Cambridge IGCSE / A-Level
IGCSE English 0500 Directed Writing: A Full Model Answer and How It Is Marked
In 0500 Paper 2 Section A, you write 250 to 350 words as a speech, letter or article, responding to one or two short texts. It is worth 40 marks: 15 for reading, which means using, developing and evaluating the ideas in the texts, and 25 for writing. A full original model answer is below.
Directed writing is the strangest task on the 0500 papers, because it is a writing question where a large share of the marks are reading marks. I sit Cambridge exams myself, and my directed writing scores only moved when I stopped treating it as a persuasive writing exercise and started treating it as an evaluation of the texts wearing a costume: the costume being a speech, a letter or an article. This page breaks down the task and the three forms, shows a complete original model answer written to the 250 to 350 word limit, and lists what examiners actually reward at each level.
The task: what Section A actually asks
Paper 2 is 2 hours and 80 marks; Section A is one compulsory directed writing task worth half of that. You are given one or two reading texts, 650 to 750 words in total, usually presenting opinions or arguments about an issue. The task tells you who you are, who you are writing to, and the form: a discursive, argumentative or persuasive speech, letter or article. You write 250 to 350 words. The 40 marks split into 15 for reading and 25 for writing. The reading marks come from using, developing and evaluating the ideas in the texts, not from your own unrelated arguments, and the writing marks come from register, structure, vocabulary and accuracy. That split explains the classic failure: a fluent, passionate piece that barely touches the texts caps its reading mark low, while a text-hugging summary with no voice caps the writing mark. The examiners want both at once: a response recognisably built from the material, and recognisably yours in voice.
Speech, letter or article: what changes between forms
The content engine is identical in all three forms; what changes is the frame. A speech needs direct address to a named audience, a strong opening that acknowledges the occasion, rhetorical devices used sparingly, and a closing call or reflection; you do not need stage directions or constant crowd greetings. A letter needs a salutation and sign-off matched to the recipient, formal for a head teacher or a newspaper, warmer for a known adult, and a clear purpose stated early. An article needs a headline, an engaging first paragraph that frames the issue, and a slightly more balanced, considered register even when it argues a side. In every form, the register question to ask is: who am I meant to be, and who is reading this? Marks live in consistency, so a formal letter that lapses into slang, or a speech that reads like an essay, loses writing marks. I keep one habit for all three: plan three body paragraphs, each anchored to a different idea from the texts, evaluated rather than repeated.
How examiners level your answer
For the 15 reading marks, the levels climb roughly like this: at the bottom, answers copy or lightly reword chunks of the text; in the middle, answers select relevant ideas and use them straightforwardly; at the top, answers evaluate, questioning assumptions, spotting weaknesses or implications, and developing ideas into new but rooted territory. Evaluation is the top-band trigger. If a text claims a scheme will be popular, a top answer asks popular with whom, and at what cost, using details from the text as evidence. For the 25 writing marks, examiners reward a consistent register appropriate to the audience, a structure with a clear opening, progression and close, varied and precise vocabulary and sentence shapes, and technical accuracy; errors matter most when they slow the reader. The practical version of all this: engage with both texts if two are given, challenge at least two ideas rather than accepting everything, and hold the persona steady from first word to sign-off. Word count discipline helps too, because past 350 words quality usually thins and accuracy slips.
Worked questions, step by step
Task in the style of Paper 2 Section A. Your school has proposed banning phones entirely during the school day. You have read two texts: Text A, a head teacher's notice arguing the ban will improve focus and friendships and claiming most parents support it; Text B, a student blog arguing phones support learning, safety and independence, while admitting distraction is real. Write a letter to your head teacher giving your views on the proposal. Base your letter on the ideas in both texts. Write 250 to 350 words. [40 marks: 15 reading, 25 writing]
- Salutation and opening, stating purpose and setting a respectful register: Dear Mrs Danvers, I am writing in response to the proposed ban on phones during the school day. I understand the intention behind it, but I believe a complete ban solves the wrong problem, and I would like to explain why.
- Paragraph 2 concedes Text A's strongest point, then challenges its evidence: Your notice argues that phones damage focus, and honestly, the student blog published this week concedes the same point: distraction is real. Nobody who has sat in a lesson while a screen lights up would deny it. But it does not follow that the only cure is total removal. The notice says most parents support a ban, yet it does not say how many were asked, or whether they were offered any alternative besides a ban or nothing. Support for doing something is not the same as support for this.
- Paragraph 3 develops Text B's ideas rather than repeating them: The blog makes a stronger case than perhaps it realises. It points out that many of us travel home alone and that parents rely on being reachable; a phone locked away at 3 pm protects nobody at 5 pm on a dark bus route. It also describes lessons where teachers direct us to use phones for research and revision. A ban would not remove distraction so much as remove the useful half of the device.
- Paragraph 4 synthesises both texts into a proposal: May I suggest a middle path: phones off and away during lessons, with clear sanctions, but available at break and after school. This targets the harm your notice identifies, keeps the safety benefits the blog describes, and, unlike a total ban, is a rule students might actually respect, which is what makes any rule work.
- Close and sign-off, holding the register to the end: Thank you for considering a student's view. Yours sincerely, Rabail.
- The letter runs to about 280 words, comfortably inside the 250 to 350 limit, with each body paragraph anchored to a specific claim from one of the texts and evaluated rather than repeated.
Answer: A complete letter of about 280 words that concedes the strongest point of Text A, challenges its evidence (the unquantified parent survey), develops Text B's safety and learning points, and proposes a compromise built from both texts, in a consistent formal register.
Where marks slip: The reading marks hide in the challenges: questioning how many parents were asked is evaluation, and evaluation is what separates the top band from competent middle-band answers. Keep the register formal from salutation to sign-off.
Try one yourself: Rewrite the same material as a speech to a school assembly, then as an article for the school magazine. The ideas stay; the opening, the address and the ending change. This is the fastest directed writing practice there is.
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Solve my question →Quiz me on this topicQuestions students ask
How many marks is directed writing and how is it split?
It is 40 of the 80 marks on Paper 2: 15 for reading and 25 for writing on the current syllabus. The reading marks come from using, developing and evaluating the ideas in the printed texts, so an answer that ignores the texts caps itself immediately.
Do I have to use both texts?
When two texts are given, yes, engage with both. The strongest answers play the texts against each other, using one to challenge the other, which is exactly the evaluation the top band rewards.
Does going over 350 words lose marks?
There is no automatic penalty, but examiners stop rewarding length quickly. Overlong answers usually drift from the texts and pick up accuracy errors, which costs marks indirectly. Practise landing between about 280 and 350 words.
Is the directed writing format changing?
Yes. For examinations from 2027 the task changes: a separate short reading question comes first and the directed writing task's reading marks reduce to 10, with 25 still for writing. If you sit in 2026, the current 15 plus 25 format applies, so check which syllabus year you are entered for.