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CAE · Writing — Formal & Informal Tasks (Part 2) · United Kingdom

Writing — Formal & Informal Tasks (Part 2) for the CAE Exam — UK candidates

10% of the CAE test plan. Writing a letter, report, review, or proposal at C1 level for a specific audience and purpose. Calibrated for British candidates.

Behind every published pass rate is a distribution of which topics caused most of the failures. This is one of those topics. Writing — Formal & Informal Tasks (Part 2) sits at roughly 10% of the Cambridge Advanced (C1) content distribution — CAE Writing Part 2 offers a choice: proposal, report, review, or letter/email. At C1, the register, format, and purpose of each task type must be precisely observed. A proposal requires recommendations with justification; a report requires evidence-based analysis; a review requires critical evaluation. Pass rates for the CAE are published annually by the awarding body and vary by cohort and locale. For UK candidates preparing for CAE, the calibration of study to local context matters: UK candidates often take exams for both domestic licensure (NMC, GMC) and migration purposes. IELTS UKVI is a separate, higher-stakes track.

Pass rates for CAE (United Kingdom) are published periodically by the awarding body.

Common failure modes

These are the patterns that cause most candidates to lose marks on this topic. Recognising them in advance is half the work.

  • !Writing a report in informal register (must be formal and impersonal)
  • !Confusing a proposal with a report — proposals recommend future actions; reports analyse past events
  • !Reviews that summarise plot instead of critically evaluating strengths and weaknesses

Study tips

  • 1Learn the distinct format for each task: proposal (To/From/Re headers + recommendations + justification), report (subheadings + findings + recommendations), review (descriptive + evaluative + recommendation).
  • 2Proposals use future modals: "It is recommended that...", "This would result in...", "The following measures should be adopted...".
  • 3Reviews use evaluative language: "The author's treatment of X is particularly effective because...", "A notable weakness is...".
  • 4In the UK, CAE schedules and reschedules align with state holiday calendars and post-Brexit fee adjustments — confirm pricing on the awarding body's site before booking.

Sample CAE Writing — Formal & Informal Tasks (Part 2) questions

These sample items mirror the format and difficulty of real CAE questions. Practice with thousands more on the free Koydo question bank.

  1. 1

    A CAE Writing Part 2 proposal should end with:

    • AA summary of everything already said
    • BA strong recommendation section with reasonsCorrect
    • CA personal opinion about the topic
    • DAn apology for any limitations
    Why this answer?

    A proposal's primary purpose is to recommend a course of action. The final section should be a clear, justified recommendation that synthesises the proposal's arguments into a concrete call to action. Summarising without recommending misses the genre purpose.

Frequently asked questions

Which Part 2 task is most popular among CAE candidates?
Review and report are consistently the most popular CAE Part 2 choices. Proposal is chosen less frequently but can score very highly if the format and language are executed well. The task you have practised most thoroughly is almost always the best choice in the exam.
What is the CAE pass rate for British candidates?
Pass rates for CAE candidates in United Kingdom are published periodically by the awarding body. Practice questions, full-length simulations, and weak-area drills are the highest-impact way to improve your odds.
How long should British candidates study Writing — Formal & Informal Tasks (Part 2) for the CAE?
For most candidates, focused mastery of Writing — Formal & Informal Tasks (Part 2) requires 20–40 hours of deliberate practice — drilling sample questions, reviewing failure modes, and timing yourself against exam conditions. UK candidates often take exams for both domestic licensure (NMC, GMC) and migration purposes. IELTS UKVI is a separate, higher-stakes track. Combine Writing — Formal & Informal Tasks (Part 2) study with full-length mock exams in the final two weeks before your test date.

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