CAE Writing Part 2 – report vs proposal, which do you find harder to score well on?
I've been prepping for the CAE for about 14 weeks now and writing is my most inconsistent section. My overall score on mock exams is around 172-175, which is comfortably in the C1 range, but my Writing Part 2 marks jump around more than anything else. Some days I write something that feels solid and it comes back with B marks; other days I think I've written something mediocre and it gets an A. I can't predict my own performance.
The two task types I'm choosing between most often are reports and proposals. My instinct is that proposals are easier because the structure is more flexible and the rhetorical goal is clearer – you're recommending something and making a case for it. Reports feel like they penalize you more for weak evidence or thin analysis even if the language is good. But I've also heard that examiners sometimes prefer the argumentative structure of proposals and mark them more generously when the persuasive logic is tight.
I also struggle with word count discipline. I consistently write 260-280 words when the target range is 220-260. I've read conflicting things about whether going over by 20-30 words is actually penalized or whether it's a soft guideline. My preparation tutor says it's not penalized but I want a second opinion from people who've actually sat the exam recently.
Your B/A inconsistency sounds like a register issue rather than a content issue. CAE Part 2 marks drop when the tone shifts mid-task – going from formal to neutral and back within a report looks like a lack of control even if the individual sentences are correct. Try reading your draft aloud to catch register slippage.
That one fix moved me from mostly Bs to consistent As in about three weeks of practice.
Reports reward candidates who know how to use headers and organize evidence efficiently. If you can structure the information clearly and back every recommendation with a specific reason, the language requirements are actually more forgiving than essays. I found reports easier once I stopped treating them like formal academic writing.
The 20-30 word overage is generally fine in practice. The word count guidance exists to stop people writing 400 words and burying the point, not to penalize thorough answers. I went 15-25 words over on both Part 2 tasks in my sitting and scored well. What matters is that every sentence is doing something.
172-175 with three weeks left is a comfortable position. Don't over-rotate on writing at the expense of Use of English – Parts 4 and 5 of the Reading and Use of English paper are where candidates often drop unexpected points. Make sure you're still drilling the word formation and key word transformation tasks regularly.
I just passed last month and honestly the proposal tripped me up way more than the report. Reports have this almost predictable skeleton you can follow, but proposals kept catching me out because I'd write what felt like a solid recommendation section and then realise I hadn't made a clear enough case for why the thing was actually needed. The examiner wants to feel persuaded, not just informed. That shift in mindset was what finally clicked for me.
One weird thing that helped my writing scores was doing a ton of speaking practice right before timed writing sessions. I know that sounds backwards but it warmed up my "formal but natural" register in a way that silent reading didn't. I used the cae cae speaking 3 tests for that. Your scores jumping around at 172-175 tells me you already have the range, you just need to lock in the proposal structure so it's consistent. Nail the "justification first, recommendation second" flow and I think you'll stabilise.
Honestly, proposals trip me up way more than reports, and it took me a while to figure out why. With reports I always knew what I'd done wrong when I got feedback, but with proposals I kept getting middling marks without really understanding the reason. It wasn't until I started pulling apart model answers and asking "what would make this fail" that it clicked for me -- proposals need that forward-looking persuasive angle, and if you're just describing instead of recommending, the examiner can tell. Same thing happened when I was working through speaking practice; doing the cae cae speaking 3 tasks helped me see how the assessment criteria actually work in practice, which I then applied back to writing.
What changed my scores was stopping the habit of just memorizing good phrases and actually studying why a mediocre answer loses marks. Like, a report that's technically accurate but lacks clear section headings and a coherent conclusion isn't failing because of vocabulary, it's failing on organization. Once you can diagnose the failure mode you stop repeating it, and your marks get way more consistent. At 172-175 you're clearly not missing the basics, so it's probably a structural or register issue rather than anything else.