I've found this old thread when searching something about the CPE exam. I'm at present looking for a job, and having passed this test is required in many of the offers I've seen in my field of interest. I'm afraid I'm not approaching "a standard of English similar to that of an educated native speaker" yet, but, anyway, my question is, is accent an important issue? Or is any accent acceptable (as long as the examiners can understand what words I'm saying)? I've perused the whole Cambridge ESOL web site (well, not the whole), and I haven't found anything in this regard. Thanks!