Paper 2 Writing: presenting a viewpoint

Paper 2 Section B gives one task, not a choice. It states a statement or opinion linked to the theme of the reading sources, and asks you to write your own point of view on it — and it always specifies three things you must match: audience, purpose and form.

A typical task: a statement about choosing a career, then "write an article for your school or college magazine in which you argue your point of view on this statement".

The marks are split as on Paper 1 — 24 for content and organisation, 16 for technical accuracy — and the paper again advises about 45 minutes.

The difference from Paper 1 is that this is transactional writing. You are not describing a scene; you are persuading a stated reader. Every choice should follow from who they are and what you want them to think.

Spend five minutes planning. Decide your position first, then find three or four distinct reasons for it, and order them so the strongest is last.

Having a clear position matters more than having the right one. There are no marks for the opinion itself, and none for balance — the task says argue your point of view, so a piece that sits on the fence reads as weak. Acknowledging the other side in one paragraph and then dismantling it is stronger than either extreme, because it shows control.

A structure that works for almost any form:

• An opening that engages — a question, a short anecdote, a striking statistic, or a bold claim. Not "in this article I am going to argue that…" • Your position, stated clearly • Three paragraphs, one reason each, with an example or piece of evidence • A counter-argument, acknowledged and answered • A conclusion that returns to the opening image and ends on a memorable line

Paragraphing is part of the organisation mark, so make the paragraphs visibly distinct and use a discourse marker to open each one.

The specification names rhetorical devices, and the useful ones are few enough to list:

• Direct address — speaking to the reader as "you" • Rhetorical questions — used sparingly, because a string of them becomes noise • The rule of three — three items in a list, which is the most reliably persuasive rhythm there is • Repetition of a phrase across paragraphs • Anecdote — a short personal story, which is worth more than an abstract argument • Statistics and expert opinion, which you may invent, provided they are plausible • Emotive language, contrast and antithesis • Humour, where the audience makes it appropriate

Use a few deliberately rather than all of them. A piece that works through a checklist of devices reads mechanically, and the mark scheme rewards writing that is convincing rather than writing that is decorated.

Register must match the audience throughout. A school magazine allows some informality and humour; a letter to a council does not. Whichever you choose, be consistent — a piece that starts formally and drifts into slang loses more than it gains.

The 16 technical accuracy marks are earned the same way as on Paper 1, and they are the easiest marks in Section B to protect.

Vary sentence forms deliberately: a short sentence after a long one lands hard, and it is worth planning one or two of those. Use a range of punctuation — semicolons, colons and dashes are all rewarded, provided they are correct. Write in Standard English, however informal the register.

Then leave five minutes and check, in this order: full stops and capital letters first, then paragraph breaks, then any word you are unsure how to spell. Sentence demarcation is the error that costs most, because it pulls down the whole technical band rather than a single mark.