English Lang · mark scheme guide

Viewpoint writing: argue like the top band

Same 40-mark split as Paper 1 — AO5 for content and organisation, AO6 for accuracy — but here the examiner wants a sustained, controlled argument in the right form: article, letter, speech.

Where the marks come from

AO5 — Content & organisation (24 marks)

A clear, developed viewpoint with deliberate rhetorical shape. Top band sustains tone — witty, angry, measured — from first line to last.

AO6 — Technical accuracy (16 marks)

Accuracy under pressure: ambitious vocabulary, controlled punctuation, varied sentence forms.

The level ladder

Level 634–40Compelling argument, crafted rhetoric, sustained register for form and audience.
Level 527–33Convincing viewpoint; structural and rhetorical choices create effect.
Level 420–26Clear argument; appropriate tone; some rhetorical range.
Level 313–19Viewpoint evident; straightforward organisation.

Summarised from official AQA level descriptors. Always check the full mark scheme for your specification — and your teacher’s judgement is the most reliable guide.

How to move up a band

1Pick a side and overcommit — nuanced fence-sitting reads as an unclear viewpoint at GCSE.
2Match the form’s conventions visibly: a headline and strapline for an article, an address and sign-off for a letter.
3Use rhetoric in patterns, not one-offs: anaphora across a paragraph lands harder than a single rhetorical question.
4Acknowledge the counter-argument in one sentence, then dismantle it — instant sophistication.
5End by returning to your opening image or phrase; circular structure is an easy structural-choice mark.

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