The Cambridge Advanced (CAE) Writing exam is a deceptively difficult part of the exam to perfect and pass. While at first glance the tasks may seem relatively simple, it’s the marking criteria and expectations which can leave exam candidates with an unpleasant surprise when they receive their results. It’s important to be familiar with the exam, so take a look at the sample test below and try answering the questions!
Despite being rigorous, writing is also the easiest language skill to prepare and improve quickly. A few ideas in your bag-of-tricks can really change a fail to a pass with practice and consistency.
CAMBRIDGE ADVANCED WRITING PLUS
We’ve got all the tips and tricks for the Cambridge Advanced Writing exam with Cambridge Advanced Writing Plus. Learn how to use advanced grammar, vocabulary and techniques to write the way Cambridge wants you to write. The self-study book includes multiple Cambridge style tasks and samples alongside activities and quizzes to improve your writing.
Contents
Format of Advanced (CAE) Writing
Part 1 – Essay
CAE Writing Part 1 is an essay and it’s obligatory. That means whether you’re an expert essay writer or you’ve never written an academic text in your life, you have to do it.
The good news is that it’s always a fixed format. The question will always have the same setup with three content points, of which you choose two to write about. The other good news is that you can follow a clear structure and learn lots of nice phrases, grammar and vocabulary to really boost your writing and prove your C1 level. Here, we’ve got three practice essay tasks for you to practise.
Remember to always keep the Cambridge writing scales in mind when you complete the task. It’s not only based on your language ability, but also your knowledge of the writing style, your organisation and whether you’ve answered the question correctly.
For some useful revision of linking words to improve your writing, check out our Linking Words post.
Part 2 – Writer’s choice
Part 2 of the Cambridge Advanced writing exam is more open and flexible than Part 1. The choice is all yours! Well, the choice is yours of which of the three tasks you want to write. You could find yourself writing a letter, a report, a review or a proposal. There’s less input for each task, but the concept of answering all the content points and producing a high-quality writing is still the same.
It’s essential to learn each type of writing. You may do some quick maths and decide that with 3 options per exam and only 4 possible writing types, I only need to study 2 types and no matter what, one of them will come up! This is not a good idea. Imagine, for example, that you are a music teacher. You have decided that you will write a letter or review no matter what, then in the exam you find a report question about the importance of music in schools. Obviously, this topic is perfect for you and you’d be a fool to choose the letter about the environment or the proposal that you can’t write. But you have no idea how to write a report, so what do you do?
Always learn how to write all the different types of writing so that you are fully prepared.
Tips and tricks for Advanced (CAE) Writing
- Always spend some time planning before you write.
- Learn lots of useful grammar and phrases to plug into your writings.
- Prepare to write above and beyond what you would do even in your own language. You need to show off to prove your ability in English.
- Be careful with silly mistakes with easy grammar, vocabulary or organisation. These can really hurt you at C1 level.
- Always aim to impress the reader. Think about who the writing is written for and the style you need to use.
- Learn your own common errors and save 5 minutes to check your writing at the end. Just because you aren’t a teacher doesn’t mean you can’t spot your own mistakes and improve whatever you have written.
Get Cambridge C1 Advanced Writing Plus
Breakout English brings you the most complete and detailed self-study course dedicated to the Cambridge Advanced Writing exam. You’ll get all the information you need from exam experts and teachers to pass the Writing exam. Available as a digital download or in paperback. With the digital download, you receive all the same content of the paperback book in a pdf format.
Check it out to learn more and see the key content.
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