Writing tasks
The 50, 90 and 150-word tasks: covering every bullet with range and accuracy.
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Writing tasks, explained point by point
Everything the GCSE specification expects you to be able to do, and how to actually do it - the same lesson a signed-in student studies from.
Know the writing tasks at each tier
With AQA, at Foundation you write about 50 words on five bullet points (10 marks) and about 90 words on three bullets (15 marks), and the paper also has a short grammar task, choosing a missing word from three. At Higher, you write the same 90-word task and about 150 words on two bullets (25 marks). With Edexcel, at Foundation you write 40 to 50 words in a formal context (14 marks) and 80 to 90 words in an informal one (18); at Higher, the same 80 to 90-word task and 130 to 150 words in a formal context (22). For each longer task you choose one of two, and the word counts are a guide: examiners mark everything you write, and meeting the criteria matters more than the count.
Cover every bullet point
Every bullet is compulsory. They need not be covered equally, but leaving one out holds back the marks for content: in AQA's 90-word task, only an answer that covers all three can reach the top two bands, and Edexcel expects each bullet to be addressed and developed. Tick each bullet off as you write about it.
Spot the time frame each bullet asks for
Bullets often point to a tense: 'what you did last summer' wants the past (je suis allé, j'ai visité), 'your plans' wants the future (je vais, and at Higher j'irai) and 'what you usually do' wants the present. In the 80 to 90-word task, Edexcel asks for present, past and future, and AQA's top language band for its 90-word task needs all three.
Write the short task simply and accurately
Write one or two short sentences per bullet, in French you are sure of: ma maison est petite mais jolie. In AQA's 50-word task half of the 10 marks are for covering the bullets clearly and half for the variety and accuracy of your language. Edexcel's 40 to 50-word task is formal and asks for the present and the future, so write politely with vous and an opening such as Madame, Monsieur.
Develop your ideas with opinions, reasons and detail
The top content band for the 90-word task asks for ideas that are regularly developed. Turn a bare fact into a developed one: je joue au basket becomes je joue au basket le samedi avec mon frère parce que c'est amusant. An opinion with a reason is the quickest development there is.
Add range with connectives and more complex structures
The language mark rewards variety and attempts at complexity. Join ideas with parce que, mais, aussi, cependant and quand, and use structures such as je voudrais, on peut, il faut and à mon avis. Vary how sentences start, so the writing never reads as a list.
Tackle the longest task with depth and complexityHigher only
AQA's 150-word task has two bullets and 25 marks: 15 for content and 10 for language, split between range and accuracy, and covering only one bullet limits the content mark to 12 out of 15. Edexcel's 130 to 150-word task is formal and worth 22. Show complex French you control, such as depuis with the present, après avoir, en with a present participle, and si with the imperfect and the conditional.
Plan first, then check your work
Spend a few minutes planning a sentence or two for each bullet and the tenses you will use. At the end, check verb endings, the agreement of adjectives and of participles after être, accents and the gender of each noun. A simpler sentence written well is worth more than a complex one that loses its meaning.
Writing tasks key terms
The words the specification and the mark schemes use, each defined the way an examiner wants it.
- Bullet point
- One of the prompts in a writing task. Every bullet is compulsory, though they need not be covered equally.
- Time frame
- Past, present or future. AQA's top language band for the 90-word task needs all three, used mainly successfully.
- Development
- Adding to an idea with a reason, an example, an opinion or extra detail, so it says more than a bare fact.
- Connective
- A linking word such as parce que, mais, donc or cependant, which joins ideas into longer sentences.
- Complex language
- Structures beyond simple sentences, such as je voudrais or on peut, and at Higher après avoir mangé or si j'avais le temps.
- Accuracy
- How free the writing is of slips. A major error gets in the way of the meaning; a minor one does not.
- à mon avis
- In my opinion: a clear way to open an opinion, usually followed by a reason with parce que.
- c'était
- It was: a neat way to give an opinion about the past, as in c'était génial.
- quand je serai plus âgéHigher only
- When I am older: French uses the future after quand when the time is still to come.
Common mistakes in Writing tasks
The slips that cost marks year after year, and what to do instead.
Leaving out a bullet point, or writing so little on it that it is hardly covered.
Every bullet is compulsory, and missing one holds back your content mark. Plan at least two sentences for each bullet before you start writing.
Writing everything in the present tense when a bullet asks about the past or the future.
Read each bullet for its time frame and answer in it: l'année dernière, je suis allé for the past, je vais for the future. The top language marks in the 90-word task need all three time frames.
Writing out a memorised answer that does not match the bullets you were set.
Content marks go on answering the bullets in front of you. Learn flexible phrases rather than whole essays, and shape them to each bullet.
Attempting complex structures you are unsure of, so the meaning gets lost.
Complex language only earns credit when it mostly works. Use a few structures you have practised, and keep the rest of your writing simple and accurate.
Skipping the final check of verb endings, agreements and accents.
Save a few minutes to reread. Check that each verb matches its subject, adjectives agree with their nouns (une ville intéressante) and accents are in place (été, très, à).