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C2 Proficiency (CPE) · Paper 3 · 80 free exercises
C2 Proficiency Listening: the complete guide
Four parts, 30 questions, about 40 minutes, and every recording heard twice. What each part tests at Proficiency level, the marks you need for a C2, what to listen for in the long interview, and free practice with instant marking.
Try one now · Part 1 · 1 of 6 in the real paper
You hear a historian talking about a museum exhibition.
The curators have clearly worked hard, and the objects are extraordinary. My reservation is that every label tells you what to think of a piece before you’ve had a chance to look at it. I’d rather have been trusted a little more.
What is the historian’s criticism of the exhibition?
- The objects are poorly chosen.
- The information given is too directive.
- The curators lack expertise.
She praises two things before her “reservation”. What is it about?
- 4 parts
- 30 questions
- 40 minutes
- 200 for a C2
Practise Part 1 free → · Try a timed paper
The four parts, and where students lose marks
Tap a part for its guide
- Part 1 · Multiple Choice: Extracts: Opinion, purpose and feeling in three extracts · 20 free exercises. Questions: 6 questions, 1 mark each. What you hear: 3 extracts, 2 questions each. C2 students score: 60%.
- Part 2 · Sentence Completion (Hardest): Specific information in a monologue · 21 free exercises. Questions: 9 questions, 1 mark each. What you hear: 1 talk, write the words. C2 students score: 53%.
- Part 3 · Multiple Choice: Interview: Attitude and opinion in a longer interview · 19 free exercises. Questions: 5 questions, 1 mark each. What you hear: 1 interview, 4 options each. C2 students score: 59%.
- Part 4 · Multiple Matching: Gist, attitude and main points across five speakers · 20 free exercises. Questions: 10 questions, 1 mark each. What you hear: 5 speakers, 2 tasks. C2 students score: 65%.
- Every part counts towards one Listening score (30 marks)
- You hear every recording twice
Sentence Completion is where C2 students score lowest (53%). Predict the kind of word each gap needs before the recording starts, then write exactly what you hear, spelled correctly. Multiple Matching is the friendliest part (65%): bank those marks.
Average score from 600 tries by 70 C2 students on Cambridge Ready.
The marks you need for a C2
200 on the Cambridge English Scale
- Listening: 18 of 30. About 60% of the marks gives 200.
Your overall result is the average of all five skills, so a good Listening score can make up for a weaker paper.
From Cambridge’s published conversion tables. The exact mark varies slightly from paper to paper.
The method
Six habits that hold under time pressure
- In Part 1, read both questions for each extract and note what each asks for: attitude, purpose or opinion.
- In Part 2, predict the word for each gap, then listen for the speaker’s exact words. Nine gaps go fast.
- In Part 3, separate what speakers report about others from what they think themselves.
- In Part 4, use the first listening for Task 1 and the second for Task 2 and checking.
- Listen for qualifiers like “to some extent” and “not entirely”: at C2 they decide many answers.
- Answer every question. A blank and a wrong answer both score zero.
The traps
The mistakes we see most
- The almost-right option: C2 options are often half true. The right one matches the whole of what the speaker means.
- A view described, then rejected: Speakers may outline an opinion only to argue against it. Wait for their own position.
- Spelling and fit in Part 2: Write the word you hear, spelled correctly, and check it fits the sentence grammatically. (
persue→ pursue) - Tone that changes the meaning: Praise can be ironic. Listen to how something is said, not only to what is said.
Practise Sentence Completion free → The part where C2 students score lowest. 21 exercises, every answer explained.
Questions students ask
How long is the C2 Proficiency Listening test?
About 40 minutes, with four parts and 30 questions. Every recording is played twice.
How many marks do you need to pass C2 Proficiency Listening?
About 18 out of 30 in Listening, which gives 200 on the Cambridge English Scale, the C2 level. You pass on your overall score, the average of all five skills.
Which part of C2 Proficiency Listening is the hardest?
For C2 students on Cambridge Ready, Sentence Completion (Part 2, 53%) and Multiple Choice: Interview (Part 3, 59%) have the lowest average scores.
Is C2 Proficiency Listening harder than C1 Advanced?
The format is very similar: four parts and 30 questions, all heard twice. The difference is in the recordings: more abstract topics, more meaning left unsaid, and options that differ in finer shades.
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