CPE Readiness Check

Ready for C2 Proficiency?

Scan the signals. If most sound like you — you're in.

  1. KETKey · A2
  2. PETPreliminary · B1
  3. FCEFirst · B2
  4. CAEAdvanced · C1
  5. CPEProficiency · C2

You're ready if…

  • I can hold an extended conversation on a wide range of topics, including unfamiliar ones.
  • I follow extended speech and complex argument, even when not clearly structured.
  • I can write clear, well-structured texts of 200+ words on complex subjects.
  • I use a broad range of tenses, modals and conditionals with good control.
  • I can read long-form journalism and follow most of an opinion piece without help.
  • I want to take — or could imagine taking — the Cambridge C2 Proficiency exam.

Not quite there yet if…

  • I still rely on translation for most spontaneous speech.
  • Long listening (5+ minutes) loses me within the first minute.
  • I avoid writing more than a short paragraph in English.
  • I'm not yet comfortable with most B2 grammar (passives, conditionals, reported speech).

The Escape Campus B2 / Upper-Intermediate course is the recommended stepping stone before CPE Preparation.

What the real exam looks like

A glimpse of each paper

From day one, you'll work with the same task formats, rubrics and layouts you'll meet on exam day — not generic practice exercises.

The Times Magazine

Why we keep going back to the same holiday

Travel writers are paid to seek the new. So why, says one, do I spend every August in the same Greek village?

By Helen Marr · Saturday 14 June


The first time I arrived in Anaxos, in 2009, it was by accident. A delayed ferry, a missed connection, and the kind of bone-tired surrender that strips away any pretence of an itinerary.

Fifteen summers later, I still come back. Friends — colleagues, mostly — find this baffling. Surely, they say, a travel writer ought to be elsewhere?

I have come to think the question gets it the wrong way round. The pleasure is not in spite of the repetition; it is because of it.

Cambridge English: AdvancedWriting · Part 1 · Essay
ExaminerYou must answer this question. Write your answer in 220–260 words in an appropriate style.
Essay220–260 words

Your class has watched a panel discussion on how cities should respond to overtourism. You have made the notes below.

  • Tourist taxes
  • Limits on short-term rentals
  • Caps on cruise-ship visitors

Opinions expressed in the discussion

  • Speaker 1: "Taxes just punish honest visitors."
  • Speaker 2: "Locals can't even afford to live in the centre."
  • Speaker 3: "Cruise passengers spend almost nothing on shore."

Write your essay in 220–260 words.

Cambridge English: AdvancedListening · Part 2 (Sentence completion)
ExaminerYou will hear an architect called Maya Lin talking about her work designing public memorials. For questions 1–4, complete the sentences with a word or short phrase.
  1. 1

    Maya says her interest in memorials began with a   she saw as a child.

  2. 2

    She believes the most powerful memorials invite visitors to feel a sense of  .

  3. 3

    The biggest challenge in her recent project was finding the right  .

  4. 4

    She advises young architects to spend time studying  , not just buildings.

Cambridge English: AdvancedSpeaking · Part 2 (Long turn)
ExaminerI'm going to give you two photographs. I'd like you to compare the photographs, and say…
A teenager studying alone at home with headphones and a laptop
A
Studying alone at home
Diverse students studying together in a bright library
B
Studying together in a library

Candidate A · Long turn

Compare the two photographs and say why the people might have chosen to study in these places, and which way of studying you think is more effective.

1 min

Candidate B · Short response (≈30 sec)

Which of these ways of studying would suit you best?

The whole CPE exam · timing

≈ 4 hours

90
90
40
15
  • Reading & Use of English90 min
  • Writing90 min
  • Listening40 min
  • Speaking (paired)15 min

The CPE exam at a glance

  • Reading & Use of English

    8 parts · 1h 30m · grammar, vocabulary, reading

  • Writing

    2 parts · 1h 30m · essay + one of proposal / report / review / letter

  • Listening

    4 parts · ~40m · short extracts, sentence completion, interview, multiple matching

  • Speaking

    4 parts · ~15m · interview, long turn, collaborative task, discussion