Writing
B1 Preliminary Writing lasts 45 minutes and contains two tasks of equal value. Part 1 is an email reply: you read a short message from a friend containing four notes and answer it in about 100 words. Part 2 offers a choice - an article or a story - also about 100 words. Each task is marked on four criteria, each scored 0-5: Content, Communicative Achievement, Organisation and Language. Content is judged first, so an unanswered note costs marks before anything else is considered.
What the four criteria reward
- Content: all four notes covered, with relevant ideas that are developed rather than listed.
- Communicative Achievement: the right register and format - an informal email to a friend, or an article that speaks directly to its reader.
- Organisation: clear paragraphs, a logical order, and linking words such as so, however, then, also.
- Language: range and accuracy. Simple, correct sentences earn more than ambitious, broken ones.
Worked example (Part 1)
The friend's notes ask: (1) how to get to your town, (2) what to bring, (3) which local food to try, (4) what to do in the evening. A weak answer writes two lines about transport and then describes the town's history - interesting, but only one note is covered. A strong answer opens "Hi Sam, Great news that you're coming!", then gives one paragraph on travel ("The easiest way is to take the train to the central station - it's only ten minutes from my flat"), a second covering what to pack and what to eat, and a third on evening plans, closing with "Can't wait to see you!". Reasoning: four notes produce four pieces of information, each clearly signposted in its own paragraph; contractions and an exclamation match the friend as reader; the closing is appropriate to an informal email.
Traps that cost marks
- Missing a note. Three out of four is an automatic Content loss, however good the English.
- Wrong reader. "Dear Sir or Madam" or "I am writing to inform you" in a message to a friend damages Communicative Achievement.
- One solid block of text. No paragraph breaks means no Organisation marks.
- Copying the prompt's wording instead of paraphrasing it.
- Writing 200 words. Extra length earns nothing and steals time from Part 2.
- Part 2 without a shape. A story needs a clear sequence of events and a ending; an article needs a hook and a direct question or address to the reader.