Paper 1: Non-Fiction Texts - Content Requirements — Edexcel GCSE English Language
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Paper 1: Non-Fiction Texts - Content Requirements explained
This requirement lists the eight transactional text types you may be asked to write in Paper 1: article, blog, formal email, letter, report, review, text for a speech, and a section for a guide, textbook, leaflet or booklet.
Read the full explanation
For each type, learn the conventions that shape content and structure: an article needs a headline and paragraphs for a public readership; a blog uses an informal, personal register with dated or titled entries; a formal email uses a subject line, salutation and sign-off; a letter follows address and salutation conventions; a report uses headings and objective tone; a review evaluates for an audience; a speech text uses direct address and rhetorical devices for oral delivery; a guide or textbook section organises information under headings for a reader seeking knowledge. Practise planning and writing each type so you can adapt to the one set in the exam.
Your focus
- Identify the conventions of each of the eight transactional text types.
- Plan and write a response that matches a specified transactional form, audience and purpose.
- Adapt register, tone and structure to the demands of the named form.
Paper 1: Non-Fiction Texts - Content Requirements exam tips
Marking Points
- Matches the response to the specified transactional form by using its characteristic layout and register, for example a headline and paragraphs for an article, or a subject line and sign-off for a formal email.
- Addresses a clear audience and purpose appropriate to the form, such as informing the public in an article or persuading a live audience in a speech text.
- Organises content with form-appropriate structure, for example sequenced steps in a guide section, headings in a report, or an evaluative structure in a review.
- Uses language and tone suited to the form, for example formal and impersonal in a report, personal and conversational in a blog, or rhetorical and direct in a speech text.
- Maintains consistent form conventions throughout the response rather than mixing features from different transactional types.
- Communicates with accuracy in spelling, punctuation and grammar so the form conventions are clear and the writing is coherent.
Examiner Tips
- 💡Before writing, spend two minutes identifying the form, audience and purpose, then jot a quick plan that includes the form's key conventions.
- 💡Use the first and last lines to signal the form clearly, for example a headline and standfirst for an article, or a salutation and sign-off for a formal email.
- 💡Leave two minutes to check that your response consistently uses the conventions of the named form and that spelling, punctuation and grammar are accurate.
Common Mistakes
- Writing a generic essay that ignores the named form; correct by planning the layout and register of the specified type before writing.
- Confusing a blog with a formal article; correct by using a personal, conversational register and dated or titled entries for a blog, and a headline with public-facing paragraphs for an article.
- Omitting conventional features of a formal email or letter, such as a subject line, salutation or sign-off; correct by including the expected opening and closing conventions.
- Using an inappropriate tone for a report or guide section, such as slang or direct address; correct by adopting an objective, informative register with headings where appropriate.
- Treating a speech text as a silent essay; correct by using direct address, rhetorical devices and phrasing suited to oral delivery.