A Brief History of the Literature Paper in the Cambridge Proficiency in English Examination (CPE) 1913–2002: Have They Thrown the Baby out with the Bath Water?

Abstract

This study aims to explore the historical development of the literature paper in the Cambridge Proficiency examination (CPE) from its beginning in 1913 to its discontinuation in 2002. The research draws inspiration from research notes published in 2013 and 2002 (Weir, 2002, 2013) as well as from personal communication with the Archives team at Cambridge Assessment. Based on an understanding of writing educational history from a moral and pedagogical perspective (Williams, 2005), the study provides a critical account of how and why the literary paper of the CPE was discontinued in 2002. The subsequent analysis of examination types is informed by past literature papers from the Cambridge Lower Certificate in English (CLCE, 1972) and the 1975 paper from the CPE. It shows that both the CLCE and CPE examination questions, despite criticism that they did not assess candidates’ language ability (Carter and Long, 1990), enabled candidates to situate themselves critically in relation to academic secondary sources, a main characteristic of academic writing (Wolf, 2024). Finally, the article looks at the pedagogical implications of using tried and tested as well as recent language-based tests of comprehension (see Bauer et al., 2022) in the context of literature testing. It is found that language-based tests encourage and reliably test readers’ interpretive skills through focusing on their understanding of the wider meaning of literary texts.