FCE Writing Test Tips

1. Introduction
You have 80 minutes to write two texts. The first text will always be an essay and
should be 140-190 words long. The second text can be an article, informal email or
letter, a formal email or letter, a report, or a review and should be 140-190 words.

The examiners give you a grade based on 4 things:

 Content - Did you write what you were asked to write?

 Communicative achievement - Was your writing too formal, too informal, or
just right?
 Organisation - Did you link paragraphs and sentences? Is there a logical flow
from start to finish?
 Language - Did you show off your sparkling vocabulary or did you use basic
words? Did you make lots of grammar and spelling mistakes?

2. Time management
The two texts are worth equal points and have the same word lengths, so you should
spend equal time on them. That gives you 40 minutes per text. Spend some of that time
planning and some checking. For example:

 Planning - 10 minutes
 Writing - 25 minutes
 Checking - 5 minutes

You might think that's too long for the planning stage, but the more you plan the fewer
problems you will have later.

3. You can't cook without a recipe

Many of my students hate the planning stage and like to just start writing as soon as
possible. But the finished product is normally not very good. Imagine a chef in a
restaurant - does he go into the kitchen and start throwing vegetables into pans? No - he
gets a recipe and follows the plan!

So, take a deep breath, think about what you have to write, what you want to write, and
how you can write it.

You can even start to think about good words you know, and advanced sentences that
you can include.

Example: Before I started writing this page I listed all the sub-headings. I knew how I
would start, and how I would finish. It's much easier to write with the structure already
prepared.
4. Content
Now let's look at what Cambridge cares about in your writing. The first point is the
content itself. If you are asked to write a letter to your friend and you write a poem -
well, it doesn't matter how good that poem is. Maybe you can write the best poem in the
history of the world - the examiner will be impressed, and then give you zero points.

Here's a sample FCE writing task:

You have to write about pollution and the environment, and you have to include 3
points. 2 of those points must be transport, and rivers and seas. If you don't include
transport you can't get full marks in the exam. If you don't write about damage to the
environment, you can't get full marks.

READ THE TASK AND DO EXACTLY WHAT IT SAYS

5. Communicative Achievement
The next thing Cambridge wants is for you to show that you understand about tone. In
the previous example, you were asked to write an essay for your English teacher. How
formal should that be? You're not writing to a lawyer so you don't have to be super
formal, but you aren't writing to your best friend, so you shouldn't be too casual.

For that essay, you should use a neutral or slightly formal style.

That means you need to study how to write in different ways. Spot the difference in tone
in this extracts from letters:

1.

Yo, John,
Guess what? I bunked off school and tramped up and down the beach all day. Great fun!
I found some nearly-fresh muffins in a box, so that was lunch sorted. Free food!
Niiiiiice.

2.

Dear Mr and Mrs Biggins,

I regret to inform you that we have taken the decision to suspend Jack from school for
the next week. Not only did he fail to come to school today, but we received a call that
he had stolen a container of confectionery from a local business.

In short, try to make sure that what you write is appropriate for the person you are
writing to.

6. Organisation
Cambridge love when you link sentences together with words like 'whereas' and
'however', and link paragraphs with phrases like 'Firstly, secondly'.

You must learn how to use these phrases if you want a good grade.

One easy way to get a higher score in 'organisation' is to ask a question, and then answer
it.
7. Language
Your writing will be more interesting and you'll get a better grade if you can use a wide
variety of language. Use high-level vocabulary when you know it; don't repeat the same
word too many times; don't make too many mistakes; try to use a variety of grammar
(not just 'subject verb object' all the time).

You will be rewarded if you learn (and use) some appropriate phrasal verbs, idioms, and
collocations. Compare these sentences:

1. The food was good and the service was good and we had a good time.

2. The food was delicious, while the service was faultless. Did we have a good time?
Absolutely!

I hope you agree that the second is much nicer to read. Is it much harder to write? Not
really. And if you don't know the word 'faultless' you might know a different word that
would fit. Even if you said 'good' again, the sentence would get you a much better score
in FCE because the 'while' connects the first two parts and the question connects the last
two.

