Ingles

CAMBRIDGE
E X A M I N AT I O N S , C E RT I F I C AT E S & D I P L O M A S

CAE

C E R T I F I C AT E I N A D VA N C E D E N G L I S H

HANDBOOK

English as a
Foreign Language

P R E FAC E
This Handbook is intended principally for teachers and
course designers who are, or intend to become, involved in
preparing candidates for the Certificate in Advanced English
(CAE). There areseparate Handbooks for other Cambridge
EFL examinations.
The introductory part of the handbook provides a general
background to the Cambridge EFL examinations and an
overview of the work of UCLES-EFL, including a description
of current procedures for test design, production and
marking.
For further information on any of the Cambridge EFL
examinations, please contact:
EFL InformationUniversity of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate
Syndicate Buildings
1 Hills Road
Cambridge
CB1 2EU
Tel:
+44 1223 553355
Fax: +44 1223 460278
email: efl@ucles.org.uk
www.cambridge-efl.org.uk

Page 2

C H A N G E S TO C A E
The following changes to CAE are being introduced from the
December 1999/June 2000 examining sessions:

Paper 3 (see page 32)
The following changes to CAEPaper 3 are being introduced
for the first time in the December 1999 examining session:
A new task appears on the paper. This is a word formation
task consisting of two short texts containing in total 15 gaps.
Candidates are required to form a new word to complete the
gap using a prompt word provided.
The current Question 6 (expansion of notes into sentences)
will no longer appear on the paper.Paper 3 thus consists of:
Part 1

(formerly Section A, question 1)
Multiple choice cloze

Part 2

(formerly Section A, question 2) Open cloze

Part 3

(formerly Section B, question 3)
Error correction text

Part 4

Word formation (a new task)

Part 5

(formerly Section B, question 4)
Register change gap-fill task

Part 6

(formerly Section C, question 5)

The timeallowed for the paper (1 hour and 30 minutes)
remains unchanged.

Paper 4 (see page 40)
The following change to CAE Paper 4 is being introduced for
the first time in the June 2000 examining session:
Part 4 (formerly Section D): the taped material remains
unchanged (i.e. five short listening texts with common
theme), but an alternative task will be introduced in some
versions of the testconsisting of ten 3-option multiple
choice questions, with two questions relating to each short
text.

Paper 5 (see page 49)
The following changes to CAE Paper 5 are being introduced
for the first time in the December 1999 examining session:
In Part 2 ‘describe and draw’ tasks no longer appear in the
specifications for the test.
In Part 4 the Assessor no longer takes part in the discussion.Page 3

I N T RO D U C T I O N

Introduction to UCLES
The University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate
(UCLES) was established as a department of the University of
Cambridge in 1858 in order to set a standard of efficiency
for schools in England. The Cambridge examinations cover a
wide range of academic and vocational subjects and include
examinations specially designed forthe international market.
Examinations in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) were
started at UCLES in 1913, with the Certificate of Proficiency
in English (CPE). The First Certificate in English (FCE) was
introduced in 1939. Other EFL examinations and schemes
for Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) have
been added periodically since then, so that UCLES now
offers the mostcomprehensive range of EFL examinations
and TEFL schemes with a total annual candidature of over
500,000.

The English as a Foreign Language (EFL)
UCLES-EFL has specific responsibility for all the professional
and specialist aspects of the EFL examinations and the TEFL
schemes. The EFL team is made up of staff with
qualifications mainly in the area of applied linguistics and
TEFL, and with...