C1 Advanced Writing CAE | 6 Powerful Exam Strategies

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C1 Advanced Writing

There are 2 parts to the C1 advanced writing paper. Part 1 is an essay and in part 2 you have 3 options from a choice of: proposal, report or review, email or letter.

It takes a long time to prepare for the writing, I have a way we can learn the basics of this paper quickly. If you have more time, I recommend checking out my full CAE writing course which forms part of my long CAE course.

On the rest of this page, you will learn:

how examiners mark your writing
what is expected for each type of writing
C1 Advanced writing frequently asked questions

C1 Advanced Writing Part 2 - Introduction

Before we look in more detail at the individual part 2 writing types, it's important to remember you have a choice of 3 questions in part 2 of the CAE writing test. The questions might ask you to write: a proposal, a report, a review, a letter or an email,. You only need to answer 1 question in part 2 and you need to write between 220 and 260 words.

It's really important to know how the examiners mark your writing in order to get the highest marks possible for this paper. That's why you should read the CAE writing marking criteria section above.

Email Writing - Technique

1. Make sure you know how the examiners mark the exam. I made a page explaining this.

CAE Writing Marking Criteria page >>

2. Learn what the examiners are looking for from an email. Read my summary in the next few points.

3. Do timed practice examples before the exam. This will help you know how long the exam lasts.

What and how you write in an email largely depends on the question, so...

4. Take 2 minutes to read the question and underline the key parts.

- Make sure you know who the target reader is. "Candidates can expect to be asked to write to, for example, the editor of a newspaper or magazine, to the director of a company, to a school or college principal, or to a peer". Cambridge English Advanced Handbook for Teachers.

5. Take another 5 minutes to plan your answer.

- Make sure you read the question properly so you know whether you can give more personal information, for example, to a magazine or if you need to present more factual information.

You might be asked:

"to reassure somebody, to correct a misunderstanding, or to justify a
course of action". Cambridge English Advanced Handbook for Teachers.

6. Spend 30-35 minutes writing your answer with a pen, pencil or on computer if you plan to do the computer based exam.

Make sure you answer all the required parts of the question.

Make sure you develop your points fully. This will help you to show more vocabulary and use different structures.

It is important to show that you can link your ideas together.

Try to use complex language. Even if your language isn't perfect, if the examiner understands what you mean, you will be rewarded.

7. Spend 3-8 minutes reading over your work at the end.

Reading your work at the end is very important. Make sure you save a few minutes for this! Especially watch out for mistakes which make it difficult to understand the meaning. Some typical mistakes students make are not matching the verbs with the subjects, for example 'the people was staring at him...' rather than 'the people were staring at him'. 'People' is a countable plural noun! Check out this page for other common errors at C1 Advanced.

8. After completing a few practice tasks, look how long your writing is on the page. Remember this so you know approximately how much you need to write in the exam. This way you don't need to waste time counting how many words you have written at the end.

C1 Advanced Writing

C1 Advanced Writing Format

How Do Examiners Mark Your Writing?

C1 Advanced Writing Part 1 - Essay

Learn more about C1 Advanced Essay writing in my long CAE course >>

C1 Advanced Writing Part 2 - Introduction

C1 Advanced Writing Part 2 - Proposal

Learn more proposals in my long CAE course >>

C1 Advanced Writing Part 2 - Report

There is more information about report writing in my long CAE course >>

C1 Advanced Writing Part 2 - Review

There is more information about C1 Advanced review writing in my long CAE course >>

C1 Advanced Letter

Improve your C1 Advanced letter writing in my long CAE course >>

C1 Advanced Email

Email Writing - Technique

CAE Writing Samples Book

C1 Advanced Writing FAQs

CAE Writing Course

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