Written productive skills - task 1 (formal letter, article, report, blog)
In Paper 1 (1 hour 30 minutes at HL) you choose one of three tasks and write 450–600 words. Each task specifies a text type, an audience, a purpose and three bullet points. You are marked on language (range, accuracy, register) and on message (task fulfilment, development of ideas, organisation), so a beautifully written text that ignores a bullet point or the wrong register still loses heavily.
Conventions by text type
- Formal letter: Estimado/a señor/a: or Muy señores míos; usted throughout; no contractions; close with Le saluda atentamente + signature.
- Article: eye-catching headline, byline, hook in the first two lines, subheadings, direct address to the reader, rhetorical question to close.
- Report: title, Introducción / Análisis / Conclusiones y recomendaciones, impersonal constructions (se observa, cabe señalar), passive se, concrete recommendations.
- Blog: first person, informal tú, short paragraphs, questions to the reader, emotive lexis, tags or a sign-off.
Worked example
Task: «Escribe un artículo para la revista del instituto sobre el voluntariado juvenil», with bullets on benefits, obstacles and a call to action. Move: write a topic sentence per bullet, then support it with one specific detail (a named local project, a figure, a short anecdote) and a consequence. "El voluntariado es muy importante" is a wasted line; "Dos tardes al mes en el comedor social bastan para que un estudiante descubra…" develops the bullet.
Traps that cost marks
- Producing an article when the task asks for a report.
- Leaving one bullet underdeveloped - coverage must be visibly balanced.
- Mixing tú and usted in the same text.
- Falling under 450 words; aim for 500–550 and count roughly by lines.
- Inserting memorised chunks that do not answer this task.
- No paragraphing, or a conclusion that merely repeats the introduction.