8. FCE Essays
You have to write an essay, so this is the first thing you should learn to write. Essays are
about giving information and your opinions, comparing and contrasting.

Title: Use a title at the top of your essay. The title should be interesting so that someone
would want to read the article. Imagine two friends share a link on Facebook. Which are
you more likely to click on?

1.

Why Pollution is Bad

2.

Climate Change is Fake, and Here's Why

Most people would click on the second one! You don't have to be so provocative in
your essay, but do try to make it interesting.
Structure: Use the task as the structure. In the example from question 4, you could have
these paragraphs:

 Introduction
 The Transport Pollution Problem
 Pollution in Rivers and Seas
 Pollution at Home
 Conclusion

- Try to connect the title you have chosen with the conclusion. If you call your essay
'Climate Change is Fake!' you should end by saying 'and that's why climate change is
not real.'

- You should write in a balanced way - don't only say that something is good or bad.
Example:

'It's clear that pollution from cars is a big problem that should be looked at. The air in
some cities is not fit for humans. But the car isn't totally a villain - it's also a symbol of
freedom for many people. So we need a solution that lets people drive their cars, but
without being too harmful. For example, electric cars let people get to work but are
cleaner than diesel engines.'

- As a minimum, move from paragraph to paragraph by using phrases like 'firstly,

secondly'. But try to learn some more advanced versions, too.
Here's a task from Cambridge: First.

First things first - what do I have to write and who is going to read it?

I have to write an essay, which means giving my opinion on the topic. My English
teacher will read it, so I should write in a neutral tone. I'm going to mention transport,
rivers and seas, and think of a third point, and the whole theme is pollution and
damaging the environment.

I could write in the style of Donald Trump and say that pollution isn't real and there's
nothing to worry about... but I do have a brain so I'll write the truth.

Planning
Let's take 5 to 10 minutes to plan the essay before I start writing. 

I'll do a quick one or two sentence introduction. Then I'll have three paragraphs, one for
transport, one about rivers and seas, and one for my third point. Now's a good time to
think about that.

I've decided to take 'pollution in the home' as my third point. But I could have chosen
factories, plastic, cutting down the rainforest - a billion things.

Finally there will be a sentence that ties everything together.

Now, ideally I'd have a nice title for this essay. Mentioning Donald Trump before gave
me an idea. (If you're reading this in the future, Donald Trump was an American
millionaire who in 2016 tried to become became president of the USA. He had many
crazy opinions, and his beliefs about pollution were especially stupid. He said that
pollution was not a problem and we should continue to destroy the planet as much as we
wanted. Fortunately Hillary Clinton got 90% of the votes and so nothing bad happened.)

My title will be '3 Reasons Why Donald Trump is Wrong About Pollution'. It's not a
very elegant title, but it'll have to do. I don't have 15 minutes to think about it!

The next thing I want to do is think about some vocabulary and grammar I can use in
my essay. Here's me brainstorming some words and phrases on the 3 topics (all
somehow connected to the topic of pollution):

transport

traffic congestion

aviation

carbon dioxide

greenhouse gases

emissions

exhaust fumes

electric cars

driverless cars
freight/cargo trains

rivers and seas

barges

cruise ships

world trade

plastic

factories

lead poisoning

water quality

The Home

batteries

power grid

waste

recycling (cardboard, glass)

energy efficiency

fines

subsidies

Okay I feel pretty ready to get started - this is a topic I know a lot about, and that quick
brainstorm has me READY TO GO.
3 Reasons Why Donald Trump is Wrong About
Pollution
Donald Trump may be admired by millions of Americans, but he's dangerously wrong
about climate change. In this essay I'll discuss three reasons why pollution is a huge
problem and suggest ways they can be solved.

Transport

First I'd like to talk about transport. We travel much more than we ever did in the past,
and trade more than ever. That means a non-stop stream of planes, trains, and
automobiles. Almost 100% of these are powered by petrol or diesel engines, which
means carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere. One
solution would be to switch to electric cars, and there has been progress in that
direction.

