Thursday, 18 June 2026 3:51 pm

Question 1 Directed Writing: How

to Write a Letter
One of the three formats that you may be asked to write in for Question 1 is a letter.
This may be an informal letter, to a friend or relative, or a formal one. You will be
given the intended audience for your letter and the reason why you are writing in the
task instructions. The arguments you put forward in your letter should be based on
what you have read in the reading passages given, and your writing marks will come
from your ability to vary your writing to suit the purpose, audience and form of the
task, as well as how you structure your response.
The following guides will detail how to structure your response in the style of two
different types of letter, an informal letter and a formal letter.

Informal letter
An informal letter will be written to someone you know well, such as a friend or a
relative. You may be asked to offer your ideas and opinions as advice, or to weigh
up the pros and cons of something. It is important to remember that, although you
are writing to a relative or friend, this is an exam and you are not actually writing a
letter to that person. Therefore, do not use abbreviations or slang, such as “OMG!”.
Informal letter
In an informal letter you should:
• Start with “Dear” and use the first name of the person you are writing to
• Include a warm and friendly opening, such as:
○ “It was good to hear from you,” or “Sorry I have not replied sooner; I have been so busy
revising for my exams.”
• Tell them why you are writing the letter:
○ The reason will be given to you in the task instructions
• Paragraphs should be clear and well sequenced, using appropriate connectives
• Use topic sentences to begin each paragraph, and then develop that point appropriately and
in detail
• Do not try to include multiple, different arguments in one paragraph
• Use the bullet points in the task to structure your letter
• You can sign off your letter more informally:
○ Try “Best wishes,” or “Hope to see you soon.”
The level of informality in this style of letter comes from keeping your tone light and
adding personal details. However, you still need to use accurate spelling, with a
variety of sentences and punctuation used for effect.

Examiner Tips and Tricks

Always write with your intended audience in mind. Address them directly throughout
your writing, mention their specific concerns and ensure you develop your points in a
way which would convince your specific reader.

Formal letter
A formal letter will be written to somebody in authority, such as a headteacher, a
manager or the editor of a newspaper. You will still be asked to put forward your
point of view, ideas and opinions, based on what you have read in the text(s), but
your tone and language should be adapted to suit the intended audience and
purpose of writing. There are some typical conventions of a formal letter that you can
use, but be careful not to spend too much time on irrelevant formatting details.
Formal letter
A formal letter should:
• Include a date
• Use the correct salutation:
○ If you do not know the name of the person you are writing to, then use “Dear
Sir/Madam”
○ You can use “Dear Editor” if writing in response to an article or letter seen in a
newspaper or magazine
• If you do not know the name of the person you are writing to, use “Yours faithfully,” at the

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 • If you do not know the name of the person you are writing to, use “Yours faithfully,” at the
end
• If you are given the name of the person, then start with “Dear [name]” and end with “Yours
sincerely,”
• Your introduction should state what you are writing about, why you are writing and what
your opinion is:
○ Make this relevant to the purpose of the task
○ Instead of using “I am writing because…”, use the wording of the task instructions
○ For example: “I am writing to give my opinion about…”
• Paragraphs should be clear and well sequenced, using appropriate connectives
• Use topic sentences to begin each paragraph, and then develop that point appropriately and
in detail
• Do not try to include multiple, different arguments in one paragraph

Question 1 Directed Writing: How

to Write a Speech
One of the three formats that you may be asked to write in for Question 1 is a
speech. This may be to your class or students in your school or college, or
something more formal intended for broadcast. The opinions and ideas you put
forward in your speech should be based on what you have read in the reading
passages given, and your writing marks will come from your ability to vary your
writing to suit the purpose, audience and form of the task, as well as how you
structure your response.
The following guide will detail how to structure your response in the style of a
speech.

Key features of a speech

The language and tone of your speech will be determined by the task and subject,
but the following are the basic features of a speech which you could include in your
response:
Speech or talk
In a speech or talk you should:
• Address the audience directly throughout
• Engage the audience in your introduction:
○ Outline the topic
○ Use persuasive devices to hook the audience, such as rhetorical questions to get them
thinking
• Structure your speech logically, building your arguments persuasively:
○ Speeches or talks will use persuasive language features
○ Use the acronym DAN FOREST PIE to remember these
○ To offer a balanced view, include an objection to the argument in a separate paragraph
• Include your audience using inclusive pronouns (“we”, “us”, “our”)
• To finish, circle back to your original argument, calling your audience to action if appropriate
You might wish to structure your speech in the following way:
1. Directly address the reader or audience:
○ Introduce the topic and your point of view
○ Use personal and inclusive pronouns to involve your audience, e.g., “you”
or “we”
○ Engage your audience using a rhetorical question
2. Your next paragraph should develop your argument:
○ You will need to infer information, ideas and opinions from the reading
texts to do this
3. Provide an anecdote to offer an example which proves your argument:
○ This builds rapport with your reader by engaging with them on a personal
level
○ Again, this should be based on what you have read
4. Engage the reader on a personal level using a counter-argument:
○ Again, this should be based on and developed from the ideas in the
reading texts
5. Offer more research or studies:
○ This can be in the form of statistics, a witness statement, poll, or quote
from an expert, based on the reading texts
6. End your speech with an emotive plea:

