Cambridge C2 Proficiency (CPE): The Reading and Use of English Paper Explained

Cambridge C2 Proficiency, known as CPE, is the highest-level English exam Cambridge offers and certifies C2 on the CEFR scale, the top of the scale, a level of English that’s genuinely comparable to an educated native speaker. Of the exam’s four papers, Reading and Use of English is the one candidates worry about most, since it’s the longest, carries the most marks and combines two skills, comprehension and precise grammar control, in a single 90-minute sitting. This guide breaks down what’s actually in it and how to prepare.

Where Reading and Use of English fits in the full CPE exam

The 7 parts of Reading and Use of English

Part 1, Multiple-choice cloze: a text with 8 gaps, each with 4 possible answers. Tests precise vocabulary knowledge, particularly collocations and fixed phrases, the specific word that fits idiomatically, not just semantically.

Part 2, Open cloze: a text with 8 gaps and no answer choices given. You supply the missing word yourself, usually a grammar word (preposition, article, conjunction, auxiliary verb) rather than vocabulary.

Part 3, Word formation: a text with 8 gaps, each showing a base word in capitals that you must change (adding a prefix, suffix or changing its form) to fit the sentence grammatically and logically.

Part 4, Key word transformation: 6 items, each giving you an original sentence, a key word, and a gapped second sentence that must mean the same as the first, using the key word and no more than 8 words. This part tests range of grammatical structures more than any other.

Parts 5 to 7, Reading comprehension: a long text with multiple-choice questions, a text with 6 missing paragraphs to place back correctly, and either one long text or several shorter linked texts with multiple-matching questions. These test genuine reading comprehension: following an argument, understanding implication and tracking how ideas connect across paragraphs.

Why this paper is worth 40%

Cambridge weights Reading and Use of English at 40% because it efficiently tests two skills, reading comprehension and grammatical accuracy, that underpin everything else in the exam. A candidate with weak grammar control will also struggle in Writing, and a candidate who reads slowly or misses implication will struggle in the Speaking discussion parts too. In that sense, strong performance here is a genuine predictor of strong performance across the whole exam, which is exactly why Cambridge weights it so heavily.

How to prepare effectively

Because this paper tests depth of vocabulary and grammar rather than a single skill you can cram, the most effective preparation is consistent, varied reading over months, not weeks: news articles, opinion pieces, short fiction, anything written at an educated, native level. Alongside that, working through past papers under timed conditions builds the specific exam skills (recognising question types quickly, managing your 90 minutes across 7 parts) that reading alone won’t teach you. A teacher who can review your Part 4 transformations and Part 3 word-formation answers in detail is particularly valuable here, since these are the parts where a single wrong ending or missed collocation costs you a mark you might not otherwise notice.

If you’re also working on other CPE papers, our guides to the CAE Writing section and CAE Reading test cover overlapping skills at the level just below CPE, useful if you’re building up toward C2. For structured, teacher-led exam preparation at your actual level, our English exam preparation course, including the dedicated Cambridge exam preparation track, pairs you with a teacher experienced in Cambridge exam marking criteria.

Frequently asked questions