THE BASICS
You have 80 minutes to write two texts. The first text will always be an essay and should be 140-190 words long. The second text can be an article, informal email or letter, a formal email or letter, a report, or a review and should be 140-190 words.
The examiners give you a grade based on 4 things:
Content - Did you write what you were asked to write?
Communicative achievement - Was your writing too formal, too informal, or just right?
Organisation - Did you link paragraphs and sentences? Is there a logical flow from start to finish?
Language - Did you show off your sparkling vocabulary or did you use basic words? Did you make lots of grammar and spelling mistakes?
TIME MANAGEMENT
The two texts are worth equal points and have the same word lengths, so you should spend equal time on them. That gives you 40 minutes per text. Spend some of that time planning and some checking. For example:
Planning - 10 minutes
Writing - 25 minutes
Checking - 5 minutes
You might think that's too long for the planning stage, but the more you plan the fewer problems you will have later.
GRADING
The first point is the content itself. If you are asked to write a letter to your friend and you write a review - well, it doesn't matter how good that review is, the examiner will give you zero points, so READ THE TASK AND DO EXACTLY WHAT IT SAYS
The second thing Cambridge wants is for you to show that you understand about tone. How formal should that be? For that essay, you should use a neutral or slightly formal style, not too formal or too casual. In short, try to make sure that what you write is appropriate for the person you are writing to.
Thirdly, organisation and a clear structure of your writing is essential. Cambridge correctors love when you link sentences together with words like 'whereas' and 'however', and link paragraphs with phrases like 'Firstly, secondly'. You must learn how to use these phrases if you want a good grade.One easy way to get a higher score in 'organisation' is to ask a question, and then answer it.
Finally, your writing will be more interesting and you'll get a better grade if you can use a wide variety of language. Use high-level vocabulary when you know it; don't repeat the same word too many times; don't make too many mistakes; try to use a variety of grammar (not just 'subject verb object' all the time).
You will be rewarded if you learn (and use) some appropriate phrasal verbs, idioms, and collocations. Compare these sentences:
1. The food was good and the service was good and we had a good time.
2. The food was delicious, while the service was faultless. Did we have a good time?
I hope you agree that the second is much nicer to read. Is it much harder to write? Not really. And if you don't know the word 'faultless' you might know a different word that would fit. Even if you said 'good' again, the sentence would get you a much better score in FCE because the 'while' connects the first two parts and the question connects the last two.
OTHER QUESTIONS:
Q - Should you do a plan?
A - Yes! You must make a plan to organise your writing. On the day of the exam, you will be stressed and feel pressure. A plan is your way of organising you text and your thoughts.
Q - What happens if I write more than 190 words?
A - Nothing… Well, almost nothing. In the past for every 5 words extra, they took away a point, however, now they do not. It is not good to go over 190 words because of time, but you can. I wouldn´t write more than 200 words because they will probably lower the mark they give you for content. They will determine some of it to be unnecessary.
Q - What counts as complex language in the exam?
A - You MUST use complex language at B2 level. You must use attention grabbing vocabulary and a variety of grammar structures. The passive voice, relative clauses, modal verbs, conditionals, reported speech and inversions all count as COMPLEX grammar forms and you must use them
QÂ - Do I have to use British spelling?
A - No. You can use American spelling.
QÂ - How important is spelling and punctuation?
A - You aren't expected to be perfect, but if a mistake stops the reader from understanding what you want to say, that's quite bad.
QÂ - How important is the word count? What happens if I write too many words?
A - If you do the task properly you will write the correct number of words. You won't lose marks if you write 5 words too many. Focus on writing what you have to write, and the word count will take care of itself. Don't waste time in the exam counting how many words you have written!Â
QÂ - My handwriting is terrible! Will I lose points?
A - Just make sure a human can read it - if you are very messy, write a little bit slower. If you usually end up with lots of things crossed out - you need to plan better!
Hope you find this information useful !