G3 English Paper 1: editing, situational & continuous writing

Paper 1 is the writing paper — 70 marks, 35% of G3 English, 1 hour 50 minutes. It has three parts: a short editing task, situational writing from a visual stimulus, and a continuous-writing composition that, at G3, leans heavily towards argument.

Editing (10 marks)

A short text of about 250 words across roughly twelve lines. The G3 signature is the 8-errors-plus-2-correct format: among the ten middle lines, eight contain a grammatical error to correct and two are deliberately correct — so you must resist “fixing” a line that's already right. It tests grammar only, not spelling or punctuation.

Situational Writing (30 marks)

You write 250–350 words in a given form — an email, report, letter or speech — from a visual stimulus, for a stated purpose and audience. Marks split into Task Fulfilment (/10) for covering the required content points, and Language (/20) for accuracy and tone. The skill is selecting the right information from the stimulus and pitching the register to the reader. LearnUp's PITCH framework structures exactly this.

Continuous Writing (30 marks)

Choose one topic and write 350–500 words. At G3 the topics lean abstract and values-driven — competition, fairness, fame — and most years offer two quotation-led “How far do you agree?” prompts, so argument dominates. You can still choose narrative, but discursive and argumentative writing is the lead skill here. The same Language ladder (/20) grades this and the situational task, with Content marked /10.

How to score Paper 1

The reliable gains: clean grammar for editing, a fully-addressed situational task in the right register, and a continuous piece with a clear, sustained argument and accurate complex sentences (the Band-5 descriptor asks for “ambitious vocabulary and complex structures used accurately”). LearnUp builds these with FLARE for argument, SPARK for narrative, and PITCH for situational writing.