Rivers and Seas

Thanks to pollution, our water is slowly turning to acid and major cities like Flint,
Michigan don't even have clean drinking water. Seas are filled with plastic that traps
and kills fish and dolphins. The solution is better controls in factories and fines for
anyone who adds to the problem.

Homes

If you've ever left your computer running overnight, you're part of the problem. The
solution must come from government intervention - no more subsidies for companies
that pollute, and fines for those that do.
Summary

Pollution is a problem that affects us all, but if we elect rational politicians who
understand basic science, we can start to make things better.

(233 words)

233 words! My god! How did that happen? Well, the good news is it only took me 10
minutes or so, so although I got a bit carried away I have time to fix it.

Making it better
Let's take another look at the topic and check that what I wrote is relevant. That will
help me delete the unimportant parts.

It says 'Every country has a problem with pollution. Can it be solved?'

Hmm. So I don't need to say that pollution is a problem. I can focus on the solutions.
That's good. But I should add in something about 'every country' - that's something I
didn't do in the first draft.

And actually, the whole Donald Trump thing isn't needed if I'm going to focus on the
solutions. So I should come up with a new title, too.

Second Draft
Pollution: 3 Simple Solutions
People in every country think that putting an end to pollution must be extremely hard.
But is it? I believe there are 3 simple things we can do that will have a big effect.

Transport

We travel much more than we ever did in the past, and trade more than ever. That
means a non-stop stream of planes, trains, and automobiles. Almost 100% of these are
powered by petrol or diesel engines, which means adding tons of carbon dioxide into
the atmosphere. One improvement would be to switch to electric cars, and there has
been progress in that direction.

Rivers and Seas

Seas are turning to acid, cities don't have clean drinking water, and fish get caught in
old bits of plastic. The solution? Better controls in factories and fines for anyone who
fails to recycle plastic.
Homes

Energy waste starts at home - a 30% reduction in electricity use would be easy if people
turned off their electronics when not in use, and didn't use tumble dryers so much.

Summary

Pollution is a problem that affects us all, but we all have the power to make tiny changes
that would improve the situation wherever we live.

(200 words)

So the word count is close to ideal now and it's much more focused on on-topic. 190
words isn't a lot! There's no time to ramble and talk about random things like Americans
in wigs!

I'm quite happy with the addition of the parts in bold, because it links that very start
with the very end, and it is something mentioned in the task.

I wasted a lot of time writing and rewriting this essay, but now I'm in the writing mood
and ready to tackle part 2. I'll be much more efficient there. For a start, I'll read the task
properly!

 Over to you.
9. FCE Reports
Often, you'll be able to choose to write a report in part 2. The reader will usually be
your teacher or a group you belong to. You have to give facts and make
recommendations.

Example:

A group of English students is coming to your college. Your English teacher has asked
you to write a report on one local tourist attraction. In your report you should 

 describe the attraction

 say what you can do there
 explain why you think students would enjoy visiting it

If I were writing that, I'd use this structure:

(Title:) Report on Anfield Football Stadium

Introduction
The aim of this report is to describe Anfield and to say why it's the best destination for
students who visit our college.
Anfield
(a description of the stadium, its history)
Activities
(what you can do there - the stadium tour, the gift shop, touch the magical grass)
Why It's Perfect for Visitors
(the tour is given in English so it's good practice, football is universally popular, it's
great for taking photos)
Conclusion
For the reasons I have mentioned, I highly recommend visiting Anfield with the visiting
students. I'm sure they will all have a great time.

10. FCE Reviews

Reviews are quite a good choice for part 2 because you've probaby read thousands of
reviews in your own language - reviews of movies, video games, hotels and so on. So
you should be quite familiar with the format.

The main skills you need are: describing things, explaining, and giving your opinions.

IMPORTANT - You are allowed to lie in the exam! I personally hate the movie Titanic,
but I remember quite a lot about it. If I had the task of reviewing a movie I love, maybe
I would choose Titanic. The story is clear in my head, I remember the names of the
actors, the director and the theme song... I can pretend to like it if it helps me pass the
exam...
Here's a sample review task from Cambridge: First:

Who's going to read this? My fellow college students. What does that mean about the
tone? It means I can be on the informal side of neutral. You know, serious but friendly.

