AQA GCSE English Language: core writing skills overview quiz quiz

AO1 and AO2

AO3 and AO4

AO5 and AO6

AO7 and AO8

20 and 20

16 for AO5 and 24 for AO6

30 and 10

24 for AO5 and 16 for AO6

It secures the organisation half of AO5 and keeps the writing coherent

It is strictly required by the exam rules and you lose marks if you skip it

It directly adds extra words to your final count and so lifts your word total

It completely replaces the need to proofread your work once you have finished

A semicolon used correctly to link two closely related ideas

Joining two complete sentences with only a comma

A deliberately short sentence dropped in for dramatic impact

A particular kind of well-structured paragraph in an essay

Using the longest and most complicated words you can possibly find

Packing in as much specialist technical jargon as you possibly can

Precise, well-chosen words that suit the purpose and audience

Repeating the same strong, impressive word again and again for effect

There is no risk at all, since examiners reward any ambitious word

It always gains you an automatic bonus mark whatever the context

It only ever affects your AO5 content mark and never touches AO6

Misusing or misspelling it can lower your AO6 mark

Ending a piece by returning to an image, phrase or idea from the opening

Physically arranging the words in a spiral or circle shape on the page

Using only neat round numbers, such as ten or one hundred, in your writing

Repeating every single sentence twice over so the reader cannot miss it

It is far too short to count as a proper sentence on its own

It wastes the strongest position; the first line should be a hook

It is grammatically wrong and an examiner will always penalise it

It uses far too much ambitious vocabulary all crammed into one line

It does not matter at all to the examiner marking your work

Only short, simple sentences are ever credited under AO6 marking

AO6 rewards a range of sentence structures used for effect

It belongs purely to AO5 and has nothing to do with AO6 marks

No, the two papers are completely different and share no skills

Only the planning skill carries across; nothing else transfers

Only the spelling skill carries across; nothing else transfers

Yes, both tasks are marked on AO5 and AO6 in the same way

Leaving time to proofread for accuracy, because AO6 is a fixed 16 marks

Writing the longest possible answer and filling every line on the page

Cramming in as many different writing techniques as you possibly can

Avoiding paragraphs altogether so the writing flows in one continuous block

To set out the whole essay's final conclusion before any of the argument has begun

To state the paragraph's main reason clearly, guiding the reader through the argument

To add a single supporting quotation and nothing else of any substance to the paragraph

To bring the paragraph to a close and neatly round off the point being made