arrive ready for the paper you can least predict. For most candidates that is Speaking, because you sit it with a partner you have never met. The paired practice bank gives you timed tasks with an AI partner, role-play practice builds the turn-taking habit, and the eight-week plan tells you when to enter and what to do each day. For dates and deadlines, see the 2026 and 2027 dates page, and for everything else, the Cambridge English hub.