Planning time!

Okay, the first thing to do is to think of a book where the main character surprised me.
This is quite an important step, because everything that follows is linked to this
decision. Do you think I should spend five seconds on it, or thirty seconds?

[Thirty seconds later] I chose one of my favourite books, The Remains of the Day, by
Kazuo Ishiguru. It's great! They made a movie of it with Anthony Hopkins.

So what do I have to include? 

1. - write a review of the book

2. - explain what the character did 
3. - and why it was surprising
4. - would I recommend it

It doesn't make much sense to have points 2 and 3 separate, so for this review I will
keep them together in one paragraph.

So my outline looks like this:

 Title
 Introduction
 Review
 Main Character's Surprising Moment
 Recommendation

Let's think of vocabulary and grammar I can use. I'm just going to brainstorm by writing
words and phrases I know that might be useful in the different paragraphs.

genre; historical drama; romance; set in the 1930s; duty; uniform; reserved; butler;
gentleman; conflict; a difficult choice; there's no doubt that; not only but also; 
Okay, that's not bad - I've got some good ideas already. Now I want to think of a title. I
want something that is interesting and that helps me to write the review. What do I
mean by that? For example, I could write 'Review of The Remains of the Day'. But
that's boring and doesn't help me to write it. If I have a title like 'The Surprising Truth
about The Remains of the Day' - well, I can already think of a way to write the last
paragraph.

You'll see what I mean, I hope.

I'm ready to write it now! Here goes:

The Surprising Truth about The Remains of the Day

The Remains of the Day seems to be a very simple story. An elderly English butler
borrows a car and drives to the coast to meet an old colleague. But is that all there is to
it?

In fact, the story is as complicated as its main character. Mr Stevens is the perfect butler
- obedient, skillful, and reserved. He is also secretly in love with the housekeeper, Miss
Kenton. However, he is so bound by duty that he never tells her - never even gives her
the slightest hint.

The key moment in the book comes when their employer becomes fascinated by the
Nazi ideology and tells Mr Stevens to fire two young Jewish servants. Miss Kenton
cries, while Mr Stevens carries out his task with no emotion. The writing at this point in
the book is sublime - when you know that Stevens is in love with Kenton, his behaviour
is mystifying. Why doesn't he at least tell her that he agrees with her?

Working out the answer to that question is one of the most rewarding quests in
literature, and that's why I strongly recommend you read this book as soon as possible.

(202 words)

I don't know about you, but I think that's a pretty good review!

It's not perfect though - I forgot to link the ending to the beginning. That's why I gave
myself 5 minutes to check and change it!

All I have to do is reword the ending:

Finding out the truth about Mr Stevens is one of the most rewarding quests in literature,
and that's why I strongly recommend you read this book as soon as possible.

That gives a 'thread' through the review, from start to finish.

11. FCE Articles

Articles in First Certificate are usually written for English magazines or newsletters.
The main thing is to make your articles interesting to read, and to give your opinions on
the topic.

Here's a Cambridge English:First article written by a student named Kamel, followed by

my thoughts. 

The Task:

You read this announcement in a magazine: what’s the best surprise you’ve ever had?
Why was it a surprise? How did you feel when it happened? Send us your answers.
We’ll publish the best ones.

Write your article in 140-190 words.

Adrian's Article:

The Best Surprise I’ve Ever Had

Three years ago, something great happened to me. That thing was the best surprise I’ve
ever had, it was the moment my grandma finished her mastectomy surgery. During that
day all of my family was anxious about the state of my many, I was full of doubt and
sadness, and these bad thoughts I had in mind: “and if it doesn’t work? What would
happen if she dies?” and made me in a state that cannot be described, and there is
something very special to that memory. That morning I went to the perfumes shop just
to buy for her the jasmine perfume that she loves too much, while I’m waiting in the
waiting room I was wishing from all my heart that she stay alive, so I can give her the
perfume.  Suddenly the doctor came out and announced to us that the surgery worked
and she was completely cured. I was the happiest person on earth that moment.
However she died 6 months after that but that moment is considered the best surprise in
my whole life. 

