How to write a CAE review (with examples)
A CAE review is a Writing Part 2 option in which you describe something you have experienced, evaluate it for a particular audience and recommend it or not. At C1, the evaluation is what earns the marks: you judge how well something suits a purpose or an audience, not just what it is like.
- Part
- 2, optional
- Words
- 220–260
- Reader
- Magazine or website
- Marks
- 20
What a CAE review task asks for
In Part 2 of the Writing paper you choose one task from three, drawn from these genres: email or letter, proposal, report and review. Your review is 220–260 words and marked out of 20 on the same four criteria as every other task.
What you review, and for whom
A review can be about a book, magazine, film, play, concert, product or service: an app, a restaurant, a museum, a course, a hotel. It is written for the readers of a magazine, newspaper or website. Some tasks ask you to review one thing; others ask you to compare two, such as two films on a similar theme.
The key requirement at C1 is that a review must evaluate how suitable something is for a particular purpose or audience, not just describe it. The task usually tells you who the audience is: families with teenagers, people learning a language, first-time visitors to a city. Your review has to answer the question that audience would ask: is this right for me? Most reviews end with a recommendation.
How a CAE review is marked
- Content: every point in the task is covered, including the specific audience or purpose.
- Communicative Achievement: it engages the reader from the first line, balances information with opinion, and uses a register that suits the publication, often lively and semi-formal.
- Organisation: a clear progression from introduction to description to evaluation to recommendation, with good linking.
- Language: precise, evaluative vocabulary (not just good, bad and interesting), and a range of structures to describe, compare and recommend.
CAE review example: task and model answer
An original exam-style task, followed by a model C1 review of about 235 words. The attraction is invented for this example.
Part 2 · Review · 220–260 words
A travel website is publishing reviews of museums and attractions that are especially good for families with teenage children. Write a review of an attraction you have visited. Describe what it offers, evaluate how well it holds the interest of teenagers, and say whether you would recommend it to families.
Write your review.
Model answer
Worth the trip? The Harbour Science Centre
Persuading a fifteen-year-old to spend a Saturday in a museum is rarely easy, so I approached the Harbour Science Centre with low expectations. I needn't have worried.
The centre is spread over three floors of a converted warehouse, and almost nothing is kept behind glass. Visitors can generate electricity on a row of exercise bikes, programme a robot to sort recycling, or step into a booth that shows how their voice would sound to a bat. Explanations are short and witty rather than lecture-like, which is exactly what restless teenagers need.
What impressed me most, however, was the way the exhibits treat young people as capable adults. Instead of simplifying difficult ideas, they invite visitors to experiment and draw their own conclusions. My son, who claims to find science pointless, spent forty minutes trying to build a bridge that would survive a simulated earthquake, and talked about it all the way home.
The centre is not without its flaws. At weekends the most popular exhibits attract long queues, and the café is both cramped and overpriced. Families on a tight budget may also find the ticket price rather steep.
Even so, I would wholeheartedly recommend the Harbour Science Centre to families with teenagers, provided they arrive early or visit on a weekday. It is that rare thing: an educational day out that nobody has to be dragged to.
Show the answer and explanation
Why this CAE review example would score well
- Content. All three points are covered: what the centre offers (paragraph 2), how well it holds teenagers' interest (paragraphs 2 and 3, with a concrete example) and a recommendation (the final paragraph). The evaluation is always about the audience in the task, families with teenagers, not visitors in general.
- Communicative Achievement. The opening hooks the reader with a situation many parents recognise, and the short second sentence turns it around. The register is lively but controlled, right for a travel website. The review is balanced: a paragraph of weaknesses makes the recommendation more credible.
- Organisation. Hook, description, main strength, weaknesses, conditional recommendation. Linking such as however, Instead of, Even so and provided guides the reader, and the final sentence echoes the opening.
- Language. A modal perfect (I needn't have worried), vivid and precise vocabulary (restless, cramped, rather steep, not without its flaws, wholeheartedly), a cleft-style opener (What impressed me most…) and a conditional recommendation with provided.
- Length. About 235 words including the title, inside the 220–260 range.
What would lower the mark: three paragraphs of description with one line of opinion at the end, ignoring the teenage audience, or an unexplained recommendation such as I recommend it because it is very good.
