FREE LESSON · Exam Writing
teach
A two-minute plan decides the shape of everything you write.
Before you write, plan the shape of the whole piece. Give each paragraph one job, and put the jobs in an order. Then your ideas lead the reader from start to finish.
Most writing that loses marks isn't weak sentence by sentence. It's badly organised. Ideas arrive in a random order, two paragraphs say the same thing, or the ending just stops. A plan stops this before it starts. It's a short map of each paragraph's job and the order they go in. It takes about two minutes.
Markers look for writing that was built, not just poured out. It has a beginning that sets up the task. Each middle paragraph does one job. The ending makes the point instead of trailing off. Each paragraph picks up where the last one stopped, so the reader can follow. You can't add this at the end. It has to come from the plan.
Give every paragraph one clear job. In a persuasive piece, that might be your view, then one paragraph per reason, then a close. Write each job in a few words, like 'Reason 2: it helps focus'. Then no paragraph repeats another or wanders off. If two paragraphs have the same job, fix it in the plan. That's much easier than fixing the draft.
Order matters too. A persuasive piece puts its best reason where it counts, and groups ideas that belong together. A story puts events in an order that builds to a turning point. Check that each paragraph leads into the next. Then read your plan aloud. If the list of jobs already sounds like a good argument or story, the draft will too.
Some writers think planning wastes time. In an exam, it saves time. Writers who skip it keep rereading to find their place and fix the order. Many run out of time before a real ending. You can spot a missing plan: the piece drifts, repeats a point, or stops mid-thought. Big words can't fix that, but a two-minute plan prevents it.
Here is a plan for one prompt. 'Persuade your principal to keep the school library open for an hour after class.'
Whole-text plan
A short map of the whole piece: each paragraph's job and the order they go in.The plan is where you fix structure cheaply, before any drafting.Paragraph job
The single purpose of one paragraph.One job per paragraph stops repetition and stops the draft drifting.Structure
The beginning-middle-end shape of the answer.Markers look for writing that was clearly built, not poured out.Coherence
Ideas that connect clearly from one paragraph to the next.Coherence is planned in from the start, not added at the end.Through-line
The main idea or story that stays with you from start to finish.If the plan has a through-line, the finished draft will have one too.The moveEach box is one paragraph with one clear job.
show
See the move done well, from the prompt to a finished piece.
Each step shows the thinking. The notes explain why each choice earns marks. The finished piece is what you're aiming for.
From prompt to finished plan
Your school is deciding whether to keep one phone-free lunch each week. Write a letter to the principal persuading them to keep it.Watch a writer turn this prompt into a plan, then a finished letter that follows it. Each step shows the thinking. The notes explain why the structure earns marks.
Decide the shape of the whole letter before writing any of it.
Position: keep the phone-free lunch. Reason 1 (strongest): students talk more and make friends. Reason 2: a screen-free break is calmer and helps wellbeing. Counter: answer 'but we need our phones'. It's only one lunch in five. Close: restate the position and ask the principal to keep it.
Turn the structure into a one-line job for every paragraph.
Opening: greet the principal and state the position in one sentence. P1 (friendship): students who talk at lunch settle in better. Give a quick example. P2 (wellbeing): a screen-free break is calmer. Link it to focus in afternoon lessons. P3 (counter): answer 'we need our phones'. It's only one lunch a week. Close: restate the position and make a polite, direct request.
The plan written up as a developed, high-scoring Selective answer. Notice how each body paragraph runs Claim - Example - Explanation - Impact, never just claim after claim.
Dear Mr Lee,
Imagine walking through the playground at lunchtime and hearing something we have almost forgotten. It is the sound of real conversation and laughter, instead of tapping screens. That is what our one phone-free lunch each week gives us. It is why I am writing to ask you, sincerely, to keep it.
The most important reason is that the phone-free lunch rebuilds friendships. On those days, students who would usually sit alone scrolling are drawn into handball games and conversations. Last term, a boy in my class who barely spoke to anyone ended up running a lunchtime chess club. It happened simply because there was nothing else to look at but the people around him. Friendship is not a luxury at school. It is what makes a lonely child want to walk through the gate each morning. A single phone-free hour can quietly change someone's whole experience of school.
