English Together · C2 Proficiency · Exam Track (Extension)

20 Weeks to the C2 Proficiency Exam

A separate exam-preparation track for learners who finished the 10-unit Between the Lines course and are entering Cambridge C2 Proficiency — the ceiling of the suite. One part of the real exam at a time, a mini-mock every fourth week, and a full-mock block at the end.

How the exam works

PaperTimeWeightParts
Reading & Use of English1 h 30 min · 53 questions25% P1 MC cloze · P2 open cloze · P3 word formation · P4 key word transformations · P5 long-text MC · P6 gapped text (7 paragraphs) · P7 multiple matching
Writing1 h 30 min · 2 tasks25% P1 compulsory essay: summarise and evaluate two input texts (240–280 words) · P2 one of three: article, letter, report or review (280–320 words)
Listening≈40 min · 30 questions25% P1 short extracts · P2 sentence completion (exact words) · P3 interacting speakers — the unstated position · P4 five monologues, two simultaneous tasks
Speaking16 min per pair25% P1 interview · P2 collaborative task (visual prompts) · P3 two-minute long turn + six-minute discussion
ResultScale scoreCertifies at
Grade A220–230CEFR C2 — the ceiling of the Cambridge Scale
Grade B213–219CEFR C2
Grade C200–212CEFR C2 (pass)
Below pass180–199CEFR C1 certificate (162–179: reported, not certificated)
The golden rule of this track: at C2 almost every structure has already been met — what is examined is range, judgement and stamina. So three strands run under every week without exception: six idiom-bearing transformations, one timed summarise-and-evaluate paragraph, and one two-minute long turn on an unseen abstract prompt. Writing Part 1 — weighing two voices against each other — is the qualification's signature task and gets the most rehearsal per mark of anything on this page.

The 20-week map

Reading & Use of English Writing Listening Speaking Mini-mock Full-mock block

Phase 1 · Part mastery — weeks 1–16

1Use of English · P1

Multiple-choice cloze

Eight gaps of fine lexical discrimination — idiom, fixed phrase, shade of meaning. The vocabulary ceiling of the suite.

2Use of English · P2 + P3

Open cloze & word formation

Low-frequency lexico-grammar with no options, then derived forms including compound and irregular formation.

3Use of English · P4

Key word transformations

Six exact reformulations, frequently involving idiom or fixed structure — catalogued and drilled weekly from here.

4Mini-mock 1

Use of English under time

Parts 1–4 at exam pace. The error profile chooses the month's drills.

5Reading · P5

Implication & stylistic effect

Tone, attitude and what the writer is doing rather than saying — Unit 1's detection skill as a reading task.

6Reading · P6

The gapped text

Seven removed paragraphs restored from global architecture — the longest-range reading in the suite.

7Reading · P7 + speed

Matching & the 3,000 words

Ten items across a long text — then the constraint trained explicitly: ~3,000 words read in 90 minutes alongside four UoE parts.

8Mini-mock 2

Full Paper 1

Reading and Use of English complete in one sitting: 53 questions, 90 minutes.

9Writing · Part 1

Summarise and evaluate

THE distinctive C2 task: two input texts weighed against each other in 240–280 words, planned in under ten minutes. Taught as a procedure.

10Writing · Part 2

The long genres

Article, letter, report or review at 280–320 words — genre conventions, register, and the reader taught as decisions.

11Listening · P1 + P3

Extracts & the unstated

Gist, attitude and implication — then interacting speakers where the tested position is never said aloud.

12Mini-mock 3

Writing + Listening

Both writing tasks in 90 minutes, then a full Listening paper with the real recording flow.

13Listening · P2 + P4

Completion & double matching

Exact-word transcription, then five monologues carrying two simultaneous tasks — main point and speaker attitude.

14Speaking · P1 + P2

Interview & collaboration

Precise spontaneous response, then the four-minute visual-prompt task: speculate, evaluate, negotiate.

15Speaking · P3

The long turn + discussion

The suite's hardest speaking task: two minutes alone on an abstract prompt card, then six minutes defending the position — rehearsed on a different theme every week.

16Mini-mock 4

Speaking, examined

The full 16-minute paired test with a second teacher as assessor — unfamiliar partners, unseen prompt cards.

Phase 2 · The full-mock block — weeks 17–20

17Full mock 1

The whole exam

All four papers across the week, real timing. Component profile plus predicted grade.

18Repair week

Weakest component first

Remediation grouped by mock profile — each candidate drills only their two weakest parts.

19Full mock 2

Exam conditions

One sitting per paper, answer sheets, live speaking with unseen cards — the dress rehearsal.

20Exam week

Tune-up & logistics

Light review: idiom cards, one listening, one long turn. Documents, times, sleep.

🎲Every mini-mock week, warm up with The Grammar Run: twenty timed squares of range and idiom at the ceiling of the suite, with a playful Cambridge Scale estimate at the end.Play the run →
For teachers: placement gate first — below ~190 on a baseline paper, the candidate needs the course, not the track. There is no level above this one: candidates at 215+ on mocks should be preparing for Grade A and for whatever the certificate is for — the admission, the registration, the post — since institutional requirements, not the exam, now set the bar.