C2 Proficiency (CPE)

The C2 Proficiency (CPE) is the Cambridge English exam used to certify a C2 level according to the Common European Framework, the highest level of all.

The C2 Proficiency (CPE) is a Cambridge Assessment English exam that certifies that a candidate has a C2 level of English language competence, according to the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages).

Until the end of 2014, this English language proficiency test was known as the Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE). For this simple reason, it is still commonly referred to as the CPE today.

This C2 level English test aims to certify that you have an exceptional level of English language competence, and can communicate with a fluency and sophistication equal to or similar to that of a native speaker. With a C2 level of English, you have the same natural command and ease of expression as a native speaker. In addition, this level gives you the language skills needed to operate in a complex professional and academic environment, such as a master’s or doctoral programme, for example.

What is C2 level?

According to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR), a person with a C2 level of English can handle academic and professional situations requiring mastery of English, just like any native speaker. Therefore, according to the CEFR, anyone with a C2:

– Can understand with ease virtually everything heard or read.
– Can summarise information and arguments from different spoken and written sources, reconstructing them in a coherent and concise way.
– Can express themselves spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in more complex situations.

Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), p. 26.

What are the parts of the C2 Proficiency (CPE)?

Just like the Cambridge FCE and CAE, the C2 Proficiency or CPE has 5 parts. Of these 5 parts, 4 correspond to the typical language skills: Reading, Writing, Listening, and Speaking. There is also a part that assesses the candidate’s command of grammar and vocabulary in English. This part of the exam is called Use of English.

However, as I’ve already mentioned is the case with the FCE and CAE, although the full test has 5 parts and each score appears on the certificate, the exam is taken in 4 sessions. This is because Reading and Use of English are taken in the same session.

Now let’s take a detailed look at each part of the Cambridge C2 Proficiency (CPE).

C2 Proficiency (CPE): Reading & Use of English

• Tasks: 7 parts (4 Reading parts and 3 Use of English parts)
• No. of items: 53 (31 Reading items and 22 Use of English items)
• Duration: 1 hour and 30 minutes

C2 Proficiency (CPE): Reading

In this part of C2 Proficiency, candidates must demonstrate that they have the language ability to understand long and very complex texts from fiction and non-fiction books, newspapers, magazines, websites, etc.

The CPE Reading is divided into 4 parts:

• Part 1:
  • No. of questions: 8
  • Description: The candidate must complete 8 gaps in a relatively short text, with 4 options (A, B, C or D) for each gap. Only one option is correct.
• Part 5:
  • No. of questions: 6
  • Description: Read a long text and choose the correct answer (A, B, C or D) to 6 questions.
• Part 6:
  • No. of questions: 7
  • Description: Read and understand a long text containing 6 gaps. You are given 8 paragraphs (A – H). You must choose the correct paragraph to fill each gap. One of the options will not be used.
• Part 7:
  • No. of questions: 10
  • Description: Read several medium-length texts, or a single text divided into different sections (A, B, C, D, E, …). Then answer 10 questions by indicating the letter of the paragraph where the relevant information is found.

C2 Proficiency (CPE): Use of English

To pass the Use of English in C2 Proficiency, you must demonstrate a very high command and deep knowledge of English grammar and vocabulary. This is assessed through the following parts of the «Use of English» in Proficiency:

• Part 2:
  • No. of questions: 8
  • Description: Complete a short text with 8 gaps. For each gap, you must write a single word that is grammatically and semantically correct.
• Part 3:
  • No. of questions: 8
  • Description: Complete a short text with 8 missing words. At the end of each line with a gap, there is a word whose root matches the word needed in the gap. To complete the exercise, you must transform each word so it fits correctly and makes sense in the gap.
• Part 4:
  • No. of questions: 6
  • Description: There are 6 pairs of sentences and a word in capital letters for each pair, and a gap in the second sentence of each pair. The candidate must complete the second sentence using between 3 and 6 words (including the given word), so that the meaning of the second sentence is the same as the first.

C2 Proficiency (CPE): Writing

• Tasks: 2 parts
• No. of items: 2
• Duration: 1 hour and 30 minutes

For C2 Proficiency Writing, candidates must write two texts of up to 320 words each. For this task, candidates have 1 hour and 30 minutes.

