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How the CPE is Scored

Knowing How the CPE Is Scored Helps You Prepare for the Test

Task I

For Task I, you get a score from 1 (low) to 6 (high) on each of four aspects of your answer.

A: "a focused response to the writing assignment, making appropriate... connections among all parts of the assignment." If you leave out one part of the assignment, by discussing only one of the readings or by failing to indicate agreement or disagreement with either author or by omitting any application of either reading to something you know about, you can get no score higher than a 2. The highest scores tend to have a clear controlling thesis that binds everything together. The parts of the assignment do not have to appear in the order of the prompt: some good essays begin with a relevant personal experience which then is seen to tie everything together.
B: "demonstrates understanding of the readings through summary and explanation of relevant material." This aspect does not call for an unfocused summary of the long reading and such a summary is a poor idea. It asks for a focused summary of what in the long reading responds to the prompt and what the prompt asks you to relate to the short reading. Omitting a reading will earn a 2 or lower. Misunderstanding key points will earn a 3 or lower. The highest scores will put the reading in an interesting context (as in the clear controlling thesis mentioned in A) and may even exercise critical intelligence about it.
C: "incorporates...references to the readings." You will get a low score if you do not indicate when you are quoting or paraphrasing from a reading. The readers are trained to recognize unacknowledged quotation. It is enough to mention the author's name at the beginning of a quote or paraphrase. High scorers usually weave well-chosen short quotes into the writer's text in a seamless fashion. If you omit a discussion of one of the readings, you will get a 2 or lower. You will also get a low score if the reader cannot tell the difference between your opinions and the sources'.
D: "communicates clearly and effectively." The emphasis is on clarity of communication rather than writing errors. You will be forgiven some errors if they do not make what you're saying hard to understand or read. High scores tend to have precise vocabulary and sentence structure controlled for enhanced meaning.

Task II

Task II gets a single score from 1 (low) to 6 (high). You get scores from two readers. This composite score is ultimately doubled and added to your score on Task I to give you your final score for the CPE. Generally, writing errors count only if they prevent the reader from understanding what you are saying. Task II asks you to identify two claims from the prose passage, one claim that is proven or disproven by the first graph or table, and a second claim that is proven or disproven by the second graph or table. Only claims that can be proven or disproven by a graph or table count, and there must be at least one claim for each of the two graphs or tables.

To get a 4, you must state the claim associated with the first graph or table and then show how that claim is proven or disproven by the graph or table, and then state the claim associated with the second graph or table and show how that claim is proven or disproven by the second graph or table. If you mention both claims but only associate one of the claims with the appropriate graph or table, you will get a 3. If you discuss either the prose passage or the graphs or tables without making the association between them, you'll get a 2 or lower. If you write an independent essay on the subject of the prose passage, you'll get a 1. If, having earned a 4, you say something else that is interesting about the relation of the claim to the graph, or of an additional claim to a graph, you may earn a score higher than a 4.

The cut-off passing score for the CPE is 34.