C2 – Your Writing Guide For The Proficiency Essay

Writing an essay in part 1 of the Proficiency C2 exam can sometimes a bit confusing. In paper 2 you will be assessed on your skill to draft coherent and cohesive texts.

QUICK INFO ABOUT PAPER 2 PART 1:

• Time: 1 hour 30 mins
• Number of exercises: 2
• Part 1 (Essay) is mandatory
• Part 2 you can choose from 4 options
• Assessment: Organisations, Content, Communicative Achievement and Language
• Marks: 20 x 2

In this post we will just focus on Part 1, writing the essay for proficiency.

PART 1 ESSAY

You will be asked to summarise key points in two short text and giving opinions on what is stated in both texts.

IT’S A COMPULSORY TASK YOU MUST DO IT!

CONTENT THAT MUST BE INCLUDED:

You must make sure that you identify and summarise all the key points/opinions in the two texts (two for each text). Don’t forget you also need to give your own opinions on what is stated in the two texts. As the opinions given in the texts are closely related to each other, you will not need to use a lot of words to summarise them – try to do this briefly, while making sure you have not left out a key point. When you give your own opinions, you can agree or disagree with what is stated in the texts.

COMMUNICATIVE ACHIEVEMENT

Your essay should be suitably neutral or fairly formal in register but it does not have to be extremely formal. In it, you need to demonstrate that you have fully understood the main points, by summarising them in your own words, not copying large parts from the texts. The opinions that you give must be closely related to those main points so that your essay is both informative and makes clear sense as a whole.

ORGANIZATION

Make sure that your essay flows well and logically and is divided appropriately into paragraphs. Make sure that there is a clear connection between your opinions and the content of the two texts, and that these features are linked using appropriate linking words and phrases, both between sentences and between paragraphs.

LANGUAGE

The language that you use needs to be both accurate and not simple/basic. You need to demonstrate that you have a high level of English by using a range of grammatical structures and appropriate vocabulary correctly. Don’t use only simple words and structures throughout your answer. Try to think of ones that show a more advanced level, without making sentences too complicated for the reader to understand. It is advisable to check very carefully for accuracy when you have completed your answer.  Also make sure that everything you have written makes clear sense.

THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND

• The content of your essay does not have to follow any particular order.
• Summarise the main points of the text and then give your own opinions.
• Give your opinion on each point from the text as you summarise it.
• You can summarise the points in a different order from how they appear in the text.
• You must include your own opinions but you can put them anywhere in the essay as long as they connect closely with the points made in the texts.

Download our C2 Essay guide and practise with the full sample and correction we have included to writing an essay for the proficiency exam.

If you need any extra practise for the writing part don’t forget to check out our online course to pass the writing paper of the C2 Proficiency.