Extended writing: structure, development and control
What the task rewards
Extended production is marked on task achievement (did you answer every part of the prompt?), organisation, range, accuracy and register. A short, accurate, well-structured answer outranks a long, rambling one carrying the same ideas. Spend three to five minutes planning: fix your position in one sentence, choose two reasons, and attach one concrete example to each.
A structure that reliably scores
- Introduction: paraphrase the prompt and state a thesis naming your two reasons.
- Body paragraphs: topic sentence, then an explanation of why the reason holds, then a specific example or consequence.
- Conclusion: restate the position in fresh words and add one implication; never introduce a new argument.
Traps
- Answering only part of the prompt, for example discussing advantages but omitting the requested recommendation.
- Pre-learned templates pasted in regardless of topic; they are recognisable and cost task-achievement marks.
- Listing points without developing any of them - breadth without support.
- Register slips: contractions, slang, rhetorical questions, and the impersonal 'you' in formal prose.
- Overrunning the word limit until the conclusion is rushed or missing.
Rule of thumb and worked example
One paragraph, one idea, and every claim needs a because or a for example. If a body paragraph contains no example, it is probably underdeveloped.
Worked example: on 'school uniforms reduce bullying', a weak paragraph reads 'Uniforms are good because they are fair.' A strong one reads 'Uniforms reduce visible status markers, because students cannot display branded clothing; in schools that adopted them, teachers report less teasing about clothes.' Same length, far higher mark. Reserve two to three minutes to check subject–verb agreement, articles and tense consistency.