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Exam Writing

Plan the Whole Response

In this lesson you'll learn how to plan a whole response before you write a single sentence. You'll choose a shape that fits the task, give each paragraph one clear job, and stop your ideas from arriving in a jumbled order.

  • Choose a structure that fits the prompt purpose.
  • Build a fast plan with one clear idea per paragraph.
  • Draft from a plan without drifting off task.
Free sample lesson — reading only

Lesson overview

What this free sample teaches

Build a five-box plan that can become a full response without drifting.

Focus

  • Overall structure: the path from opening to ending.
  • Paragraph jobs: what each paragraph must do for the reader.
  • Idea order: strongest points, examples, and closing move.

What gets tested

  • Organisation: are ideas arranged in a clear sequence?
  • Paragraphing: does each paragraph have a purpose?
  • Planning under time pressure: can you plan quickly without writing a mini draft?

Quick guide

  • Plan paragraph jobs, not full sentences.
  • Put the reader's biggest question early.
  • Leave weak or repeated ideas out of the plan before they waste draft time.

Success criteria

  • The opening has a clear direction.
  • Each body paragraph has one job.
  • The ending matches the purpose of the task.

teach

Teach: plan the whole response before you draft

A two-minute plan decides the shape of everything you write.

Whole-text planning means deciding the shape of your whole response — the job of each paragraph and the order they go in — before you write a single sentence. Strong writers spend the first two minutes here, because structure is what carries a reader from your first idea to your last without losing them.

Most writing that loses marks is not weak sentence by sentence; it is badly organised. The ideas arrive in a random order, two paragraphs say almost the same thing, and the ending stops rather than concludes. Whole-text planning prevents this before it can happen. A plan is a short map of the whole response: what each paragraph is for, and the order that carries the reader from the opening to the close. It usually takes two minutes, and it turns a blank-page panic into a clear set of steps you can follow with confidence.

Markers reward structure and coherence — the sense that a response was built, not just poured out. A structured piece has a clear beginning that sets up the task, a middle in which each paragraph does one distinct job, and an ending that lands the point instead of trailing off. Coherence is the thread that links those parts: each paragraph picks up where the last left off, so the reader is guided rather than jolted from idea to idea. You cannot bolt this layer on at the end of a draft; it has to come from the plan, which is why planning is a marking skill and not just a tidiness habit.

The heart of a plan is giving every paragraph one clear job. In a persuasive response that might be: open with your position, then one paragraph for each reason, then a close that restates the position and asks for action. Writing the job in a few words — 'Reason 2: it improves focus' — before you draft means each paragraph already knows what it is for, so you never repeat yourself or wander off the point. If two paragraphs would end up with the same job, you have found a problem on the plan, where it costs nothing to fix, rather than in the draft, where fixing it means crossing out and starting again.

Order matters as much as content. A persuasive piece usually puts its strongest reason where it lands hardest and groups related ideas so the argument builds; a narrative orders its events so tension rises towards a turning point. Whatever the form, a good plan checks that each paragraph prepares the next — that there is a single through-line a reader can follow from start to finish. A useful test is to read the plan aloud: if the bare list of paragraph jobs already sounds like a sensible argument or a complete story, the draft built on it will too, because the hard thinking has already been done.

A common misconception is that planning wastes time you could spend writing. Under exam pressure the opposite is true. Writers who skip the plan usually spend longer overall, because they keep re-reading their own work to remember where they were heading, double back to fix the order, and often run out of time before they reach a real ending. The symptoms of a missing plan are easy to spot in a finished piece: it drifts onto side topics, it repeats a point in new words, or it simply stops mid-thought. None of these can be patched with more ambitious vocabulary, because they are structure problems — and a two-minute plan is exactly what prevents them.

Here is planning applied to a real prompt: 'Persuade your principal to keep the school library open for an hour after class.' A strong writer does not start drafting; they first decide the shape. Position: the library should stay open late. Then three paragraph jobs, ordered from strongest to weakest: it gives students a quiet place to study when home is noisy or crowded; it helps students who do not have a computer or a desk at home; and it answers the obvious objection — yes, it costs some staff time, but even two afternoons a week would make a real difference. Finally, a close that restates the request and offers to gather student signatures to show support. That is five short lines, written in well under two minutes, yet it already reads like a sensible argument from start to finish — so the draft built on top of it will hold its shape instead of wandering, and the writer can spend their remaining time choosing strong words rather than untangling their own structure.

