Section 1: Directed Writing You are advised to write between 200 and 300 words. • You will be awarded up to 15 marks for following the task instructions. • You will be awarded up to 15 marks for the language you use. Task 1 Many new students join your school every year. Your Principal wants to make starting at the school as easy as possible for these new students and she asks you to write a report for her about how to do this. Write your report. You must include the following: • some of the difficulties that you and other students had when you joined the school • suggestions about what the school can do to help new students • how the students and the school will benefit. Cover all three points above in detail. You should make your report polite and informative. Start your report 'To the Principal'. Remember to give a name and a date.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (May/June 2018). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [Instructions] Candidates are expected to: 1. write a report which communicates information clearly, accurately and economically; 2. write between 200 and 300 words; 3. carry out the instructions as detailed on the question paper regarding the particular information required.
2. [Instructions] Candidates will be awarded up to 15 marks for following the task instructions and up to 15 marks for the language used.
3. [13-15] (Task Fulfilment Band 5) Very good understanding of purpose. Clear awareness of the specified situation and audience. Text type entirely appropriate. All required points developed in detail, fully amplified and well organised. Given information well used to justify personal opinion and interpretation. Tone and register entirely appropriate.
4. [10-12] (Task Fulfilment Band 4) Good understanding of purpose. An awareness of the specified situation and audience. Text type appropriate. All required points addressed but not always developed in detail. Given information organised to support personal opinion. Tone and register appropriate.
5. [7-9] (Task Fulfilment Band 3) Some understanding of purpose; may lack some focus. Some awareness of the specified situation and audience. Text type generally appropriate. At least two required points addressed (and both are partially/fully developed). Given information may not be logically used to support opinion. Tone usually appropriate, although there may be slips of register.
6. [4-6] (Task Fulfilment Band 2) Only partial understanding of purpose. Some confusion as to the specified situation and audience. Text type may be inappropriate. At least one of the required points addressed (partially/fully developed). Given information may be used irrelevantly. Tone may be uneven.
7. [1-3] (Task Fulfilment Band 1) Misunderstanding of purpose. Confusion as to the specified situation and audience. Little evidence of a specific text type. None of the required points addressed. Given information misunderstood or irrelevant. Tone may be inappropriate.
8. [0] (Task Fulfilment Band 0) Insufficient to meet the criteria for Band 1.
9. [14-15] (Language Band 8) Highly accurate writing, apart from very occasional slips. Sentence structures varied for particular effects. Verb forms largely correct and appropriate tenses consistently used. Vocabulary wide and precise. Punctuation accurate and helpful. Spelling accurate, apart from very occasional slips. Paragraphs have unity, are linked, and show evidence of planning.
10. [12-13] (Language Band 7) Accurate writing; occasional errors are either slips or caused by ambition. Sentence structures show some variation to create some natural fluency. Occasional slips in verb forms or tense formation, but sequence consistent and clear throughout. Vocabulary precise enough to convey intended shades of meaning. Punctuation accurate and generally helpful. Spelling nearly always accurate. Paragraphs have unity, are linked, and show some evidence of planning.
11. [10-11] (Language Band 6) Mostly accurate writing; errors from ambition do not mar clarity of communication. Some variety of sentence structures, but a tendency to repeat sentence types may produce a monotonous effect. Errors may occur in irregular verb forms, but control of tense sequence sufficient to sustain clear progression of events or ideas. Simple vocabulary mainly correct; errors may occur with more ambitious words. Punctuation generally accurate and sentence separation correctly marked, but errors may occur, e.g.with direct speech. Spelling of simple vocabulary accurate; some errors in more ambitious words. Paragraphs may show some unity, although links may be absent or inappropriate.
12. [8-9] (Language Band 5) Writing is sufficiently accurate to communicate meaning, with patches of clear, accurate language. Some variety of sentence length and structure, not always for particular purpose. Errors in verb forms and tense consistency may cause uncertainty in sequence of events or disturb ease of communication. Vocabulary usually adequate to convey intended meaning; idiom may be uncertain. Punctuation used but not always helpful; occasional sentence separation errors. Spelling of simple vocabulary accurate; errors in more difficult words. Paragraphs used but may lack unity or coherence.
13. [6-7] (Language Band 4) Overall meaning never in doubt, but errors sufficiently frequent and serious to hamper precision and distract reader from content. Some simple sentence structures accurate, but unlikely to sustain accuracy for long. Errors in verb forms and tenses will sometimes confuse sequence of events. Vocabulary limited, either too simple or imperfectly understood; some idiomatic errors likely. Simple punctuation usually accurate, but there may be frequent sentence separation errors. Spelling of simple vocabulary accurate; frequent errors in more difficult words. Paragraphs used haphazardly.
14. [4-5] (Language Band 3) The writing has many serious errors of various kinds of 'single-word' type (i.e. they could be corrected without re-writing the sentence); communication established, although weight of error may cause some 'blurring'. Sentences probably simple and repetitive in structure. Frequent errors in verb forms and haphazard changes of tense confuse meaning. Vocabulary conveys meaning but likely to be simple and imprecise; significant idiomatic errors. Spelling may be inconsistent. Punctuation and paragraphing may be haphazard or non-existent.
15. [2-3] (Language Band 2) Sense usually decipherable but some errors will be multiple (i.e. requiring the reader to re-read and re-organise); meaning may bepartly hidden by density of linguistic error. Unlikely to be more than a few accurate sentences, however simple, in the whole essay.
16. [1] (Language Band 1) Scripts almost entirely or entirely impossible to recognise as pieces of English writing; whole sections make no sense at all. Where occasional patches of relative clarity are evident, 1 mark should be given.
17. [0] (Language Band 0) Insufficient to meet the criteria for Band 1.