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Contents
- Introduction
- Time Management
- Planning
- Grading: Content
- Grading: Communicative Achievement
- Grading: Organisation
- Grading: Language
- How to write a CAE essay/letter/report/proposal
- Our Writing Videos
- Common Mistakes in CAE Writing
- Writing Correction Online
- Questions

CAE Writing Test Tips

1. Introduction
You have 90 minutes to write two texts. Each text should be about 220-260 words long
(see the Questions section at the bottom if you have concerns about the word count).
Part 1 is always an essay, while in part 2 you have a choice of 3 tasks (letter/email;
proposal; report; review).

The examiners assess you on 4 elements:

 Content - Did you do the task you were asked to do?

 Communicative achievement - Did you use the right tone and level of formality?
 Organisation - Did you link paragraphs together? Is there a logical flow?
 Language - Did you show off your sparkling vocabulary or did you merely use First
Certificate words? Did you make lots of grammar mistakes?

Before you continue with this guide, I strongly recommend you read about this free tool
that will help you with your writing:

I WAS WRONG ABOUT GRAMMARLY

Last year I decided Grammarly, a free writing aid, wasn't useful - this is the story of
how one Russian student convinced me to change my mind.

2. Time management
You have 90 minutes to write 2 texts. Both texts will be about the same length, and are
worth the same number of points. Obviously, you should spend the same amount of
time on each! Personally, I'd spend as much time planning as possible, since it makes
everything else easier. The exact time split will depend on how fast you write, but try
something like this:

 Planning - 10 minutes (I've made a video about the planning process - it's in section 8
below.)
 Writing - 25 minutes
 Checking - 10 minutes

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3. You can't cook without a recipe

A lot of students hate planning and think it's a waste of valuable exam time. But do
chefs walk into a kitchen and just start cooking? Of course not - they lay out their
ingredients, make sure their utensils are clean, and have their recipe nearby.
Your plan is the recipe you'll use to cook up a great piece of writing. Think about how
many paragraphs you want then get some ideas about the content of each. But even at
this early stage you should start planning the language you want to use. Ask yourself
questions like:

 Where can I use a passive form?

 Where can I use an inversion?
 What CAE-level vocabulary do I know about this topic, and where can I use it?
 How do I link from one paragraph to the next?

Thinking about solutions before you start writing is the easiest way to solve problems!

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4. Grading: Content
PART 1
The first thing you're assessed on is your content. That basically means reading the task
carefully and doing what you are told to do! In part 1 you are given three bullet points
but are asked to talk about TWO of them. (You're also given some opinions on the topic
that you can use if you want, but you don't have to.) Here's an example of the three
bullet points and a task:

If I were planning my answer, I'd probably choose 'giving rules' and 'setting an example'
as my two points because I feel like I have more to say about those topics. (How much
would I write about 'offering advice'? Nothing! Because I should only write about two
things!)

Another important point is to say which is more effective. I'd probably write one
paragraph about 'giving rules', and the next paragraph would be about 'setting an
example' - I would be sure to give reasons why it was a more effective way to influence
younger people.

PART 2
What about part 2? Again, it's important to read the question carefully and make sure
you include everything it tells you to.

Here's the kind of task that will come up:

Here's an outline you could follow:

 Intro
  Evaluation of the programme
 The most useful parts of the programme
 Suggested changes for next year
 Summary

Not very imaginative, but you'd be guaranteed to get full marks in terms of content!

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5. Grading: Communicative
Achievement
TONE
Which is better English:

1. Wasssssssup?!

or

2. Dear Sir or Madam

Well, it depends who you're talking to! If your task is to write a report for your 'serious'
organisation you should use a formal tone. If you're writing a magazine article for
teenagers you can be more informal.

This is a HUGE topic and there's not enough space to go into it in detail here. I'll list a
few external resources that might help, but a good coursebook will give you lots of
guidance.