My Feedback
Word Count: This is about 180 words, so that's fine.

Content: I think Adrian has met the requirements very well. He has written about a
surprise and told us how he felt. He does answer the question of WHY it was a surprise
(he mentions his fears and doubts) and I think you could make that a bit more explicit.
For example, when the doctor comes out, Kamel could write that the Doctor's face was
sad, so it was a big surprise. Or maybe he was in the waiting room wishing to give the
perfume, but knowing that he wouldn't get the chance. Then it's REALLY clear that
Adrian has completed the task.

Communicative achievement: Kamel's tone is perfect for the magazine. It's informal,
easy to read, and would be just like everything else in the magazine.

Organisation: First, I'd like to see the text split into paragraphs. Now it's just a blob of
text. One thought = one paragraph.

Generally it's clear where and when Kamel is during the story. 3 years ago... that day...
That morning... But then it gets confusing: 'while I'm waiting (present continuous) I was
wishing (past continuous) so I can give her the perfume (present simple).' Bit of a mess!

Still, it was clear to me what he meant, and the 'suddenly' bit was really effective.
(Though he spelled it wrong...)

The last sentence is a problem for two reasons. I don't like the 'however' - probably I'd
expect an 'although'. And 'that moment is the best surprise' seems to mean when she
died... Not what Kamel wants to say! With a little tweak the sentence would be
completely clear.

Language: I actually really like this article - it's quick and easy to read, which means
there aren't too many mistakes and I found it engaging (interesting). There are some
good words used well - like surgery, anxious, cured. And I liked the questions in the
middle - that helps us to feel what Kamel is feeling and changes the rhythm of the
sentences in a nice way.
This bit is interesting: 'my family was anxious about the state of my many'. In Kamel's
language, 'many' is a nice way of saying 'grandmother'. Now, if it was a Chinese student
writing 'Ayi' or a a Swiss person saying 'Grosi' that would be okay - though ideally
you'd stick to English and write 'granny'. The problem for Kamel is that 'many' is
already an English word, so it's very confusing to see it in this sentence. At the very
least he should capitalise Many and even then I'd use quote marks to show that it's a
foreign word:

“My family was anxious about the state of my ‘Many’.”

Here's a version with some minor mistakes corrected and some of my complaints
addressed. If you're feeling advanced, study what I do with his commas.

Borja's Version:

The Best Surprise I’ve Ever Had

Three years ago, something great happened to me. That thing was the best surprise I’ve
ever had: it was the moment my grandma survived her mastectomy.

During that day, my whole family was anxious about the state of my granny. I was full
of doubt and sadness, and these bad thoughts kept coming to my mind: “And if it
doesn’t work? What would happen if she dies?” This left me in a state that cannot be
described, and there is something very special about that memory.

That morning I had gone to the perfume shop to buy the jasmine perfume that she loved
so much. While I was in the waiting room I was wishing with all my heart that she
would stay alive so I could give her the perfume, though I was sure I would never have
the chance.

Suddenly, the doctor came out and announced that the surgery worked and my gran was
completely cured. I was the happiest person on earth at that moment. She died 6 months
later, but the smell of jasmine always makes me think of the day she surprised us by
surviving her surgery.

11. Frequently Asked Questions

Q - Do I have to use British spelling?

A - No. You can use American spelling.

Q - How important is spelling and punctuation?

A - You aren't expected to be perfect, but if a mistake stops the reader from
understanding what you want to say, that's quite bad.

Q - How important is the word count? What happens if I write too many words?
A - If you do the task properly you will write the correct number of words. You won't
lose marks if you write 5 words too many. Focus on writing what you have to write, and
the word count will take care of itself.

Don't waste time in the exam counting how many words you have written! 

Q - My handwriting is terrible! Will I lose points?

A - Just make sure a human can read it - if you are very messy, write a little bit slower.
If you usually end up with lots of things crossed out - you need to plan better!