Two emails, one mark scheme: content beats polish
A teacher is marking a class trial of the A2 Key email task. Students had to write to their English friend Jo and include three points: you cannot meet on Friday, why not, and a different day to meet. The minimum is 25 words.
Marta writes: 'Hi Jo, I'm sorry but I can't meet you on Friday because I have a dentist's appointment at 4 o'clock. Can we meet on Saturday morning instead? The cinema is open then. Marta' (34 words)
Luca writes: 'Dear Jo, I am writing to inform you that I will be unable to attend our meeting on Friday. Unfortunately I have a previous engagement. I apologise for any inconvenience. Yours sincerely, Luca' (33 words)
Both texts are almost error-free. The teacher has to rank them and explain the ranking to the class.
1. Which email should be ranked higher, and on what evidence? Name the content point Luca's email never makes.
Read the worked answer
Marta's email ranks higher.
Reasons:
- All three content points are covered. She says she cannot come (point 1), gives a reason - the dentist at 4 o'clock (point 2), and suggests Saturday morning instead (point 3). The third point is explicitly required by the task, and it is the one Luca never makes.
- The register fits the reader. The task says 'English friend'. Marta writes Hi Jo ... Marta, which is what a friend expects. Luca writes Dear Jo ... Yours sincerely, which belongs to a formal letter, not a note to a friend. At A2 this mismatch is a real weakness, not a decoration.
- The message is communicated simply and clearly. Marta uses short sentences with basic linkers (because, instead), which is exactly what the level rewards.
Luca's grammar is not the problem: his sentences are accurate. But he answers only two of the three bullets and writes to the wrong kind of reader. In this task, an accurate answer that ignores a bullet point loses more than a plain answer that covers all three.
2. A student asks: 'Marta wrote 34 words and the limit is 25. Did she lose marks for writing too much?' How should the teacher answer, and what would actually cost marks here?
Read the worked answer
The 25-word figure is a minimum, not a maximum. Cambridge does not deduct marks for going over it, so Marta loses nothing for 34 words.
What the student should understand:
- Extra length earns no extra marks. The mark scheme rewards communicating the message, not volume. Ten more words that repeat the same content add nothing.
- Extra length raises error risk: more words means more chances to make a grammar or spelling slip and more chance the reader loses the thread.
- Rehearsed formal phrases (I am writing to inform you that...) count as words but not as communication at this level.
What would genuinely cost marks in this task:
- Missing one of the three bullets (Luca's failure).
- Writing something the reader cannot follow, e.g. I can't Friday because appointment, we meet other day? - the message survives but the reason and the new day are unclear.
- Register so wrong that a friend would not recognise the message as a note.
Classroom rule of thumb: cover every bullet in as few clear words as possible, then stop.