The main tip is to be consistent - students often write a report that is 95% formal, and
then throw in some exclamation points, slang, contractions, and informal vocabulary.
That's bad! It suggest you don't have control over your tone.

Learn more about formal vs informal English:

 on the Antimoon website (run by two Polish students who mastered English)
 on the EngVid site
 from the BBC

TASK TYPES
You should invest some time making sure you know the difference between a letter and
an essay, and between a report and a proposal. Here are a few quick tips:

Essay

You need to give your opinion in an interesting way. CAE essays are often academic in
tone, so practice of formal writing will be helpful.

Letter/email

Write an email with the same opening/closing as a letter. In these you write about your
personal experiences. Your writing will have a purpose, like responding to a newspaper
article you don't agree with.

Report/Proposal

Use headings for each paragraph. The task will tell you some of the content you need to
include and you'll be able to use your imagination to add some more ideas. You may be
asked to evaluate if some goal has been achieved and/or to suggest alternative courses
of action. A proposal will have more scope for making suggestions and more need for
polite persuasive language.

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6. Grading: Organisation
Cambridge love linking words and cohesive devices. These are bits of text like 'firstly',
'whereas', 'in addition', 'however', and so on. Properly used, they will make your writing
flow and make your text easier to read. You can't do well in CAE without using these
phrases.

Here's a page with some ideas about cohesive devices - try to include them in your
writing. Here's another one with tips for the IELTS exam.

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7. Grading: Language
Organising a text, using linking words, and getting all the content points is a great start,
but for a high grade you'll need to use advanced vocabulary and more difficult sentence
structures.

In the planning stage of the exam think about which high-level words you know for that
topic and think in which paragraph you can use them. For example, if the topic is about
transport you might use phrases like 'mass transit system', 'to commute', 'congestion,'
and 'pressed for time'.

Then you need to use a variety of structures - passives, inversions, cleft sentences,
questions, sentences with semi-colons. The more variety the better!

Also a variety of sentence lengths. This picture explains what I mean:

So instead of writing like this:

A lot of politicians say they will improve bus and train services. Having trains is good
for people who have to go to work. It means they don't have to take the car to work. It is
probably faster. If everyone takes a train to work there won't be any traffic jams.

You can produce this:

Why do progressive politicians pledge to provide mass transit systems in their cities?
The answer is clear: Not only do pressed-for-time commuters benefit, but there is
also less pollution. Let congestion be a thing of the past; let flowers bloom next to every
tram stop.

In those three sentences there is one question; one colon; one semi-colon; one 'not only
but also'; one imperative. Not bad, right? You can write like this if you practice and if
you're not afraid to make some mistakes along the way.

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8. How to write a CAE

essay/letter/report/proposal
ESSAYS

IMPROVING A CAE ESSAY

I rate a student's Writing Part 1 Essay, then give suggestions on how to rewrite it. Can
we take it from a B to an A?
Read More →

I also made a video about writing essays - see the section below.

PROPOSALS

HOW TO WRITE A CAE PROPOSAL

In this article I teach you how to write a CAE proposal - what is important, what is not,
and show you examples of how to do it.

Read More →

9. Our Videos about CAE Writing

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10. Common Mistakes in CAE

Writing
GRAMMAR MISTAKES
Most CAE students don't make obvious, basic mistakes like your/you're or its/it's. But
they do struggle with things like:

Relative clauses

You need to learn the difference between defining and non-defining relative clauses.
Your non-defining clauses need commas, while your defining clauses shouldn't have
commas.

I had lunch with my grandfather, who is 90 years old. (The second half of the sentence
tells you more about my grandfather. It's bonus information, so there has to be a
comma.)

I had lunch with my friend who lives in Prague. (I am very cool and popular - I have
lots of friends. If I say 'I had lunch with my friend' you don't know which friend I mean.
So the 'who lives in Prague' clause gives you essential information. Therefore, no
comma!)

Note that non-defining pronouns cannot be changed to 'that', so you should never write
a comma followed by 'that'. (This is especially a problem for German speakers because
in German you HAVE to use a comma before 'that'.)