Whole-text plan

A short map of the whole response — 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 response.Markers reward a response that is clearly built, not poured out.

Coherence

The thread that links paragraphs so the reader is guided.Coherence is planned in from the start, not added at the end.

Through-line

The single argument or story that runs from first line to last.If the plan has a through-line, the finished draft will have one too.
Shape of a strong persuasive response
  1. OpeningState your position clearly in one sentence.
  2. Reason 1Your strongest reason, shown with an example.
  3. Reason 2A second, different reason that adds something new.
  4. CounterAnswer the obvious objection in one short paragraph.
  5. CloseRestate the position and make a clear request.

The moveEach box is one paragraph with one clear job.

  • Choose a structure that fits the prompt.
  • Give each paragraph one clear job.
  • Order paragraphs so the response builds.

show

Show: study a full model

Watch the move done well, from prompt to finished piece, before you try it.

Read the worked example below. Each step shows the thinking, and the notes explain why every choice earns marks. The finished model is what you are 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 strong writer turn this prompt into a whole-text plan, then a finished letter that follows it. Each step shows the thinking, and the notes explain why the structure earns marks. The finished letter at the end is what your own writing is aiming for.

  1. Step 1 — Choose the structure

    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 is only one lunch in five. Close: restate the position and ask the principal to keep it.

    • Position firstNaming the position up front gives every later paragraph something clear to support.
    • Strongest reason firstLeading with the most convincing reason makes the argument land early, while the reader is fresh.
    • Plan a counterDeciding to answer 'but we need our phones' shows the marker the writer considered the other side.
    • One job per lineEach line is one paragraph's job, so no two paragraphs can end up repeating each other.

  2. Step 2 — Give each paragraph its job

    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' by noting it is only one lunch a week. Close: restate the position and make a polite, direct request.

    • The opening's jobThe opening only has to greet and state the position — it does not argue yet, so it stays short.
    • Link the reasonsP2 links a calm break to afternoon focus, so the reasons build on each other instead of sitting in a flat list.
    • The close has a job tooA close that restates and requests is far stronger than one that only says 'thank you'.

  3. Step 3 — The finished letter (Selective standard)

    The plan written up as a developed, high-scoring Selective response. 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: the sound of real conversation and laughter, instead of a silence broken only by the tapping of screens. That is what our one phone-free lunch each week gives us, and 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 the days when phones are put away, students who would usually sit alone and scrolling are drawn instead into handball games and conversations. Last term, a boy in my class who barely spoke to anyone ended up running a lunchtime chess club, simply because there was nothing else to look at but the people around him. This matters because 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 entire 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, while a screen-free hour feels genuinely restful. Our own teachers have remarked that afternoon lessons after the phone-free lunch are calmer and more focused. When students return to class settled rather than over-stimulated, everyone learns more — which is, after all, the reason we are here.

    I understand the concern that students sometimes need their phones, whether to contact a parent or to feel safe on the way home, and I do not dismiss it. However, this is only one lunch in five. On every other day, and before and after school, our phones remain in our pockets; setting them aside for a single hour a week is a small and reasonable price.

    A school is not only a place to absorb facts; it is where we first learn how to live alongside other people. The phone-free lunch teaches exactly that lesson 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

    • Hook (technique)Opens with a vivid, sensory contrast rather than 'I am writing about...', earning the reader's attention from the first line.
    • ClaimEach body paragraph opens with a single clear claim ('rebuilds friendships', 'protects our wellbeing and our learning') so the reader always knows the point.
    • ExampleThe claim is proven with a concrete, specific example — the quiet boy who started a chess club — not a vague generalisation.
    • Explanation + ImpactThe paragraph then explains why the example matters and widens to its impact ('makes a lonely child want to walk through the gate'), the full Claim-Example-Explanation-Impact pattern markers reward.
    • Concession + rebuttalGenuinely concedes the safety worry, then answers it with precise reasoning — far stronger than ignoring the other side.
    • Audience awareness + resonant closeStays respectful to a principal throughout, and ends on a wider idea ('where we first learn how to live alongside other people') rather than a flat 'thank you'.

  4. Step 4 — Aim higher: a Scholarship-level response

    The same prompt, lifted to scholarship standard. Read it after the Selective model and notice the more nuanced argument, the more mature voice, and the way it engages the opposing view as a serious position rather than a quick concession.

