WHAT IS CAE? - AN INTRODUCTION

CAE is the second highest level Cambridge ESOL exam, at level C1 of the Council of Europe's Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Choose CAE if you are reaching a standard of English that is adequate for most purposes, including social and professional situations, and in higher education.
Although the level of language skills required is not as high as for CPE (Certificate of Proficiency in English), CAE recognises the ability to communicate with confidence in English and deal with most aspects of everyday life.

Why take CAE?
CAE is ideal if you want to work or study abroad or to develop a career which requires language skills (e.g. business, medicine, engineering). It is also useful preparation if you are working towards CPE (Certificate of Proficiency in English).
On passing the exam, you'll receive a certificate awarded by University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations. Your CAE certificate is recognised by universities and employers throughout the world.
You will also receive a statement of results, showing how you performed in each of the five papers.
Studying for CAE helps you to improve your language skills and use them in a wide range of contexts. The exams are based on realistic tasks, and indicate the ability to use the language in practical situations. If you are successful, you'll be able to participate in meetings and discussions, expressing opinions clearly, and be able to understand and produce texts of various types, including business letters and reports. You'll also be more than capable of following university courses taught in English.

What does the exam involve?
CAE has five papers:
Reading
Writing
English in use
Listening
Speaking

The written papers are returned to Cambridge for marking and assessment. The Speaking Test is conducted by two locally based examiners who examine candidates face to face. All examiners are accredited by Cambridge ESOL.

Reading (Paper 1), 1 hour 15 minutes
This paper assesses your ability to read and understand a number of texts taken from books, newspapers and magazines. You are expected to be able to show understanding of gist, main points, detail, text structure or specific information, deduce meaning or recognise opinion and attitude.

Writing (Paper 2), 2 hours
This paper assesses your ability to write non-specialised text types such as letters, articles, reports and reviews for a given purpose and target reader, covering a range of topics. Responses are of about 250 words in length.

English in Use (Paper 3), 1 hour 30 minutes
In this paper, you are expected to demonstrate knowledge and control of the language system by completing various tasks at text and sentence level, based on authentic texts. This will include gap-filling, error correction, word formation, register transfer and text completion exercises.

Listening (Paper 4), 45 minutes (approx.)
This paper assesses your ability to understand the meaning of spoken English and to extract detailed and specific information from the spoken text and to understand speakers' attitudes and opinions. The texts are taken from a variety of text types including interviews, discussions, lectures and conversations.

Speaking (Paper 5), 15 minutes
The Speaking Test assesses your ability to interact in conversational English in a range of contexts. It contains four parts, including an interview section, individual long turns, a collaborative task and a discussion. You are provided with stimulus materials such as photographs and drawings You will normally take the Speaking Test in pairs.

Source: http://www.cambridgeesol.org/exams/cae.htm