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 6. End your speech with an emotive plea:
○ Use emotive language to engage your reader
○ Ending your response on a single sentence, perhaps using a triplet, is an
effective conclusion

Examiner Tips and Tricks

Rhetorical questions are commonly used as a persuasive device, but avoid over-
using any one technique, as this will make your writing sound much less
sophisticated. Always consider the reason why you are using a technique and what
the effect is that you want to achieve. Do not just use techniques for the sake of
using them.

Persuasive writing
A speech is often more persuasive than other forms of writing. You are trying to
persuade your audience that your point of view is valid, and sometimes encourage
them to join you.
Here are some tips for how to make your speech persuasive:
• Write in the first person (write from your own perspective)
• Use personal and inclusive pronouns:
○ Using words such as “we” and “us” builds rapport between you and your
audience and makes them feel involved
• Present your opinions as facts; as a truth that should not be challenged
• Be passionate but not aggressive:
○ Use emotive language and imperatives to call your audience to action
• Decide on your position and stick to it
• Make sure you do not sound like an advertisement
As an example, let’s consider the following introduction to a speech about GCSEs:

Question 1 Directed Writing: How

to Write an Article
One of the three formats that you may be asked to write in for Question 1 is an
article. This will most likely be for a magazine, and you will be given the intended
audience for your article and the reason why you are writing it in the task
instructions. The opinions and ideas you put forward in your article should be based

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instructions. The opinions and ideas you put forward in your article should be based
on what you have read in the reading passages given, and your writing marks will
come from your ability to vary your writing to suit the purpose, audience and form of
the task, as well as how you structure your response.

Key features of an article

The language and tone of your article will be determined by the task and subject, but
the following are the basic features of an article which you could include in your
response:
Magazine or newspaper article
In an article you should:
• Use a snappy heading:
○ Consider using alliteration, a rhetorical question or a pun (a play on words) for this
○ Use capital letters for all but filler words in your heading
○ For example: “The Cruelty of Captivity”
• A strapline underneath the heading can summarise your point of view:
○ For example: “Why keeping animals in captivity has fallen out of favour”
• Use sub-headings to help structure your article (if appropriate)
• Address your audience directly, with consideration to the fact that an article is intended to be
read by a wide audience
• Be light-hearted and entertaining, formal and serious, or provide advice and tips, depending
on the task set
• Use topic sentences to begin each paragraph, and then develop that point appropriately and
in detail
• Do not try to include multiple different arguments in one paragraph
• Avoid beginning your article with “I’m writing this because..” or “In this article I shall be
discussing…”
Because an article is intended for publication, it is important to use Standard English
and to vary your sentence and paragraph lengths to keep your audience engaged.
The heading, strapline and opening paragraph of an article can employ lots of
persuasive devices to hook your reader and introduce your point of view. For
example:

Examiner Tips and Tricks

Rhetorical questions are commonly used as headings, but they can be too simplistic
or too general, so consider how you can make your headline sophisticated and
specific. Choosing a simple statement can be very effective, using a play on words
taken from the article topic.

Article structure
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 Article structure
The ideas and opinions you put forward in your article will be based on what you
have read in the text(s). However, your opinion can either be in favour of something,
or against it, as long as you are able to sustain a convincing argument and a
consistent point of view.

• Your article should be structured into five or six paragraphs:

○ Remember, each paragraph does not have to be the same length
○ Better answers vary the lengths of their paragraphs for effect
○ Develop separate ideas or points in each paragraph
○ But avoid repeating the same idea throughout your article
Rеmеmbеr that to produce an effective response, you should aim to develop your
points carefully in each paragraph, using language features and techniques to
highlight ideas and emphasise your points.

Examiner Tips and Tricks

While writing in the correct form as instructed is important in this question, you only
need to adhere to the basic conventions of an article. Drawing columns or spending
too much time thinking up the perfect headline wastes valuable time and will not
improve your mark. Remember, it is more important that you adapt your style,
language and tone to suit the intended audience and purpose, and that you construct
a well-structured and coherent piece of writing, than waste time on the layout of your
response.

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