Assess my C2 Proficiency essay. Please.


I’ve always been curious to find out one thing. If a person has excellent English, can they write an excellent exam essay based on the instructions only, without any preparation? They should be able to, right?

I’ve decided to do an experiment on myself. My IELTS score is 9. I am toying with the idea of taking C2 Proficiency (formerly known as CPE). I have written a Part 1 essay based on the instructions only, without reading any tips, explanations, or model answers. In this post, I want to share my essay, and I am inviting everyone to assess it.

Here is the task (taken from the official website):

Part 1
Read the two texts below.
Write an essay summarising and evaluating the key points from both texts. Use your own words
throughout as far as possible, and include your own ideas in your answers.
Write your answer in 240 – 280 words.

The Excitement of Advertising
Outdoor advertising has to attract, engage and persuade potential customers; it is the most important way of grabbing customers’ attention and outdoor media continue to undergo a transformation. At the core of this transformation is the digital screen media, which encompass everything from giant screens to digital billboards. The technology is cheap and advertising agencies rave about the creative possibilities for advertisements which entertain, amuse, inform, make the environment brighter and enliven the world we live in.

Advertising: an undesirable business
Once upon a time outdoor advertising was straightforward. Posters were stuck up on anything from a bus shelter to a motorway hoarding. Many people considered this kind of advertising to be fairly dull, a harmless blot on the landscape and chose to ignore it. These people now regard digital advertising as a form of unwanted, creeping commercialisation: it attracts a buzz simply because it is new. They feel that any advertising which targets children or vulnerable adults is a dubious practice at the best of times, and digital advertising is, moreover, wasteful, damaging to the environment and completely unnecessary.

Write your essay.

And here is my essay:

The texts discuss digital advertising, which is a new form of advertising that is gaining popularity. The texts present two opposite points of view on the matter.

The first text argues that digital advertising is a positive phenomenon. The first reason for that is its affordability. The reason seems valid as advertisers do not have to spend money on printing and putting up the posters, which results in enormous savings for companies. The second reason in favor of digital advertising is the variety of formats it allows for. Unlike posters, digital formats are more flexible, making it possible to create content that appeals to different kinds of target audiences. In my opinion, the flexibility is advantageous as it allows advertisers to reach and send a positive message to everyone.

The second text focuses on the negative aspects of digital advertising. First, it can have a detrimental impact on certain groups of population which are susceptible to advertising. Since this is true for all kinds of advertising, this argument against the digital form does not seem reasonable. Second, this form of advertising is claimed to cause harm to the environment. While this is undoubtedly true, the implications are not as devastating as those induced by other human activities. Finally, the author’s opinion appears to be based on emotions rather than facts. The author uses opinion words like “unwanted” or “unnecessary” without supporting their ideas with facts or explanations.

To conclude, the two texts look at digital advertising from two completely different angles. The first text argues for it, whereas the second one argues against it. In my view, the first text provides more cogent arguments.

274 words
50 minutes

The assessment criteria for the writing part of this exam are:
  • Content
  • Communicative Achievement
  • Organization
  • Language 
Answers get a mark on the scale of 0-5 for each criterion (0 being the lowest, 5 being the highest). You can find a detailed description on the official website.

What do you think? How did I do? Should reading models answers and tips be an indispensable part of preparation? You can give me your feedback as a comment to this post or by messaging me on FB or VK. Oh, and definitely message me if you want to prepare together. I will now start digging into what I did right or wrong. 

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