First, let's go over the criteria. 

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According to Cambridge Assessment Criteria, candidates who are likely to pass with an A or B present some of the following characteristics (mind you, some are more relevant than others). These are considered "good" or "outstanding", in other words, if you don't reach all of these, you're likely to be  "standard". 

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PRACTICE: 

• is personalized, involving and mostly or clearly relevant to the learner communicate needs; (mostly (pass B) OR clearly (pass A))

• includes an element of challenge in terms of, or requires effort and promotes accuracy, fluency or complexity;

• prioritizes or there is at least one activity which shows integration of meaning communication with the production of target forms;

LANGUAGE FEEDBACK:​

• language feedback is an integral part of all activities and clearly improves learner performance;

• a range of learner errors are corrected; (notice it's not "all", but a "range")

• feedback aims to upgrade as well as correct;

• corrections are accurate and useful for learners;

• a range of relevant learner utterances are sensitively exploited and reinforced to benefit all learners where appropriate; (again, not "all", but a "range")

TASK AND ACTIVITY FEEDBACK:​

• several learners are involved in discussion;

• feedback is focused on relevant successful and unsuccessful contributions to consolidate or extend learning of all learners;

AWARENESS OF LONG-TERM LEARNING:

• the lesson purposefully includes an element of review or an element of learner reflection or learning to learn;

• review integrates or allows new knowledge to be linked

TEACHER LANGUAGE AWARENESS:​

• teacher clearly demonstrates good or extensive knowledge of both planned and emergent topics, including possible problems and misconceptions;

• teacher is able to deal with some emergent topics and/or less common language areas, such as formulaic language and appropriacy; 

RESOURCES AND ACTIVITIES:​

• level of challenge of resources is sufficient to motivate learners to achieve successful performance with some effort;

• materials are referenced and professional in appearance; (this one is so important, and so simple, but most teachers forget...)

• activity set-up and management generally allows learners to perform well, resources are used effectively;

• resources help maximize learning opportunities;

LESSON PLANNING: LEARNER-CENTERED AND COMMUNICATIVE APPROACHES​: 

• main aim and activities focused on a communicative need of the learners;

• lesson forms a part of a wider sequence, for example, includes reviews and has relevant links to other lessons;

• makes reference to learner differences;

• learner involvement and interaction is prioritized;

TEACHER TALK:​

• teacher talk is consciously used as a source of input for learners, for example by using more complex language and encouraging learners to notice;

• teacher talk is comprehensible for all students; (this is also called "grading language")

• teacher's own language is accurate with only occasional minor slips; (occasional slips are ok!)

CHECKING UNDERSTANDING:​

• teacher uses effective assessment techniques to regularly check understanding; (regularly, not "perfectly") 

• techniques enable whole class understanding to be efficiently checked, or target specific students;

• teacher is able to prompt learners to successfully address any issues;

• teacher deals successfully with any issues.

LEARNER-CENTERED APPROACH:​

• the majority or entire lesson is clearly focused on the communicative need or interest of the learners;

• the teacher provides some or frequent individual attention to improve performance;

• the teacher exploits their knowledge of learner differences and preferences, for example organizing groups or correcting errors;

SPOKEN AND WRITTEN INPUT:

• teacher focuses on developing as well as testing comprehension skills, and is partially successful at this;

• the input is relevant and comprehensible for the learners, and the associated tasks are authentic;

• the teacher is able to use tasks or other scaffolding to successfully develop learners' comprehension skills;

• teacher deals effectively with both planned and emergent issues of comprehension;

RAPPORT AND INVOLVEMENT:​

• most or all learners are involved throughout the lesson with some encouragement, or are attentive and keen to participate spontaneously; 

• teacher genuinely enjoys interaction with all learners at all times;

• teacher is generally positive and focused on the student rather than the lesson;

MANAGING THE LEARNING PROCESS:​

• teacher generally uses class time efficiently; (generally! Not always)

• class time is dedicated to learning with minimum delays caused by task set up etc;

• teacher is able to deal competently with emergent issues, learner questions, etc;

REFLECTION AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT:​ (this part is very important)

• teacher is able to identify relevant or key issues from the lesson;

• teacher is able to identify causes of or reasons from positive or negative aspects of lesson, and therefore suggest improvements;

• (clear) improvements or changes in teaching or planning in every lesson;

• teacher can apply learning from other aspects of the course, for example by listening carefully to feedback given to peers, to their own teaching;

PROFESSIONALISM:​ (this part is also very important; careful not to focus only on lessons and lesson plans)

• unless prevented by illness or emergency, teacher attends entire course;

• paperwork is kept up to date, with little or occasional tutor support required;

• no issues with punctuality or attendance; 

• no issues with gossiping;

• teacher interacts well with others;

• contributes effectively in input and feedback;

• observes peers carefully;

• follows an appropriate dress code;

• teacher makes an effort to help others and interacts with staff and students inside and outside the course;

• teacher does not compare tutors' styles or talk behind their backs;

• no issues with deadlines;

• teacher is kind and respectful.

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If we analyze the above, you will notice that there's room for mistakes and improvement, for example, "practice is mostly relevant" or "a range or errors are corrected", this means the lesson and the teacher naturally don't have to check all the bullet points above, but you need to tackle some of the relevant key points in a lesson. If you have half of them (or maybe 1/3 of them, depending on which ones), you're likely to be a CELTA B. 

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From my experience, teachers who are aiming high and focusing mostly on the grade tend to get more stressed and argumentative. On the one hand, it's comprehensible that this teacher wants to get more than a pass, on the other hand, however, this plan can backfire, in the sense that the more stressed you are, the more likely you are to forget things, to be impatient and to fight over small things that are not so relevant. Teaching is not only delivering a good lesson, professionalism counts, and counts a lot. I've seen candidates teach amazing lessons, but lack soft skills, then it was not a surprise to see that some of them passed with a "bare pass". 

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My personal advice is not to lose track of the criteria, but try to enjoy the course. Focus on development, collaborative work, being engaged not only with lessons and lesson plans, but with people as well!