How to Write a GCSE English Article

What is the GCSE English Language article?

All English Language GCSE exam boards assess students on reading and writing, but it’s worth noting that there are two types of writing that you might be assessed on at GCSE: fiction or nonfiction. Fiction is writing involving invented or imaginary characters or events, whereas nonfiction is writing that is based on facts and information. So a novel or a play is a fictional text, while articles in a magazine, or a newspaper, are nonfiction texts.

In your GCSE papers, when you are asked to write fiction, this is often called narrative or descriptive writing. However, we are focusing on nonfiction, which is often referred to as writing from a viewpoint, directed writing, argumentation writing task, or persuasive writing. An article is a nonfiction text, and, each of these types of writing will be examined in different exam papers (for example for AQA, fiction is assessed in Paper 1, and nonfiction in Paper 2). For each exam board, the article question will be found in the following part of your exam:

• AQA: Paper 2: Question 5

• Edexcel: Component 2: Section B

• OCR: Component 01: Section B

• CIE (IGCSE): Paper 2: Section A

• WJEC: Unit 3: Section B

It’s important to note that the nonfiction text you will be asked to write might not be an article, but a speech or letter. See our tips below (on “Form”) for more details on how to distinguish between these three types of nonfiction.

What are the key elements to include in a GCSE English article?

Before I was a teacher, I worked as a journalist, so I always loved teaching my GCSE students the art of article writing. Whenever you write an article, whether that is for a magazine, or a newspaper article, it is important that you consider three things:

• Audience

• Purpose

• Form

• Audience

It’s really important that you think about your audience before you begin writing your article. In the case of an article, the audience is just the specific readers you’re writing your article for. This will impact how you write your article. If you were writing for an online blog for teenagers, you would use a different tone, different vocabulary and a different level of formality than you would, say, for a magazine aimed at pensioners. Or vice-versa: I’m not sure people over 65 would understand some of the slang teenagers might use in a blog! Using the right type of language for the right audience is known as using the correct register, and getting this right will set you up for the highest marks on your exam.

Purpose

Because examiners are assessing you on how well you persuade, argue or inform, it’s pretty important that you’re clear what exactly is it that you’re trying to persuade your audience of, or what you are arguing for. So it’s vital that when you’re making a plan (always make a plan when writing an article in an exam!) that you set out very clearly at the top what your viewpoint is. In your article, I would include your standpoint in the very first sentence or two.

Form

Your exam question will often specify what type of article you are supposed to write: it could be a newspaper article (it might even specify what type of newspaper, for example, broadsheet newspaper, or tabloid), a magazine article, or a blog. While in real life the differences between these different types of article are sometimes large (when I worked as a journalist I never wrote the sensationalist headlines that you might find in a tabloid newspaper), when it comes to this piece of writing, you can treat them all more or less the same. Examiners want to see that you are aware of the form of writing you have been asked to complete. So this piece of writing should look different on the page to a letter, or a speech. Here are some great things to include in any GCSE English Language article:

• Headings: otherwise known as a “headline”, this is the best way to alert the examiner - right from the start - that you are aware of the correct form of writing

• A standfirst: A standfirst is a one-sentence summary of the article as a whole, e.g. “Writing an article at GCSE is challenging but following these tips will get you top marks”

• A byline: The name of the author of the article. You can make the name up, and typically it goes right underneath the headline

• Subheadings: These are optional, but as some magazines use them, it can be another reminder to the examiner that you’re writing the right kind of nonfiction

How do I structure and write an effective article for my GCSE English exam?

The first thing that I always, always said to my students when they were preparing to sit their GCSE English Language papers was “write less, plan more”. I taught the AQA English Language papers (and, as previously mentioned, teaching the Paper 2 exam was my favourite) for many years, and I always found that the students who knew how to plan an article most effectively did best on the final exam. Hopefully this isn’t new information to you, because I know teachers always harp on about planning, but trust me: examiners (I was one for years) don’t need to see pages and pages of writing to give out full marks: in fact, if the article is too long and not properly structured, it can actually lose marks.

So, how do you actually “write less, plan more”? Well, I always said to students that I would spend up to 30% of my time planning, and I would make sure I had my entire argument figured out before I wrote a single word on the page. This would include the facts and figures I would be using (my “evidence” for my argument), as well as my headline and standfirst. 

What are the best techniques to use in a GCSE English article?

Lots of schools teach different acronyms to help you remember some of the best language techniques to use in a GCSE English Language article. These are different from the acronyms schools teach for the GCSE English Literature exam, but there is often some crossover. A great one I always taught my students was DAFOREST:

D: Direct address: by using pronouns such as “you” and “your”, you inevitably grab the reader’s attention, and involve them directly into your argument

A: Alliteration: often used in fiction writing, alliteration can also be a nice way to show the examiner that your article has been crafted with the reader in mind

F: Facts: remember, you are writing nonfiction, so it’s important to include facts and information (even if these are completely made up)

O: Opinions: nonfiction isn’t just a dry presentation of facts, however. Include your opinion to help create a sense of you as an author. This will also help you be more persuasive

R: Rhetorical questions: another technique that directly involves the audience in your argument

E: Emotive language: try using emotive anecdotes (these can also be invented) to create empathy in your reader

S: Statistics: again, another great way to remind the examiner that you know you’re writing nonfiction (make these up too!)

T: Triple: this is using three adjectives in a list, or three sentences that start with the same words

I do hope this guide has been useful. For more tips, step by step guides (including walkthroughs of each GCSE English Language question) and model answers, please visit the SME GCSE English Language pages.