    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 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, and 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 genuinely 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, and I do not believe the answer to a complicated problem is to pretend it is a simple one. What I am defending is narrower and, I think, more important — the deliberate choice to set the phones aside for sixty minutes a week, so that we can practise a skill our generation is quietly losing: the skill of 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 trivial moments. Friendship is not an extra that sits on top of school life, but 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 hold our minds in a state of low, restless alertness; a screen-free hour lets them settle. Our teachers have noticed that the lessons after a phone-free lunch are calmer and more focused, and that is no coincidence. Attention is not infinite, and a brain that has spent its break being pulled in twenty directions has little left for the afternoon. In choosing one phone-free hour, we are not so much losing time as protecting 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 declares our attention and our friendships worth defending — and habits are built from exactly these modest, repeated choices.

    A school is not only a place to accumulate 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, valuable skill of simply paying attention, I hope you will keep our phone-free lunch. Thank you for considering, so seriously, the views of your students.

    Yours sincerely, Priya Sharma

    • Sustained metaphorA controlling image ('breaks this spell', 'bright rectangles', 'together, and entirely alone') runs through the piece, giving it a mature, literary cohesion.
    • Steel-mans the counter-argumentDevotes a whole paragraph to the opposing view as a serious position ('it is not a foolish one'), which is far more persuasive than a one-line concession.
    • Conceptual reframeLifts the argument from 'phones are bad' to a richer idea — attention, presence, the skills a generation is losing — showing genuine nuance.
    • Rhetorical controlUses a deliberate 'Some will say... I would argue' turn and varied sentence rhythm to control emphasis, the mark of a confident voice.
    • Mature vocabulary, natural toneReaches for precise words ('restless alertness', 'deliberate', 'fragile') without sounding forced or thesaurus-driven.
    • Thematic, earned endingThe close ('cannot be downloaded') ties the whole argument together and lands its point, rather than simply stopping.

compare

Compare: weak vs strong

Train your judgement by seeing the difference, point by point.

Both responses tackle the same task. Read them side by side and notice exactly what lifts the stronger one, so you can do the same in your own writing.

The whole response

Weaker response

Dear principal, i think phones are good and bad. some people like them and some dont. at lunch people are on them a lot which is kind of annoying but also useful sometimes. theres lots of reasons both ways really and its hard to say. anyway i think the lunch thing is probably fine i guess, you should just do what you think is best. thanks bye.

Stronger response

Dear Mr Lee,

I am writing to urge you to keep our weekly phone-free lunch, because it makes our school both friendlier and far calmer.

First, it builds connection. Freed from their screens, students who once sat alone are drawn into handball games and real conversations, and friendships that would never have formed over a phone begin to take root. Second, it protects our wellbeing: a screen-free break is genuinely restful, and our teachers have noticed that we focus more sharply in afternoon lessons because of it. I understand some students worry about needing their phones — yet this is only one lunch in five, with every other day left untouched.

For all these reasons, I hope you will preserve this single hour of conversation and calm. Thank you for considering my request.

Yours sincerely, Priya

Point-by-point breakdown3
  • StructureWeaker: Has no clear beginning, middle, or end; opinions arrive in a random order.Stronger: Opens with the position, gives one reason per paragraph, and closes with a request.Markers reward a response that is clearly built; a structured argument is easy to follow and to score.
  • One idea per paragraphWeaker: Mixes 'good and bad' and 'annoying but useful' in the same breath, making no single point.Stronger: Each paragraph makes one distinct point — friendship, then wellbeing.One job per paragraph stops repetition and lets each reason land on its own.
  • Coherence and stanceWeaker: Ends 'do what you think', abandoning its own position.Stronger: Holds one position from the first line to the last and restates it at the close.A response that keeps and lands its through-line persuades; one that drifts does not.

guide

Guide: try one part

A scaffolded step before the full independent task.

Do not write the whole response yet. Practise the single core move once, so you build confidence before the timed draft.

Read this prompt: 'Persuade your class to choose a beach clean-up instead of a movie afternoon for the end-of-term reward.' Write a ONE-LINE job for each of three paragraphs — do not write the paragraphs themselves.

Want feedback on your own answer? Get started to practise with instant marking.

  • Each paragraph has one clear, different job.
  • The jobs are in an order that builds.
  • No two paragraphs do the same job.