Feedback such as “make this better” is difficult to act on. A useful review identifies the problem and explains which change would improve the reader's understanding.
The review priorities in FCE Cambridge B2 First Writing Practice Book with 50 Sets consider the message, reader, organisation and language. You can use these as separate questions when revising your own work.
Check the missing information before polishing
If a reply does not answer the recipient's question, replacing simple adjectives will not solve the main problem. Add the answer first. Then check where it belongs and how clearly it is expressed.
Original revision scenario
A fictional email asks for the workshop date and whether materials are included. The draft describes the venue beautifully but gives neither answer.
Priority: Supply the requested information. Tone and spelling still matter, but they cannot compensate for the missing response.
Distinguish organisation from language
A paragraph can contain accurate sentences in an unhelpful order. If the recommendation appears before the problem it addresses, moving the sentences may be more effective than rewriting every word.
Choose the first revision
Draft: A report recommends longer opening hours, but never states which current limitation those hours would address.
Useful next step: Explain the relevant access problem and connect the recommendation to it.
Adding “furthermore” would not supply that missing reasoning. A connector can show a relationship, but it cannot create evidence that is absent.
Make feedback testable
Replace “improve organisation” with “put the description of the problem before the recommendation.” Replace “use better vocabulary” with a specific example of a word that misstates your meaning.
After revising, compare the two versions against the original task. Explain what the reader can now understand that was unclear before. Keep one transferable lesson for the next draft, rather than treating every response as an entirely new problem.
This practice routine supports editing; it does not assign an official examination score or predict a result.
Explore Cambridge B2 First Writing — Course 9 to see the course outline, current availability and enrolment options. Use the worked exercise above to identify a skill you would like to practise next.
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Cambridge B2 First Writing — Course 9
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Source: Camebridge b2- 149-1.epub, Jobins Training. Examples labelled original or illustrative were written for this article. Independent exam preparation; no affiliation with or endorsement by the examining body. Practice does not predict an official score.