EXAM OVERVIEW

The Certificate in Advanced English is a post-First Certificate exam which is offered three times a year, in March, June and December. There are five papers in the exam and each paper receives an equal weighting of 20 per cent of the marks. Papers are:

Paper 1 Reading 1 hour 15 minutes Paper 2 Writing 2 hours Paper 3 English in Use 1 hour 30 minutes Paper 4 Listening 45 minutes (approximately) Paper 5 Speaking 15 minutes (approximately)

CAE offers a high-level qualification to people wanting to use English for professional or study purposes and is much more advanced than FCE.

- The examination questions are task-based and simulate real-life tasks.

- Questions in Papers 1-3 are text-based. This means that there is always something to read before the task can be done. ˇ

- Rubrics in CAE are longer than in FCE or CPE. They need to be read carefully as they provide contexts for the questions.

- For Papers 1, 3 and 4 you will have to transfer your answers on to an answer sheet.

PAPER 1

READING (1 HOUR 15 )

Four texts, approximately 50 questions

FORMATS

Part 1 and 4: multiple matching

Part 2: gapped text

Part 3: multiple choice

TASK FOCUS

Part 1 and 4: reading for the main ideas and specific information

Part 2: text structure

Part 3: detailed understanding of a text

PAPER 2

WRITING (2 HOURS )

Part 1: one or two compulsory tasks

Part 2: one task from a choice of four

FORMATS

Part 1 and 2: from the following: formal and informal letters, articles, reports, reviews, memos, information leaflets, brochures, notices, competition entries, personal notes, instructions, directions and announcements

TASK FOCUS

Part 1 : applying information from reading input, selecting, summarising and comparing to produce the writing task specified

Part 1 and 2: writing for a specific target reader, using appropriate layout, style and register

PAPER 3

USE OF ENGLISH (1 HOUR 30)

Six texts, 80 questions

FORMATS

Part 1: 4-option multiple-choice cloze

Part 2: open cloze

Part 3: error correction

Part 4: word formation

Part 5: register transfer (completing a text using information from an input text)

Part 6: discourse cloze (choosing sentences or phrases to complete a text)

TASK FOCUS

Part 1: understanding lexis

Part 2: understanding grammatical patterns

Part 3: identifying extra wrong words or spelling / punctuation errors

Part 4: word building from prompts

Part 5: understanding and changing style and register

Part 6: recognising coherence and cohesion

PAPER 4

LISTENING (ABOUT 45 MINUTES)

Four parts, 30 - 40 questions

FORMATS

Part 1 and 2: informational monologue (Part 2 is heard once only); sentence completion or note-taking

Part 3: dialogue with 2/3 speakers; multiple-choice, sentence completion, completing notes, matching ideas with speakers

Part 4: five short extracts by five speakers; multiple-matching or 3-option multiple-choice

TASK FOCUS

Part 1and 2: understanding the text as a whole and also detailed information

Part 3: understanding specific information, opinions and attitudes

Part 4: identifying speakers, topic, context, function, opinion and specific information

PAPER 5

SPEAKING (ABOUT 15 MINUTES)

Four parts

FORMATS

Part 1: exchange of information between two candidates and one examiner

Part 2: each candidate speaks for one minute and makes a twenty-second comment after the other candidate has spoken

Part 3: both candidates discuss a problem- solving task based on visual prompts while the examiner listens

Part 4: both candidates continue the Part 3 discussion with the examiner

TASK FOCUS

Part 1: general social and interactional language

Part 2: describing and commenting on visual prompts and speaking at length

Part 3: negotiating and collaborating

Part 4: summarising, reporting, developing ideas from Part 3

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