Cambridge IGCSE English: How to Nail the Directed Writing Task

Quick answer: In Cambridge IGCSE English (0500/0990) Paper 2 Directed Writing, Question 1 is worth 40 marks split into two strands - 15 for reading and 25 for writing. To score, you have to evaluate and develop the ideas in the given texts in your own words (that earns the reading marks) while writing in the correct form, register and structure for the audience the task names (that earns the writing marks). Copying the passage sinks the reading strand; ignoring form and register sinks the writing one.

I'm sitting my IGCSEs right now, and directed writing was the task I most underrated. It looks like "just write a letter," so I treated it like a normal English essay and lost marks I didn't understand I was losing. Then I sat down with a mark scheme, and it clicked: this is two exams stapled together, and most people only revise for one half. Here is what I wish someone had spelled out for me.

Two mark strands, not one

Question 1 is 40 marks, and Cambridge splits them: 15 for Reading, 25 for Writing.

The reading marks are not for surface understanding. They are for what the syllabus calls analysing, evaluating and developing the ideas - agreeing, disagreeing, weighing one point against another, drawing out what a writer only implies. Read the top band and the word "evaluate" is doing all the work: the best answers assess the ideas, they do not just relay them.

The writing marks - 25 of them - are for register, structure, vocabulary range, sentence variety and accuracy: did you write in the form the task asked for, aimed at the person it named?

Why it matters: you can write beautifully and still cap your reading mark because you copied phrases and never evaluated, or have sharp ideas and throw away the writing half with a flat essay when the task asked for a lively speech. Revise both.

Read the passages like an examiner

You get one or two texts in the insert. Before writing a word, do two things.

First, get FAP straight - Form, Audience, Purpose. The task tells you all three. "Write a letter to your head teacher" means form is a letter, audience is one senior adult, purpose is usually to persuade. Get these wrong and the writing marks are gone before you begin.

Second, annotate for ideas you can develop, not phrases you can lift - the single biggest reading-mark decision you make. Underline a point, then in the margin write your reaction: "true, but only for older students," or "ignores the cost." Those margin notes are your reading marks; the examiner rewards the development, not the underline.

Match the form, or lose easy marks

Register is where the 25 writing marks are won or thrown away, and it is fixable in minutes. A speech addresses the audience and leans on rhetorical questions and direct "you." A formal letter opens with "Dear Sir/Madam," stays measured and polite, and signs off properly. An article has a headline and a hook and can be livelier. A report is neutral and uses headings. Slang in a head-teacher letter costs you; stiff formality in a school-magazine article reads as though you ignored the reader.

A worked opening, step by step

Say the insert gives two texts on zoos. Text A argues zoos protect endangered species and educate children; Text B argues they are cruel and the animals suffer. The task: Write an article for your school magazine giving your views on whether zoos should exist. Evaluate the ideas in both texts and give your own opinion. Write 250 to 350 words.

Step 1 - Fix FAP. Form: article. Audience: students my age. Purpose: give a reasoned view. So I need a headline, a hook, a clear opinion, and a register that is lively but still thoughtful.

Step 2 - Mine both texts for ideas. From A: conservation of endangered species; education of visitors. From B: enclosures too small; animals showing distress. I must use points from both, or the reading mark is capped in the lower bands.

Step 3 - Plan to evaluate, not to list. For each idea I note a reaction. Conservation - genuinely true for species extinct in the wild, but does a small suburban zoo breed rhinos or just display them? Education - do you really learn more from a bored lion than from a good documentary? I doubt it. That doubt is the evaluation the reading strand is paying for.

Step 4 - Write an opening that shows form and reading at once:

"Should we really keep animals behind glass? Text A calls the modern zoo an 'ark' for endangered species, and for the handful of creatures genuinely extinct in the wild, that is hard to argue with. But most of the animals I have stared at on a school trip were not rare at all. They were ordinary creatures in extraordinary boredom - and Text B's point about distress suddenly felt closer to the truth than the glossy conservation posters by the gate."

That one paragraph works both strands: a headline hook sets the article register, it names an idea from Text A and evaluates it ("hard to argue with, but..."), pulls in Text B, and stays in my own words.

Step 5 - Develop, then counter. Keep going: take an idea, respond, weigh it, move on. Finish with a clear personal view. Aim for 250 to 350 words - long enough to develop, short enough to stay sharp.

To check whether an opening like that is hitting both strands, paste it into the Essay Coach and ask it to mark the reading and writing separately - it shows you fast where you have copied instead of evaluated.

The mistakes that quietly cost marks

• Lifting whole phrases from the text. It feels safe; it caps your reading mark. Reword and react instead.
• Using only one text when two are given. The rubric expects both; one-text answers are stuck in the lower reading bands.
• Forgetting the form. An essay wearing an article's clothes. Signpost the form in your first two lines.
• No personal evaluation. "Text A says... Text B says..." with no verdict is summary, not directed writing.

Test yourself

1. In Paper 2 Directed Writing, how are the 40 marks split between the two strands?
2. The task says "Write a letter to your local council." Name the form, the audience and the purpose.
3. Why does copying a sentence straight from the passage cost you reading marks?

Quick answers: (1) 15 marks for reading, 25 marks for writing. (2) Form: a formal letter; audience: council officials, adults in authority; purpose: to persuade or request. (3) Reading marks reward evaluating and developing ideas in your own words - a copied sentence shows neither, so it stays in the lowest band.

Want a real answer marked? Paste a full response into the Essay Coach for band feedback on both strands, or run a paragraph through Grade to see where the register slips. If a source text is dense, Explain will break it down in plain English first.

FAQ

How long should my directed writing answer be?

Cambridge sets 250 to 350 words for the 0500 and 0990 directed writing task. Under 250 and you cannot develop enough for the reading marks; well over 350 and accuracy usually drops, hurting the writing marks.

Do I have to use both texts?

Yes, when two are given. The mark scheme expects you to draw on and evaluate ideas from both, so answers built on a single text are capped in the lower reading bands.

What is the difference between directed writing and the composition task?

Directed writing (Section A) is a response to texts, so it earns reading marks plus writing marks. The composition (Section B) is descriptive or narrative writing from your own imagination, marked for writing only. Different skills, same paper.

Can I use bullet points or headings?

Only if the form genuinely uses them: a report can have headings; a formal letter cannot. When in doubt, write in full paragraphs - they suit letters, speeches and articles, the most common tasks.

In short: Directed writing is two marks in one - 15 for how well you evaluate and develop the source ideas in your own words, 25 for writing in the right form, register and structure for the named audience. Nail FAP, react to the text instead of copying it, and check a draft on the Essay Coach before the real thing.