A second reason is that the break protects both our wellbeing and our learning. A lunchtime spent staring at a screen leaves many of us restless and oddly tired. A screen-free hour feels truly restful. Our teachers have noticed that afternoon lessons after the phone-free lunch are calmer and more focused. When students return to class settled, everyone learns more. That is, after all, why we are here.
I understand the worry that students sometimes need their phones, to contact a parent or to feel safe on the way home. I do not dismiss it. However, this is only one lunch in five. On every other day, and before and after school, our phones stay in our pockets. Setting them aside for one hour a week is a small and reasonable price.
A school is not only a place to learn facts. It is where we first learn how to live alongside other people. The phone-free lunch teaches exactly that, without a single worksheet. For the sake of our friendships, our focus and our sense of community, I hope you will keep it. Thank you for taking the time to consider my request.
Yours sincerely, Priya Sharma
The same prompt at scholarship level. Read it after the Selective model. Notice the deeper argument and the more grown-up voice. It also treats the other side as a serious view, not a quick reply.
Dear Mr Lee,
There is a particular kind of quiet that has settled over our playground, and it is not a peaceful one. Walk past at lunchtime and you will see rows of students sitting close enough to touch. Yet they are separated by the bright rectangles in their hands, together and entirely alone. Our one phone-free lunch each week is the single hour that breaks this spell. I am writing to ask you, with real conviction, to protect it.
I want to be fair to the other side of this argument, because it is not a foolish one. Phones are truly useful. They let us reach our parents, organise our afternoons and stay close to people we care about. I am not asking you to ban them. I do not believe the answer to a complicated problem is to pretend it is simple. What I am defending is narrower and, I think, more important. It is the choice to set phones aside for sixty minutes a week. In that hour we practise a skill our generation is quietly losing: being fully present with the people in front of us.
Consider what actually happens on those days. Students who normally vanish into their screens are drawn into handball, conversation and invented games. A boy in my year who rarely spoke ended up, almost by accident, running a lunchtime chess club. These are not small moments. Friendship is not an extra that sits on top of school life. It is the very thing that makes a nervous or lonely child willing to come through the gate each morning. An hour without phones does not merely pass the time. It builds the kind of community that no assembly or poster ever could.
There is a quieter benefit, too. Constant notifications keep our minds restless and on alert. A screen-free hour lets them settle. Our teachers have noticed that lessons after a phone-free lunch are calmer and more focused, and that is no coincidence. Attention is not endless. A brain pulled in twenty directions all break has little left for the afternoon. One phone-free hour does not lose us time. It protects the attention that makes the rest of the day worthwhile.
Some will say that a single lunch cannot possibly matter. I would argue the opposite: it matters precisely because it is small and deliberate. It is one visible decision, made together, that says our attention and our friendships are worth defending. Habits are built from exactly these small, repeated choices.
A school is not only a place to collect knowledge. It is where we first learn how to live well alongside one another, and that lesson cannot be downloaded. For the sake of our friendships, our focus, and the fragile skill of simply paying attention, I hope you will keep our phone-free lunch. Thank you for considering the views of your students so seriously.
Yours sincerely, Priya Sharma
compare
See the difference, one point at a time.
Both answers do the same task. Read them side by side. Notice what makes the stronger one better, so you can do it too.
The whole response
Weaker answer
Dear Principal, please repair the library roof. There are lots of reasons for fixing it, as everyone probably knows. Please arrange the repair. From Priya.
Stronger answer
Dear Principal, please repair the library roof. Rain drips onto the shelves, so we move books instead of using them during reading lessons. The repair would keep our books dry and our lessons running. From Priya.
guide
A small step before the full task.
Don't write the whole piece yet. Practise one move first, so you feel ready for the timed draft.
Persuade your class to choose a beach clean-up instead of a movie afternoon for the end-of-term reward.
Plan three paragraphs for this prompt. Write one line saying what each paragraph will do.
Want feedback on your own answer? Get started to practise with instant marking.
Should students be allowed to use mobile phones during school hours?
Write a persuasive piece arguing your position.
In your piece, you could: • state your position clearly and explain your key reasons • address arguments from the other side • use evidence or examples to support your view
Ask about this lesson or iClass