• Part 1: Essay
  • No. of questions: 1
  • No. words: 240-280
  • Description: The candidate is given 2 texts on a common topic, which they must read, identify the main points, and write an essay summarising and evaluating those points, including their own ideas.
• Part 2:
  • No. of questions: 4 (choose one)
  • No. words: 280-320
  • Description: There are 4 possible tasks, from which you must choose and complete one. These may include: article, letter/email, report or review. The last option always relates to the reading of certain books specified by Cambridge on their website.

C2 Proficiency (CPE): Listening

• Tasks: 4 parts
• No. of items: 30
• Duration: 40 minutes (approx.)

Candidates must demonstrate how well they can understand different types of spoken texts: monologues (speeches, lectures, anecdotes, etc.) and interactions (interviews, friends talking, debates, etc.).

The C2 Proficiency (CPE) Listening is divided into the following 4 parts:

• Part 1:
  • No. of questions: 6
  • Description: Listen to 3 different audio extracts of around one minute each. For each extract, answer 2 questions by choosing the correct option (A, B or C).
• Part 2:
  • No. of questions: 9
  • Description: Listen to a monologue of 3 or 4 minutes on a specific and quite complex topic. While listening, complete a text with 9 gaps, writing a word or short phrase (up to 3 words) spoken by the speaker for each gap.
• Part 3:
  • No. of questions: 6
  • Description: Listen to an interaction between two or three people. Answer 5 multiple-choice questions by choosing the correct answer (A, B, C or D).
• Part 4:
  • No. of questions: 10
  • Description: Listen to 5 people, separately, talking about a topic they have in common. While listening, complete two tasks. For each, match a sentence (A – H) to each speaker. In other words, match each speaker with an option for each task.

C2 Proficiency (CPE): Speaking

• Tasks: 3 parts
• Duration: 16 minutes (approx.)

The C2 Proficiency (CPE) Speaking exam, like the other Cambridge main suite exams, also takes place in pairs or groups of three. During this part, candidates must interact with each other and with the interlocutor (examiner).

The CPE Speaking exam is divided into the following parts:

• Part 1: Part 1 is a conversation between the interlocutor and each candidate. The examiner asks a series of questions in turn, aiming to get candidates to talk about themselves.
• Part 2: First, the interlocutor gives instructions and one or more pictures to look at. Then you must answer a question about your opinion on some aspect of the pictures. Next, you must interact with the other candidate to make a decision.
• Part 3: In part 3, the interlocutor first gives a candidate a card with a question and some ideas, and the candidate must talk about it for 2 minutes. The partner then joins in to give their opinion and react to the first candidate’s comments. Then the roles are swapped. Finally, the interlocutor starts a conversation between the two candidates based on the ideas presented on the cards.

CPE Sample Test / Proficiency Exam in PDF

Use the button below to download a free sample CPE exam in PDF.

Although I obviously recommend you download this C2 Proficiency exam, I warn you that it’s not a good idea to practise with exams until your level is good enough to pass or be close to the level. If your level of English is not close to C2, you shouldn’t start doing exams, as it can be quite frustrating and you’ll probably be wasting your time and the material, which unfortunately is relatively limited.

How is the C2 Proficiency (CPE) marked?

If you are an English teacher or preparing for the CPE on your own, you need to know how the C2 Proficiency (CPE) is marked. So pay attention:

• Reading: has 31 items. Items in parts 1 and 7 are worth 1 mark each (up to 18), and those in parts 5 and 6 are worth 2 marks each (up to 26). You can get up to 44 marks.
• Use of English: has 22 items. Each question in parts 2 and 3 is worth 1 mark (up to 16), and those in part 4 are worth 2 marks each (up to 12). You can get up to 28 marks.
• Writing: There are 2 tasks and each Writing task is worth 20 marks. The maximum possible is 40 marks.
• Listening: has 30 items in total and each scores 1 mark. In total, you can get 30 marks.
• Speaking: the whole Speaking section is worth up to 75 marks.

Remember that to calculate your score, you cannot simply add up the marks from the different parts. What you must do is calculate the percentage for each part and then take the average of the 5 percentages.

How to calculate your C2 Proficiency (CPE) exam score

To find out how to calculate your C2 Proficiency (CPE) score, you need to watch the video below or follow the instructions in this article.