Cambridge O Level English Language 1123: Paper 2 Writing Study Guide

Paper 2 – Writing carries exactly half of the marks in Cambridge O Level English Language (1123): 50 marks, 2 hours, worth 50% of the final grade. Where the Reading and Writing overview guide maps the whole syllabus at a glance, this guide stays entirely inside Paper 2 and works through what each of its two sections actually asks you to do, which assessment objectives they test, and how the marks break down – detail that matters once you’re past the introductory stage and into focused exam preparation.

What Paper 2 is testing

Paper 2 is weighted 80% Writing (AO2) and 20% Reading (AO1) – the mirror image of Paper 1, which is 80% Reading and 20% Writing. That 20% of Reading marks on a “Writing” paper surprises a lot of candidates, but it comes directly from Section A, where you must use information from a printed source text to write your answer. You cannot access full marks in Section A by writing fluently in isolation from the text; you have to demonstrate you have read, selected from, and evaluated it.

The five Writing assessment objectives tested across both sections are:

• W1 – articulate experience and express what is thought, felt and imagined
• W2 – organise and structure ideas and opinions for deliberate effect
• W3 – use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures appropriate to context
• W4 – use register appropriate to context
• W5 – make accurate use of spelling, punctuation and grammar

Section A tests all five (W1–W5, worth 15 of its 25 marks) plus two Reading objectives (R3, R5, worth the remaining 10). Section B tests four of the five (W1, W2, W3, W5 – W4, register, is not separately assessed in Section B) across all 25 of its marks.

Section A: Directed Writing (25 marks)

You answer one compulsory question. You are given one or two source texts totalling roughly 400–450 words, printed on the question paper itself (not in a separate insert, unlike Paper 1). Your task is to use, develop and evaluate the information in the source text(s) to produce a piece of your own writing in one of these forms: a discursive, argumentative or persuasive speech, email, report, letter or article. The expected length is about 250–350 words.

Marks split as follows:

• 15 marks for Writing (W1–W5) – your own voice, organisation, vocabulary, register and technical accuracy in the new text you produce
• 10 marks for Reading (R3, R5) – how well you have analysed, evaluated and developed the facts, ideas and opinions in the source material, and selected information appropriate to your specific purpose, rather than simply copying or listing it

The word “directed” is the operative one: you are not free to write whatever you like on the topic. You are directed to respond to the specific angle, audience and purpose set out in the question, using the source material as your evidence base. A common way marks are lost here is treating the task as a general opinion essay rather than grounding every point in the given text(s).

Practical approach: read both source texts fully before planning. Identify the register the task demands (a speech to students, a formal letter to a local council, an email to a colleague) and match vocabulary and tone to it from your opening line. Draw at least one specific point from each source text rather than leaning on only one, since Section A explicitly rewards evaluating and developing material across what you’ve been given.

Section B: Composition (25 marks)

You choose one question from a choice of four: two descriptive and two narrative. There is no source text for this section – it draws entirely on your own ideas, and the required length is about 350–450 words, the longest single piece of continuous writing in the qualification.

• Descriptive writing describes a person, place or situation (including atmosphere) in enough sensory and structural detail that the reader can picture it clearly. There is no requirement for a plot or sequence of events – the skill being tested is controlled, vivid description, not storytelling.
• Narrative writing tells a story: a sequence of connected events, which may be real or imaginary, with a clear shape (a beginning, development and some form of resolution or turning point).

All 25 marks in Section B go to Writing objectives W1, W2, W3 and W5. Register (W4) is not separately assessed here, which makes sense: there is no set audience or format being tested, only your control of expression, structure, vocabulary, sentence variety and technical accuracy.

Practical approach: because Section B is unprompted by any source, the biggest risk is a vague or unfocused answer. Spend two or three minutes selecting a specific angle – one clear moment, one clearly defined place, one single narrative thread – rather than trying to cover too much ground in 350–450 words. Vary sentence length and structure deliberately (a mix of short, punchy sentences and longer, more complex ones) since sentence variety is explicitly part of W3, and proofread the final few minutes purely for W5 (spelling, punctuation, grammar), which is tested throughout the composition and is easy to lose marks on under time pressure.

Command words that appear on this paper

The syllabus defines a small, fixed set of command words used across its question papers. On Paper 2, the ones most likely to shape how you respond are:

• Consider – review and respond to given information
• Describe – state the points of a topic / give characteristics and main features
• Explain – set out purposes or reasons, make relationships between things clear, and support with relevant evidence

Knowing these precisely matters because Directed Writing questions are built around a specific instruction (for example, being asked to consider the viewpoints in a source text before responding), and misreading the command word is a common, avoidable source of lost marks.

Timing across the two hours

With 25 marks per section and 2 hours for the paper, a working split is roughly 55–60 minutes on Section A (including 8–10 minutes reading and annotating the source text(s)) and 55–60 minutes on Section B (including 5 minutes of planning before you start writing), leaving a short buffer for a final proofread across both answers. Because Section A’s word count (250–350) is shorter than Section B’s (350–450), resist the temptation to under-plan Section B simply because it feels more “creative” – it carries exactly the same 25 marks and rewards structure just as much as Section A does.

How to approach it

Treat Sections A and B as testing genuinely different skills rather than variations on the same essay. Section A rewards disciplined use of someone else’s material for a stated purpose; Section B rewards your own controlled, structured expression with no material to lean on. Practising both regularly, and specifically checking your answers against the W1–W5 objectives above rather than just “does this sound good,” is the most direct way to see where marks are actually being gained or lost. Past papers and specimen mark schemes, freely available from Cambridge International, show real examples of how examiners apply these objectives to full-length answers – use them alongside this guide rather than as a substitute for understanding the assessment structure first.

Official syllabus

Cambridge O Level English Language (1123), syllabus for examination in 2024, 2025 and 2026 (Version 2, published December 2022): official syllabus PDF, sections 3 (“Subject content – Writing”) and 4 (“Details of the assessment – Paper 2 Writing”). Verified 2026-09-02.