Forms: letters, articles, speeches, essays and leaflets

The task carries 40 marks: 24 for AO5, covering communication, content and organisation, and 16 for AO6, covering technical accuracy. Paper 2 lasts 1 hour 45 minutes. AQA’s suggested timing for Question 5 is 5 minutes reading and planning, 35 minutes writing and 5 minutes checking and editing.

From June 2026, Question 5 retains its audience–purpose–form task and its marks. Older past papers use the same approach: for example, a council speech about cars and public transport appeared in June 2023 and is also used in AQA’s updated exemplification for 2026. The updated writing mark scheme gives greater explicit emphasis to relevance and includes typical features at each level. These are indications of effective writing, not a checklist of devices to include.

A form is more than its layout. A letter creates a relationship with a recipient; a speech must guide listeners; a leaflet helps readers find information quickly. Your choices should make the writing work in that situation.

Choosing tone and register

Register concerns the language suitable for the situation. Tone concerns the attitude your writing conveys. A letter can use a formal register while sounding concerned, determined or appreciative.

The audiences set for this task are formal in nature. Use controlled Standard English, but do not confuse formality with coldness or complicated wording. ‘Please reconsider this decision’ is both straightforward and respectful.

Consider the audience’s actual concerns rather than assuming that everyone of a particular age thinks alike. A headteacher may need to consider cost and students’ welfare. Newspaper readers may need an unfamiliar issue explained. Fellow students listening to a formal speech may respond to shared school experiences.

Suppose your viewpoint is that workers deserve better protection. To an employer, you might write, ‘I urge you to review the conditions in which your employees work.’ To a public audience, you might say, ‘We should judge working conditions by their effect on people, not simply by the goods they produce.’ The position remains consistent, but the relationship with the audience changes.

Letters: communicate with a recipient

A letter must indicate that someone is writing to someone else and organise its ideas into paragraphs. A greeting and an appropriate sign-off make that relationship clear.

For a named recipient, use a greeting such as Dear Ms Khan and finish Yours sincerely. For an unnamed recipient, Dear Sir or Madam and Yours faithfully are conventional choices. Addresses and a date are possible developed features, rather than minimum requirements.

The opening should explain the issue and establish your position. The following paragraphs develop relevant reasons, while the ending makes clear what you want the recipient to consider or do. Keep that particular recipient in view throughout. A newspaper editor can influence what a newspaper publishes; a headteacher can consider school policy. Addressing their responsibilities makes the letter more convincing.

Articles: guide a wider readership

An article needs a title and paragraphs. A well-chosen title introduces both the subject and the angle: ‘The People Behind Our Comfort’ suggests a viewpoint more clearly than ‘Work’.

The opening should orient readers who may know little about the issue. Subsequent paragraphs develop the viewpoint in a purposeful order, and the ending leaves readers with a clear final judgement.

A strapline—a short line expanding on the title—and subheadings can help, but they are optional developed features. Use them when they genuinely guide the reader. An article should still read as connected writing rather than a collection of headings with thin points underneath.

Speeches: write for listeners

The text of a speech needs an opening address to the audience, organised sections and a final address. For example, ‘Good morning, fellow students’ establishes who is listening, while ‘Thank you for listening’ provides a recognisable close.

Listeners cannot easily reread a sentence. Make the sequence clear and let each section develop a manageable idea. A transition such as ‘That explains the problem; now consider what we can change’ helps the audience follow the movement from explanation to action.

Maintain contact with listeners throughout. ‘As members of this school’ is useful when the task specifies that audience; it would not suit an unrelated public meeting. Write the speech itself, rather than describing how you would deliver it.

Essays: organise a sustained discussion

An essay needs an introduction, conclusion and paragraphs. The introduction establishes the issue and your position. Each main paragraph develops a distinct part of the discussion. The conclusion draws those ideas together into a final judgement.

An essay does not need a greeting or a farewell. Its form emerges through the organisation of its thinking. For example, a discussion of working conditions might move from physical demands to workers’ welfare and then to employers’ responsibilities. That sequence builds understanding rather than repeatedly announcing the same opinion.

First person can express your own perspective, but clarity does not depend on beginning every paragraph with ‘I think’. State and explain your judgement directly.

Leaflets: make ideas easy to find

Text for a leaflet needs a title and paragraphs or sections. Useful subheadings allow readers to locate particular information. Bullet points or boxes are possible developed features, but neither is compulsory.

If advising readers about responsible employment, headings such as ‘Recognise the problem’ and ‘Ask the right questions’ give the sections clear jobs. Advice should explain why a suggested action matters, not simply list instructions.

You are writing the text, so there is no need to spend your time drawing pictures or designing folded panels. Clear organisation and developed content make the leaflet useful.

The same viewpoint in five different forms

Consider this position: public discussion of work should pay more attention to workers’ wellbeing. The following openings show how the same viewpoint changes shape. They are opening extracts, not complete answers to be awarded a whole-response mark.

These openings show appropriate audience awareness, but they cannot demonstrate sustained development, paragraph links or technical range across a complete response. A convincing opening must lead into equally purposeful writing.

Using reading to inform your own writing

Reading can give you concrete material to develop, but you must reshape it for your own purpose. Consider these short passages about mining.

George Orwell, writing in The Road to Wigan Pier in 1937, describes the miners’ working posture:

They have got to remain kneeling all the while—they could hardly rise from their knees without hitting the ceiling—and you can easily see by trying it what a tremendous effort this means.

