1 Understanding the question

Your writing will be assessed on relevance to the task set; you must identify and answer the exact question set.

• Have you identified the key words in the question and answered all parts?

You must make sure that you have answered the questions fully and clearly.

• Have you taken any given input into account?

If you are completing a Part 1 task, make sure that you read the given input carefully so that you can use it to structure your answer.

Remember that a Part 1 task is usually discursive so you will need to put forward a point of view and support it with ideas or evidence.

• Have you identified the appropriate style required by the task?

You must think about the appropriate style to use – e.g. a report is more formal than an article.

2 Planning and organisation of material

Your writing will be assessed on both the organisation of the whole answer and on the organisation of individual paragraphs. Careful planning is very important.

• Have you decided on the main points you want to make before you start to write?

If you have not made a plan, then your writing will not be well organised. In a Part 1 answer you must plan in order to make sure that you include all the relevant information from the input text.

• Does your introduction make it clear what ideas your writing will develop?

In a discursive (Part 1) task you should give a clear indication in your introduction of the main areas you are planning to cover and follow this structure throughout the task. The input may give you ideas for these areas.

In a formal letter you should state your reasons for writing in the first paragraph.

In an essay, report or proposal your introduction should state the main topic areas you will be covering – this is he ‘plan of development’.

In an article your introduction should set the scene and capture the reader’s interest, e.g. by referring to a specific incident.

• Have you started a new paragraph for each new topic (but not each new point)?

Each paragraph should have one main topic only (though in a discursive answer there may be more than one piece of evidence provided to support the idea).

• Do the topics in your supporting paragraphs match the opening statement or plan of development stated in your introduction?

Make sure that you haven’t strayed from your main theme and included any unrelated points.

• Does each paragraph include plenty of supporting evidence for the main idea?

You should provide enough details or examples to support your main point so that your writing will be convincing.

• Have you linked your paragraphs so that they follow on from each other clearly?

You supporting paragraphs should follow a sensible, logical sequence and should be linked clearly either by linking words or phrases or by the underlying meaning.

• Have you used a clear method of development to organise the supporting details within each paragraph?

Common methods of development are:

Chronological time order

Emphatic order – listing points from the least important to the most important or ‘saving the best until last’

Contrast/concession – making a point followed by an opposite point

• Have you used appropriate linking words to help link the sentences within each paragraph?

Linking words signal the method of organisation you have chosen, and help the reader to follow the direction of your thoughts – but don’t overuse them as this is unnatural.

• Is your conclusion prepared for?

In a discursive answer (Part 1), your conclusion should summarise your answer to the question and state your own opinion or conclusion.

In a report or proposal, your conclusion should summarise the points made or make final recommendations.

In an article, your writing should round off with a quotation from a person interviewed in the article or a rhetorical question to the reader that echoes the introduction.