Writing / Text Production
What the section tests
You are asked to produce a short text - often a letter, email, paragraph, or opinion piece - of roughly 100–150 words. Marks reward clear structure, relevant content, accurate grammar, and appropriate register.
Concepts to master
- Text types and their conventions: informal letter/email (greeting, body, closing), formal letter (Dear Sir/Madam, Yours faithfully), narrative, and opinion/argument text.
- Paragraph structure: one main idea per paragraph, with a topic sentence, support, and a closing link.
- Cohesion: use connectors (firstly, however, in addition, therefore, finally).
- Register: informal (Hi, thanks, see you) vs. formal (no contractions, polite formulas).
- Accuracy: subject–verb agreement, tense consistency, spelling, punctuation.
Traps to watch for
- Writing off the topic - always address every point in the prompt.
- Forgetting the format (missing greeting or closing loses marks).
- Mixing registers: contractions in a formal letter.
- Very long sentences that lose grammatical control.
- Ignoring the word limit (too short = underdeveloped; too long = wasted time).
Rule of thumb
Plan (2 min) → write (15 min) → check (3 min). In the check, look for verb agreement, tense consistency, and capital letters at sentence starts.
Worked example - informal email opening: "Hi Marta, Thanks for your message. I'm writing to tell you about my plans for the holidays…" - greeting, thanks, and purpose in three short sentences.