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Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE)

CPE has five papers Reading, Comprehension, Composition, Use of English, Listening Comprehension and Interview. Each paper contributes 22% towards the final mark, except for Listening, which contributes 12 %.

Reading Comprehension (Paper 1)Time: 1 hour

Candidates are assessed on their ability to understand written material from a range of texts. The paper is divided into two sections. Section A has 25 questions testing structure and vocabulary, and section B has three texts with multiple choice questions testing candidates’ ability to understand the main points and underlying meanings of the two texts and the opinions and attitudes of the writers.

Composition (Paper 2) Time: 2 hours

Candidates write two pieces each approximately 300 words long from a choice of four topics, to demonstrate their ability to write in English. The task types include a discursive composition, a narrative and a formal letter. Candidates may also choose to answer a question based on their reading of set texts instead of one of the four topics; a list of current set texts is available on the Cambridge EFL website or from EFL Information at UCLES.

Use of English (Paper 3) Time: 2 hours

Candidates complete a variety of tasks which test their ability to recognise and use the structures of English. There are two sections; one has gap-filling exercises and sentence transformations, the other consists of a text with accompanying comprehension questions and a summary-writing task.

Listening Comprehension (Paper 4) Time: approximately 40 minutes

Candidates demonstrate their ability to understand and extract information from a number of recorded texts, which may include announcements, radio broadcasts, speeches, interviews and talks. Candidates are tested on their ability to understand the main points and details of what they hear, and the attitudes and opinions of the speakers. Tasks include multiple choice, sentence completion and matching.

Interview (Paper 5) Time: approximately 15 minutes for an individual candidate

The interview assesses candidates’ ability to sustain conversation and interaction with others. The test may be taken singly, in pairs or in a group of three. The material used for each test is based on a theme and consists of photographs for discussion, short text extracts for comment and a communicative activity.