Sarah Gooder, aged eight, gave this testimony in 1842:

I would like to be at school far better than in the pit.

Orwell’s passage provides a concrete example of physical strain. Sarah’s words express a child’s preference for education over mine work. These are accounts from different periods: use their details accurately rather than merging them into one scene or treating them as evidence of present-day conditions.

For practice, consider this statement:

‘Public discussion of work pays too much attention to products and profits, and too little attention to workers’ wellbeing.’

Write a letter to a newspaper editor in which you explain your point of view on this statement.

First decide what a paragraph must do: connect a concrete detail about work with the editor’s responsibility to inform readers. Then choose language that is firm without attacking the recipient.

The weaker extract shows Level 1 AO5 qualities: a simple opinion, repetition and little development. The stronger extract shows Level 3 AO5 qualities: clear relevance, appropriate register and a connected explanation. Neither extract alone establishes a whole-answer level or mark.

In the stronger paragraph:

• ‘Your readers’ keeps the editor’s role relevant, supporting AO5 audience awareness.
• The detail about kneeling beneath a low ceiling develops the content rather than merely asserting that work was hard.
• ‘This detail’ links the explanation to the example. The sequence moves from a principle, to evidence, to significance, to a request: AO5 organisation.
• ‘I urge you’ conveys a firm, controlled tone. ‘Prominent’ precisely expresses the requested change.
• The ‘because’ clause explains the restriction on the miners’ posture; the ‘so that’ clause explains the request’s purpose. Controlled clauses, complete sentences and accurate punctuation contribute to AO6.

Individual phrases do not receive separate guaranteed marks. The assessed qualities must be sustained across the response.

Working through a council speech task

AQA’s 2026 exemplification uses a task asking for a speech to a local council, arguing a viewpoint about reducing car use through better public transport.

Think through the choices before writing:

1. Form: address the councillors at the start, guide them through connected sections and close by addressing them again.
2. Audience: councillors must consider residents’ needs, spending and practical decisions. Respectful proposals will fit better than personal insults.
3. Purpose: argue that better public transport should make using cars less necessary, while recognising that some residents still need them.
4. Register and tone: use clear formal language and a concerned, constructive voice. Ask the council to act, rather than merely complaining about drivers.

The following complete responses show different strengths.

The weaker response earns 8/24 for AO5, Level 2, and 9/16 for AO6, Level 3: 17/40. It communicates a relevant viewpoint with some success, recognises the audience and uses a simple sequence of linked ideas. Those features take it beyond merely limited communication, although repetition and thin explanation keep AO5 low within Level 2. For AO6, its secure sentence boundaries, mostly accurate grammar and spelling, and some sentence variety support entry to Level 3. Limited vocabulary and punctuation range hold the mark at the bottom of that level; ‘less cars’ should be ‘fewer cars’.

The stronger response earns 19/24 for AO5, Level 4, and 13/16 for AO6, Level 4: 32/40. Its clear, connected development fulfils Level 3 qualities, while its convincing adaptation to councillors, developed consideration of practical barriers and consciously crafted language support entry to Level 4. The fairly conventional sequence and uneven complexity place it at the bottom of that level rather than preventing entry. For AO6, consistently secure sentences, controlled complex clauses and accurately varied punctuation support Level 4. Its vocabulary and sentence range are effective but not extensive enough to justify the highest marks.

These judgements consider each response as a whole. A less developed feature affects the mark within a level; it does not automatically impose a lower-level ceiling.

How the stronger speech earns its marks

The opening ‘Good evening, councillors’ makes the form and audience recognisable. More importantly, the later requests keep that audience relevant. A greeting alone would not sustain AO5 audience awareness.

The cost paragraph moves from a specific situation to an explanation and then a proposal. ‘The council should work with transport providers’ respects what the audience can realistically do. This is adaptation through content as well as vocabulary.

‘Price, however, is only part of the problem’ connects the next section with the previous one. It does not merely announce ‘Secondly’: it explains why the discussion is moving on. That supports AO5 cohesion and organisation.

The worker’s journey is introduced with ‘Imagine’, making its hypothetical status clear. The example explains why reliability matters without presenting invented research as fact.

In ‘We need clear timetables and services that people can depend on; reliability should be a priority, not an afterthought’, the semicolon joins two closely related complete clauses. The punctuation clarifies the relationship between the proposal and its importance, contributing to AO6.

Finally, ‘Councillors’ renews contact with the listeners, while the closing request brings the viewpoint back to practical action. The speech remains respectful without losing determination.

What separates the levels

For AO5, Level 1 offers simple, limited communication. Level 2 shows some successful communication and attempts to develop and organise ideas. Level 3 sustains clear, relevant writing with a suitable voice and connected, developed ideas. Level 4 makes the response convincing through assured adaptation, developed complex ideas and deliberate language and structural choices; the highest marks reward compelling, sustained crafting.

For AO6, the progression is from basic, intermittent control towards consistently accurate sentences, a wide range of accurately used punctuation, varied sentence forms and ambitious vocabulary. Accuracy and range both matter: flawless but very simple sentences do not demonstrate everything required at the top level.

From June 2026, a response that does not directly address the task’s focus cannot receive more than 12/24 for AO5. Keep the issue in view throughout, rather than attaching a relevant greeting to unrelated prepared writing.

Successful adaptation means that the whole response—not just its opening—sounds appropriate for its reader and works in its chosen form.