Cambridge Use of English

Use of English is three parts of the Reading and Use of English paper and a fifth of your final result from B2 First upwards. It is the most predictable part of the exam: a limited range of grammar and word-building is tested again and again, which makes it the part that rewards systematic study most directly.

What the Use of English Score Covers

B2 First, C1 Advanced and C2 Proficiency report Use of English as its own score, out of 28 raw marks at every level. It is built from Parts 2, 3 and 4 of the Reading and Use of English paper.

Exam	Paper	Parts	Raw marks
B2 First	Reading and Use of English	Part 2: Open Cloze (Q9-16) Part 3: Word Formation (Q17-24) Part 4: Key Word Transformation (Q25-30)	28
C1 Advanced	Reading and Use of English	Part 2: Open Cloze (Q9-16) Part 3: Word Formation (Q17-24) Part 4: Key Word Transformation (Q25-30)	28
C2 Proficiency	Reading and Use of English	Part 2: Open Cloze (Q9-16) Part 3: Word Formation (Q17-24) Part 4: Key Word Transformation (Q25-30)	28

A2 Key and B1 Preliminary have no Use of English score. Their open cloze (A2 Key Part 5, B1 Preliminary Part 6) counts towards Reading, and so does the multiple-choice cloze at every level. The open cloze sets for A2 and B1 are still on this page’s samples, because the method is the same.

The Task Types

Open Cloze

Gaps with no options. One word each, nearly always a grammar word: prepositions, pronouns, auxiliaries, linkers. A2 Key, B1 Preliminary, B2 First, C1 Advanced, C2 Proficiency.

Word Formation

A text with gaps and a stem word beside each one. Change the stem into the form the sentence needs. B2 First, C1 Advanced, C2 Proficiency.

Key Word Transformation

Rewrite a sentence using a given word so it means the same. Two marks each, and partial credit is possible. B2 First, C1 Advanced, C2 Proficiency.

What Is Actually Tested

Part	Mostly tests	Typical keys
Open cloze	Grammar words and fixed structures	Articles, prepositions, relative pronouns, auxiliaries, linkers (despite, whereas), parts of phrasal verbs
Word formation	Prefixes, suffixes and internal changes	Negative prefixes (un-, in-, dis-), noun and adjective endings, plurals, compounds, spelling changes (explain → explanation)
Key word transformation	Grammar and vocabulary together	Passives, reported speech, conditionals, comparatives, phrasal verbs, fixed expressions (take into account, have no intention of)

The level changes how far a structure is from its everyday form, not the list itself. At B2 a transformation might turn an active sentence into a passive; at C2 it turns an ordinary verb into an idiom with an inversion in front of it.

Common Mistakes

Changing the key word in a transformation. It must appear exactly as given, or the answer scores nothing.
Writing too many words. B2 allows two to five words including the key word, C1 three to six, C2 three to eight, and contractions count as two.
Spelling. Every Use of English answer must be spelled correctly. A word formation answer with one wrong letter is wrong.
Forgetting that word formation often needs a plural or a negative. Read the whole sentence, not just the words around the gap.
Writing two answers for one open cloze gap. If one of them is wrong, the item is wrong.

How to Prepare

Build a word-family notebook: for every new word, record the noun, verb, adjective, adverb and the common negative.
Learn collocations and dependent prepositions in groups (depend on, rely on, insist on), not one at a time.
For transformations, write out both marked halves of each answer. The two-mark split shows you which half you tend to lose.
Do one open cloze a day. It takes five minutes and the keys repeat.

Practice sets for every level are on the Cambridge Use of English samples page, and the marking, including partial credit on transformations, is on the Cambridge Use of English scoring page.

Kirill O'Nayd, Cambridge English exams expert

Written by Kirill O'Nayd

English test expert and educator at TestSucceed. He has spent years preparing candidates for Cambridge English Qualifications from A2 Key to C2 Proficiency, and taking apart how each paper awards its marks. See all TestSucceed preparation materials.