Cambridge English: Proficiency

Writing Task (go to Checklist)

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Writing Paper Part 2. Task Type: Report

Question
You belong to a committee that helps to organise a yearly carnival or festival in your home town. This year's event has just taken place and you have been asked by the event leader to write a short report about it, highlighting the successes and making recommendations for next year. Your report may include any or all of the following topics:

- number of people attending? - money raised? - most successful acts or events? - publicity? - general points?

Write the report for the event leader. (around 280 - 320 words)

What you need to do to pass
Read our checklist first to understand what the examiner is looking for in a good answer.

Ideas for writing
Ask yourself the following questions to help you get started:

• First decide what kind of festival or carnival you have helped to organise, and where/when it took place:
  - Wilsden Arts Festival in September
• Now choose the points from the above list that you want to write about. Choose at least three topic areas to evaluate and make notes about each one in terms of its success and recommendations.
  Example: Publicity
  Good points - event was well publicised in local press and radio
  Recommendation for next year - use professional designer for leaflets and posters
• Do you have any criticisms to make? Remember, the report is for the event leader so any negative points will have to be carefully expressed.
  Example:
  "It was suggested by a member of the public that ...."
• Decide on the overall organisation of the report. You could deal with the successes and recommendations in separate paragraphs or, better still, use the topic headings suggested in the task for your sections.

Drafting and proofreading your work

You should look at your first draft of the task and decide:

• Have you answered the question fully?
• Is the layout and organisation appropriate?
• Is the language accurate with a good range of structures?
• Is the style appropriate and consistent for your report?
• Will it be genuinely informative to the reader?

If the answer is 'no' to any of these questions then you will need to do some more drafting!