How to write a CAE review, step by step
- 01
Underline the audience and purpose. "For families with teenagers" or "for people new to cooking" is the lens for every judgement you make. A review that ignores it has missed the task.
- 02
Choose something you can evaluate in detail. You can invent details, but a real experience gives you specific examples, and specific examples are what make an evaluation convincing.
- 03
Open with a hook: a situation, a question to the reader or a surprising contrast. Then give the essential information briefly.
- 04
Spend most of your words on evaluation. Say what works and what does not, and why, for this audience. One concrete example per point is better than three adjectives.
- 05
Finish with a clear recommendation, qualified if necessary (provided…, unless…, especially if…), then check your word count and register.
Mistakes that cost marks
Too much description. Retelling the plot of a film or listing every feature of an app leaves too little room for evaluation, which is where the marks are.
Forgetting the audience. "It's a great film" is not the same as "It's a great film for a family evening", and the task asks for the second.
Vague evaluation. Good, nice and interesting do not show C1 range. Say exactly what is good about it.
An inconsistent register. A review can be lively, but slang or text-message style in one paragraph and formal language in the next confuses the reader.
CAE review structure
| Paragraph | What to include | Words |
|---|---|---|
| Title | Optional, but a short, engaging title helps | 3–8 |
| 1 Hook | A situation, question or contrast that draws the reader in, plus what you are reviewing | 30–40 |
| 2 Description | The essential information, chosen with the audience in mind | 50–60 |
| 3 Main evaluation | The strongest point for this audience, with a concrete example | 55–65 |
| 4 Weaknesses | What does not work so well, and for whom | 35–45 |
| 5 Recommendation | A clear verdict for the audience, with any conditions | 30–40 |
If the task asks you to compare two things, compare them within paragraphs (for example, story in one paragraph, acting in the next) rather than writing two separate mini-reviews.
Useful language for a C1 review
- Engaging openings: Have you ever…? · If you are looking for…, look no further. · I went in expecting…; I came out…
- Precise positive evaluation: gripping · thought-provoking · beautifully paced · well worth the price · strikes the right balance between… and…
- Precise negative evaluation: uneven · overhyped · predictable · falls flat · does not quite live up to its reputation · is let down by…
- Balancing: The centre is not without its flaws. · That said,… · Minor complaints aside,… · Where it really excels is…
- Recommending: I would wholeheartedly recommend… to… · It is well worth a visit, provided… · …is ideal for anyone who… · Unless you…, I would give it a miss.
Practise the review in full CAE Writing tests
Five of our six CAE Writing tests include a review among the three Part 2 tasks. Each paper is timed at 90 minutes, and your text gets an expert evaluation on the four Cambridge criteria.
- Test 1: An online magazine for people interested in culture is asking readers for reviews of…
- Test 2: A cultural website wants reviews of outdoor arts events for readers deciding how to spend a…
- Test 3: A magazine for general readers is planning a feature on books that make familiar things seem…
- Test 5: A website for curious general readers is collecting reviews of public talks that made…
- Test 6: An online arts magazine is inviting reviews of exhibitions that change how visitors see a…
CAE review: questions
What should a CAE review include?
A short description of what you are reviewing, an evaluation of how well it suits the audience or purpose in the task, supported by examples, and usually a clear recommendation.
How formal should a C1 review be?
It depends on the publication, but most reviews are semi-formal: lively and personal, but well organised and accurate. Whatever register you choose, keep it consistent from start to finish.
How much description should I include in a CAE review?
Only what the reader needs to follow your evaluation: about a quarter of your words. The rest should evaluate and recommend, because that is what the task is testing.
Is there an article task in CAE Writing?
No. The C1 Advanced Part 2 options are an email or letter, a proposal, a report and a review. The article is a B2 First task, so a CAE review should not be written like a general-interest article.
Sources
- C1 Advanced Handbook for Teachers (Cambridge University Press & Assessment), pages 28–35
- C1 Advanced exam format (cambridgeenglish.org)
- Assessing writing for C1 Advanced: a guide for teachers
CambridgeMock is independent and not affiliated with Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Facts on this page are checked against the official documents above; the practice items and advice are our own.
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