Text type expectations
The pages in this section give you everything you need to know to produce an authentic version of each text type in the exam. There are detailed notes on the features of each text type, a model text in response to an exam prompt, and suggested exam tasks for you to practise.
You can use these pages to introduce the text types to your students, and they can use them as a reference tool for their revision.
Your choice of text type and how well you produce it will determine your mark for Criterion C: Conceptual understanding (see the page Writing criteria, unpacked).
This criterion includes the following general areas:
- context, audience, purpose - normally, as set out in the question
- register and tone - generally implied by the norm in the type of text, but may be altered by the nature of the task
- conventions - the standard techniques of format, address, rhetoric, structure, etc.
Your job is to first learn the features of each text type and then to apply them in response to a specific exam prompt.
How the text type pages are organised
Each page follows the following structure:
KEY FEATURES
Context, Audience, & Purpose
Register and Tone
Conventions
The conventions listed are the ones given to the examiners who mark your Paper 1 exam.
Further links:
Paper 1: Past Paper Text Types
Up to May 2024, there were 11 examination sessions, resulting in 33 Paper 1 prompts across Higher and Standard Levels. Each prompt offered a choice of three text types, creating a total of 99 text type...
Paper 1 Video Walkthrough
This video unpacks a Paper 1 prompt and models the planning process. This is crucial in the first 15 minutes of the exam to ensure your response is relevant (to the prompt), fully developed, and structured...
Writing criteria, unpacked
This page offers a detailed breakdown of the assessment criteria for Paper 1. It covers both Standard and Higher Level. You can use this as a reference tool to check your understanding of how the examiner...