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Castilla y León PAU English study materials
Castilla y León PAU English study resources

Castilla y León PAU English: Guided Composition: Planning, Task and Register

Castilla y León PAU English · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

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Guided Composition: Planning, Task and Register

The writing task in the Castilla y León PAU English paper is a guided composition: you are given a situation and usually two or three content points to cover in a short text, often an email, article, blog post or opinion paragraph. The mark depends on task achievement (all points, appropriate format), organization, range and accuracy. A short, well-planned text beats a long, uncontrolled one.

Read the prompt as a checklist

  • Who is writing to whom? This decides register: informal for a friend; neutral or formal for a school magazine or a letter of application.
  • What is the text type? Email: greeting, body, closing. Article: title, introduction, body, conclusion. Opinion: clear thesis, reasons, example.
  • Which points must appear? Number them mentally; every point needs a sentence.
  • What is the word limit? Stay within the limit printed on the paper; examiners may ignore extra text or penalize under-length answers.

Plan in four moves

  1. Opening: state the purpose in one sentence.
  2. Body 1: first content point plus detail.
  3. Body 2: second content point plus detail or contrast.
  4. Closing: reaction, request or recommendation.

Worked example

Prompt: Your English friend wants a book recommendation. Write a short email. Say which book you recommend, explain why, and suggest when to read it. Model opening: Hi Alex, Thanks for your message - I'm glad you're looking for something new to read. Reasoning: Hi Alex plus thanks and a direct link to the friend's message fits an informal email. It does not waste words on I am writing to you, which is too formal for a friend. The body should name the book, give one concrete reason (pace, character, topic) and suggest a holiday or commute. A closing such as Let me know what you think! Best, ... covers the remaining point and keeps the register consistent.

Traps

  • Writing a memorized essay that only partly fits the prompt.
  • Missing one content point; this is the most common task-achievement loss.
  • Mixing Hi with Dear Sir/Madam and Yours faithfully in the same text.
  • Overlong introductions with no content.
  • No paragraphing: a single block is harder to read and scores lower on organization.
  • Inventing a word count instead of checking it.