Writing - PEIC Level 4 (C1)
What the section tests
Writing at Level 4 usually means two tasks: a shorter functional text (letter, email, notice) and a longer piece (essay, article, report or review). Both are marked for task fulfilment, organisation, and range and accuracy of grammar and vocabulary - so a beautifully written answer that ignores half the prompt still fails.
Core rules
- Underline audience, purpose, register and every content point in the prompt, then tick each one as you cover it.
- Plan for three to five minutes: a one-line position and one paragraph per idea. An essay with no stated position reads as B2.
- Show C1 range deliberately: complex sentences, concession ("While it is true that…, the evidence suggests…"), nominalisation ("the introduction of"), hedging ("tends to", "arguably"), precise collocations.
- Vary your links. Opening every paragraph with "Moreover" or "Furthermore" is a recognised weakness, not sophistication.
- Follow conventions: "Dear Sir or Madam" closes with "Yours faithfully"; "Dear Ms Okoro" closes with "Yours sincerely". No contractions in formal writing.
- Reserve time to edit for the errors that survive to C1: articles, verb forms, prepositions, agreement.
Worked example
Prompt: write an article arguing that remote work benefits employers. Weak paragraph: "Remote work is good. Employees are happy. They work more." C1 paragraph: "The strongest argument for remote work is not cost but retention. Staff who set their own hours tend to stay longer, and replacing a trained employee is expensive. Admittedly, some teams suffer when contact is reduced - yet that is a management problem, not an argument against flexibility." Reasoning: clear claim, development by cause and effect, concession, then rebuttal returning to the thesis.
Traps that cost marks
- Missing one bullet point from the prompt.
- Writing far under the word limit, so ideas are named but never developed.
- Memorised opening paragraphs that do not answer this question.
- Register drift mid-text: slang in a formal letter, or "Yours faithfully" after using a name.