C1 Advanced Writing Part 2: letter, email, proposal, report or review

Part 2 of the C1 Advanced Writing paper is the one where you get a choice. You pick one task from three. Each task fixes a context, a purpose and a target reader, and asks for a letter or email, a proposal, a report or a review in 220 to 260 words. The skill is not just writing well. It is reading the task, choosing the text type you can control, and writing for that reader in the right register.

This guide covers the format, how to choose, how each text type works, how Part 2 is marked and five practice prompts from the ScoreFluent bank. The compulsory first task has its own guide: the Part 1 essay.

What is Writing Part 2 in C1 Advanced?

The Writing paper lasts 90 minutes. In Part 2 you choose one task from three. The task gives a clear context, topic, purpose and target reader, and the output is a letter or email, a proposal, a report or a review of 220 to 260 words (Cambridge exam format).

Cambridge's handbook says tasks may include any of those four types and that not every type appears on every paper. It also says you must show appropriate use of two or more functions that the task specifies: describing, evaluating, hypothesising, persuading, expressing opinion, comparing, giving advice, justifying and judging priorities (C1 Advanced Handbook for Teachers).

Checked 15 and 16 October 2026 against the sources linked above. ScoreFluent is not affiliated with Cambridge University Press & Assessment.

How is Part 2 marked?

On the same four subscales as Part 1, each from 0 to 5: Content, Communicative Achievement, Organisation and Language. Both parts carry equal marks (information for candidates).

In Part 2 the criterion most tied to the task is Communicative Achievement. The handbook describes it as how appropriate the writing is for the task and whether you have used the right register. A well-written report that reads like an email to a friend will lose marks there even if the English is excellent.

How do I choose between the three tasks?

The handbook suggests practising the choice. Look at the text types and topics and consider which register, functions, grammar and vocabulary each needs, then pick the task you can complete most successfully. In practice, check four things in about a minute:

1. The target reader. A friend, an editor, a committee, a manager? You need a register you can hold for 220 words.
2. The functions. Do you need to persuade, evaluate or give advice? Can you do that on this topic?
3. The content points. Can you say something specific about each?
4. The text type. Are you confident with its conventions?

Do not choose by topic alone. A familiar topic in a text type you cannot control is a worse choice than a less familiar topic in one you can.

How does each text type work?

Cambridge describes the four types as follows. The structures below are our application of that description, not an official template.

Letter or email

The handbook says a letter or email must be consistently appropriate for the specified target reader, whether that is a newspaper editor, a company director, a college principal or a peer. It may include narrative, but also functions such as reassuring, correcting a misunderstanding or justifying a course of action. Letter-writing conventions matter: a salutation, clear paragraphing and a closing. The candidate guide says not to write an address.

Proposal

A proposal makes one or more suggestions, supported by facts and evaluation, to persuade the reader of a course of action. The handbook says proposals are often structured like reports and clearly organised under headings, with polite recommendations and a range of persuasive language.

Report

A report may be written for a superior or a peer group. It is partly factual but you are asked to do more than describe: you may have to evaluate how far an aim has been achieved or suggest an alternative. Use headings where appropriate.

Review

A review of a book, film, play, concert, product or service must evaluate its suitability for a particular purpose or audience, not just describe it. The target reader is specified, and you should use that when choosing ideas and language. Give an opinion, positive or negative, and make a recommendation.

What does a worked plan look like?

This is for the report in Prompt 1 below. It was written by the ScoreFluent team as an illustration. It is not a Cambridge model answer. The three content points in the task become the three body sections, so every point is covered and the reader can find each one.

• Introduction: state what the report covers and who asked for it.
• How the courtyard is used at present: describe, with two or three concrete uses and times.
• Problems residents have raised: evaluate, ranking the problems rather than listing them.
• Recommendations and costs: judge priorities, and say what should be done first and at what cost.

Now compare the opening of an email to a friend with the opening of a letter to a newspaper editor, for Prompts 3 and 2:

• Friend: "Thanks for asking what I think. I'll be honest, because that's what you want."
• Editor: "I am writing in response to your recent article, which suggested that young people have no interest in the news."

Same level of language, different register. That difference is what Communicative Achievement measures.

What mistakes cost marks in Part 2?

• Wrong register for the reader. Check who the reader is before every paragraph.
• Missing a content point. Tick each point off in your plan.
• Describing when the task says evaluate or recommend. Reports and proposals need a judgement.
• Using a memorised answer. The handbook says it is unlikely to meet the task's exact requirements.
• Wasting time on conventions you do not need. Do not write an address on a letter.
• Ignoring the word count. The handbook says very short answers are likely to leave the task incomplete, and long ones risk irrelevance.

Where can I try C1 Advanced Writing Part 2 practice prompts?

Practice items from the ScoreFluent bank (not real exam questions)

Five prompts cover letter, email, report, proposal and review. The bank stores the task card and no model answers, so there is no key. Spend a minute on the checklist above, then write.

How does ScoreFluent mark Part 2 practice?

The C1 Advanced Writing sectional mock test and the full mock test both offer a choice of three Part 2 tasks, as the real paper does. ScoreFluent's feedback follows the four published criteria and gives a practice estimate. It is not an official Cambridge mark, and we do not claim it is calibrated to Cambridge examiners. Writing answers get an Examiner report bought with credits. New accounts get 40 free credits, credits never expire and there is no subscription (pricing). Start with 40 free credits →

Where next: the C1 Advanced hub, the Writing guide, the Part 1 essay guide, how C1 Advanced is scored and the full list of C1 task guides.

Where did these facts come from?

• Cambridge English: C1 Advanced exam format
• C1 Advanced Handbook for Teachers
• C1 Advanced: information for candidates
• C1 Advanced preparation page

Checked 15 and 16 October 2026. ScoreFluent is not affiliated with or endorsed by Cambridge University Press & Assessment. The practice prompts above come from ScoreFluent's own bank and are not real exam questions.