Gerund vs infinitive

Gerund means the -ing form of a verb. This is a tricky part of grammar because there
are no rules and you have to learn every verb one by one. English! Argh! Anyway,
make sure you know these structures:

I used to live in China (= I lived in China).

I'm used to hearing German (= hearing German is normal for me).

I look forward to meeting you.

I stopped smoking (= I quit).

I stopped to smoke (= I stopped what I was doing because I wanted to have a cigarette).

I recommend buying new computer equipment. (Suggest and advise are also followed
by gerunds.)

I recommend you buy new computer equipment.

Prepositions

So hard! So many prepositions! So many mistakes! Just learn as many as you can and
remember, every single student who has ever taken the CAE exam has struggled with
prepositions. You are not alone!

Conditionals

If I get the job I will move to Zurich. (The speaker is confident.)

If I got the job I would move to Zurich. (The speaker is not confident.)

If I had got the job I would have moved to Zurich. (But the speaker didn't get the job
and didn't move to Zurich.)

OTHER MISTAKES
Not taking risks
A lot of students always write the same, safe, things they always write. To master
advanced vocabulary and structures you have to use advanced vocabulary and
structures!

Being boring

It's hard enough to produce a well-structured piece of writing with good vocabulary that
fits the content. But remember that the examiners read hundreds and hundreds of essays
and most of them are very boring! If you make yours interesting (though the style,
unexpectedly good vocabulary, maybe even a joke or two) the examiners will be VERY
happy and you will be REWARDED.

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11. Writing Correction Online

Students often ask if I offer a writing correction service. Well... to be honest I'm not
very motivated to do that right now. You should find a teacher on italki instead. Click
here to read about italki. (Watch the video with David to hear more about writing
correction.)

12. Frequently Asked Questions

Q - Do I have to use British spelling?

A - No, it doesn't matter. But if you use American spelling, be consistent throughout
your writing.

Q - How important is spelling and punctuation?

A - It's pretty important - If you make a trivial mistake it won't be a big deal. If the
mistake stops the reader from understanding what you mean then you will lose points.

Q - How important is the word count? What happens if I write too many words?

A - The word count is a guide, not a rule. But if you do the task properly you will write
about 220-260 words. If you write 300 words then you've probably written lots of stuff
you don't need. If you write 200 words you've probably forgotten something.

DO NOT waste time in the exam counting how many words you have written! And
never add or remove words just because of the word count - it'll turn out clumsy and
weird.

All that said, when you are practicing for the writing section, I recommend you stick to
the suggested word count.
Note that the computer-based exam will automatically count how many words you're
using. Handy!See this article for more information about the computer-based CAE
exam.

Q - I know I need to use complex sentences to get a good grade, but I'm worried about
making mistakes. Is it better to have a simple text with no mistakes?

A - Cambridge says that students who make mistakes while trying to use complex
structures will get credit for trying (as long as the mistake doesn't stop the reader from
understanding).

Q - My handwriting is terrible! No-one can read it! Will I lose points?

A - No. Your handwriting is not very important. Just make sure it can be read. Also, you
don't need to rewrite your text (and you don't have time to rewrite it) - if it's got lots of
bits crossed out, don't worry. Every student's writing looks the same!

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Is CAE hard? Buy some stuff to make it easier! Take a look at the Books and Apps
page.

FEATURED

HOW TO WRITE A CAE PROPOSAL

In this article I teach you how to write a CAE proposal - what is important, what is not,
and show you examples of how to do it.

May 16, 2016

I WAS WRONG ABOUT GRAMMARLY

Last year I decided Grammarly, a free writing aid, wasn't useful - this is the story of
how one Russian student convinced me to change my mind.

Apr 30, 2016

IMPROVING A CAE ESSAY
I rate a student's Writing Part 1 Essay, then give suggestions on how to rewrite it. Can
we take it from a B to an A?

Feb 19, 2016

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