Every Cambridge exam asks for two pieces of writing, and every one of them is marked on the same small set of subscales. The genres grow from a three-line email at A2 Key to a formal report at C2 Proficiency, but the question the examiner asks is always the same: did this text do its job for the person who will read it?
| Exam | Paper | Parts | Raw marks |
|---|---|---|---|
| A2 Key | Reading and Writing | Part 6: Short Email or Note (Q31) Part 7: Picture Story (Q32) | 30 |
| B1 Preliminary | Writing | Part 1: Email Reply (Q1) Part 2: Article or Story (Q2) | 40 |
| B2 First | Writing | Part 1: Essay (Q1) Part 2: Part 2 Choice Tasks (Q2) | 40 |
| C1 Advanced | Writing | Part 1: Essay (Q1) Part 2: Part 2 Choice Tasks (Q2) | 40 |
| C2 Proficiency | Writing | Part 1: Essay (Q1) Part 2: Part 2 Choice Tasks (Q2) | 40 |
| Exam | Part 1 | Part 2 | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| A2 Key | Short email or note, 25+ words | Picture story, 35+ words | Shared 60-minute paper with Reading |
| B1 Preliminary | Email reply, about 100 words | Article or story, about 100 words | 45 minutes |
| B2 First | Essay, 140-190 words | Article, email/letter, report or review, 140-190 words | 1 hour 20 minutes |
| C1 Advanced | Essay, 220-260 words | Email/letter, proposal, report or review, 220-260 words | 1 hour 30 minutes |
| C2 Proficiency | Essay summarising two texts, 240-280 words | Article, letter, report or review, 280-320 words | 1 hour 30 minutes |
B2 First for Schools replaces the report with a story among the Part 2 options. Set-text questions were removed from B2 First for Schools and C2 Proficiency in 2024, so older books that include them are out of date.
A2 Key Part 6: an email or note of 25 words or more that covers three content points. A2 Key.
A2 Key Part 7: a story of 35 words or more told from three pictures. A2 Key.
B1 Preliminary Part 1: answer an email about 100 words long, covering four notes written on it. B1 Preliminary.
B1 Preliminary Part 2: a magazine article or a story, about 100 words, from a choice of two. B1 Preliminary.
The compulsory Part 1 at B2 First, C1 Advanced and C2 Proficiency. What it asks you to do changes at each level. B2 First, C1 Advanced, C2 Proficiency.
One task from a choice of three: articles, letters and emails, reports, reviews and proposals, depending on the level. B2 First, C1 Advanced, C2 Proficiency.
Each task is marked out of 5 on each subscale. A2 Key uses three subscales, so each task is out of 15; every other level uses four, so each task is out of 20 and the paper is out of 40.
| Subscale | The question it answers |
|---|---|
| Content | Is everything relevant, and is the reader fully informed? Every content point in the task must be covered. |
| Communicative Achievement | Does the text suit its purpose and reader — the right register, the conventions of an article or a report? (Not used at A2 Key.) |
| Organisation | Is it logically ordered, with paragraphs and linking that help the reader rather than decorate the text? |
| Language | Is the range of vocabulary and grammar right for the level, and is it accurate enough not to get in the way? |
Length is not penalised as such. A text well outside the word range usually loses marks anyway, through missing content if it is short or irrelevance if it is long. The subscales and band descriptors are on the Cambridge Writing scoring page.
Tasks with model answers and examiner-style commentary for every level are on the Cambridge Writing samples page.
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.