Cambridge B2 First writing - How is it marked?

When you’re preparing for the Cambridge B2 First writing paper, it’s easy to focus on just one thing: language. You might think, “If I use good grammar and a wide range of vocabulary, I’ll be fine.” And yes, language matters, but it’s not the whole picture.

Understanding exactly what examiners are looking for is key to passing this exam.

Cambridge examiners assess four main areas: content, communicative achievement, organisation, and language. Knowing how each of these is evaluated will help you focus your preparation and write with confidence.

Content: what you say

This area is about whether you answer the question fully. Examiners check that your information is relevant and that every paragraph contributes to your answer.

• Have you answered the question fully?

• Is all your information relevant, or have you gone off track?

• Would a reader feel satisfied that you’ve done what was asked?

  
  

Communicative achievement: adapting your writing

Communicative achievement is about how well your writing functions as communication. Part 1 of the writing exam is an essay. In part 2 of the exam, you must choose one task out of three options. This could be a report, article, review, or letter (formal or informal), or an email. What is being tested here is your ability to adapt your writing to suit the genre, the purpose, and the target audience.

Before you write, being clear about the purpose of your writing and your audience, as well as the genre of the writing, and making good decisions about register, style, and tone, are really important.

Organisation: structure and flow

Organisation looks at how clearly and logically your writing is structured. Examiners want to see that your ideas flow smoothly and are easy to follow.

• Is your writing easy to follow?

• Do your ideas link together logically with clear transitions?

• Are your paragraphs clear, each with its own main idea?

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Tip: Following a strategy for writing will help your work flow well. Often the prompt itself can be used as a framework, because you usually have to reply to more than one thing. Planning your structure with introduction, main points, and ending, and using language which connects all of your ideas well, will make your writing feel well organised.

Can you see how this prompt could give you a framework for your paragraphs?

Language: accuracy and effectiveness

This area covers grammar and vocabulary. While important, don't forget that it is only one part of the assessment.

Grammar

• Are your sentences mostly correct and clear?

• Do you use a range of sentence types, simple, compound, complex?

• Are your tenses, word order, and punctuation accurate?

Vocabulary

• Are your words natural for the context?

• Do you avoid repeating the same words too often?

• Do you show flexibility in expressing ideas?

  
  

Use what you know well first, then gently push your range. Aim for clarity and precision rather than complexity for its own sake.

So remember!... Don't focus on language alone and underestimate the other areas. Balancing content, communicative achievement, organisation, and language is what will give the best marks in this paper.

For more guidance in your writing, you might like to check out a five-step writing process, which helps you through how to plan, draft, and polish your work so that everything meets the marking criteria.

Read about the 5-step writing process