A Level English Language: Paper 2 Writing — Practice Questions

These are original tasks written for Marlbridge, in the style and at the standard of the examination. They are not reproduced past-paper tasks — examination boards hold copyright in their own papers. Use these alongside the official past papers available free from your board.

Related: Paper 2 Writing study guide

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Section A: Shorter writing and reflective commentary

Question 1

Your school’s student council has asked you to produce a leaflet called Settling In, aimed at new students joining your school in Year 12 from other schools.

(a) Write the text for the leaflet, using no more than 400 words. In your writing, give advice on making friends, finding your way around, and adjusting to a new set of teachers and expectations. [15]

(b) Write a reflective commentary on your text, explaining how your linguistic choices contribute to fulfilling the task set by the student council. [10]

Section B: Extended writing

Answer one question.

EITHER

Question 2

Your school magazine is running a creative writing competition. Write a descriptive piece called The Empty Classroom. In your writing, focus on light, sound and stillness to help your reader imagine the scene. Write between 600 and 900 words. [25]

OR

Question 3

In class, you have been discussing whether schools should ban mobile phones during the school day. Write an article for your school newsletter. In your writing, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of a phone ban. Write between 600 and 900 words. [25]

OR

Question 4

You have recently attended a talk by a visiting author at your school. Write a review of the talk, to be published on your school’s website. Write between 600 and 900 words. [25]

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Model approach: Question 1(a)

Before drafting, fix the leaflet’s structure. A workable plan:

Heading/opening: warm, reassuring tone, addresses the reader directly ("you")
Section 1: practical guidance -- finding your way around, key locations
Section 2: social guidance -- joining clubs, introducing yourself
Section 3: academic guidance -- what's different about the teachers/workload
Closing: a specific, concrete next step (a named contact, an event, a buddy scheme)

Committing to headed sections within the 400-word limit keeps the leaflet skimmable — a genuine convention of the form — rather than producing one continuous block of prose that reads more like an essay than a leaflet.

Model approach: Question 1(b)

A strong commentary sentence names a specific choice, quotes it, and explains its effect in relation to audience and purpose — for example: “I used direct second-person imperatives (‘Introduce yourself early’, ‘Don’t be afraid to ask’) rather than passive or hedged advice, because the leaflet’s new-student audience needed guidance that felt immediately actionable rather than abstract, especially given how unfamiliar a new school can feel in the first weeks.” Aim for three or four sentences built this way — each covering a different linguistic or structural choice (register, sentence type, headings, direct address) — rather than one long paragraph that only summarises the leaflet’s content.

Model approach: Section B

Whichever Section B option is chosen, the planning principle is the same: fix a shape before writing, and stay inside it.

• Descriptive (Q2): choose three or four sensory details in advance (a specific sound, a specific light effect, a specific object) rather than trying to describe everything in the room — depth on a few images earns more than breadth across many.
• Discursive (Q3): plan one paragraph genuinely arguing for a phone ban, one genuinely arguing against, and a concluding paragraph that reaches a considered position — not a token “some people think X” sentence before the writer’s real, one-sided view.
• Review (Q4): plan a consistent evaluative thread running through the piece (what worked, what didn’t, and why), anchored in specific detail about the talk itself, rather than generic praise that could describe any event.

Rotating through Section B options for balanced practice

Because the exact three options offered in Section B vary between series, it is worth practising the planning stage across all three registers rather than only the one that feels most natural. Take the three questions above in turn: sketch a four-point sensory plan for the descriptive option (Q2), a for/against/conclusion plan for the discursive option (Q3), and a consistent evaluative-thread plan for the review option (Q4). Doing this on a rotating basis across several practice sessions builds genuine flexibility, so that whichever three options actually appear on the day, the planning step is already a well-practised habit rather than something attempted for the first time under exam pressure.

A second Section A brief, for extra practice

Try planning (without necessarily writing in full) a further leaflet brief: your local library has asked you to produce a leaflet called Get Reading This Summer, aimed at students your own age, encouraging them to join the library’s summer reading scheme. Before drafting, decide: what form conventions does a leaflet need (headings, short paragraphs, direct address)? What tone suits an audience of peers being encouraged rather than instructed (friendly and persuasive, not formal or lecturing)? What specific, concrete incentive or detail could anchor the leaflet’s closing section, in the same way the “next step” anchored the Settling In plan above? Practising this planning step on a fresh brief, without necessarily writing the full 400 words every time, builds speed for the real exam, where planning quickly is as important as writing well. As a further check, sketch what the reflective commentary for this second brief might focus on: which specific linguistic choice would most clearly separate a leaflet written for peers from one written for a more formal, unfamiliar audience.

Where marks are usually lost

• Writing part (a) as generic prose, without adopting the specified form’s conventions.
• Treating the reflective commentary as a retelling of the leaflet’s content rather than analysis of the writing choices made.
• A “discursive” Section B answer that only argues one side.
• Running well under or well over either word range, especially drafting Section B without a plan and losing control of length and structure partway through.
• Choosing a Section B option for its apparent impressiveness rather than one that can genuinely be sustained and controlled for 600–900 words.