Writing Articles

Articles are the most common form on Paper 2. In recent years, Edexcel has set article prompts in the majority of papers — either as the first or second option in Section B. An article is a piece of non-fiction writing for a newspaper, magazine or website, usually with a recognisable writer's voice, a developed argument or exploration, and a clear sense of audience. This lesson shows you what articles actually look like, how they differ from essays, and how to write an opening that makes an examiner want to keep reading.

This lesson develops AO5 — specifically selecting and adapting tone, style and register — and reinforces AO6 through sentence variety appropriate to journalism. We are building directly on the FAP framework from Lesson 2: in article writing, form is fixed (article), but you will need to adapt tone for different audiences (broadsheet readers vs magazine readers vs student paper readers) and different purposes (argue vs inform vs review).

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What an article is — and isn't

An article is not an essay. Essays announce their structure (This essay will argue three things) and close with a conclusion that restates the thesis. Articles don't do this. Articles begin with something that grabs — an image, a statistic, a scene, a provocation — and close with something that lingers. The argument is inside the piece, not stapled to the edges.

Examiners report that the single most common error in article responses is "essay-shaped writing" — responses that include In this article I will argue… in the opening paragraph and In conclusion… in the closing paragraph. Both phrases are worth deleting on sight.

Two further points:

1. Articles have voice. The writer's personality is on the page — not overwhelming the argument, but present. Journalists have recognisable registers; so should your response.
2. Articles assume a reader who can be distracted. Newspaper readers are on trains, in cafés, on phones. If the first two sentences don't hook them, they move on. Write for someone who could leave.

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Newspaper vs magazine: two article registers

Paper 2 prompts usually specify either a newspaper or a magazine (sometimes a website). The distinction matters more than students think.

Feature	Newspaper article	Magazine article
Audience assumption	General adult, time-pressed	Interested in the topic, more time
Opening style	News-hook (event, statistic, scene)	Atmospheric, narrative, question-led
Tone	Considered, slightly detached	Warmer, more personal
Paragraph length	Mostly short-medium	Variable, including longer
Writer presence	Moderate, opinion earned	Stronger, personal anecdote common
Typical ending	Forward-looking, implication-drawing	Reflective, reader-addressed

Within these, broadsheet (e.g. The Times, The Guardian) is more formal than tabloid (e.g. The Mirror, The Sun), and a specialist magazine (e.g. a parenting magazine, a travel magazine) has a tighter audience than a general-interest one.

A prompt that specifies national newspaper points you towards broadsheet register unless it says otherwise. A prompt that says lifestyle magazine points you towards warmer, more personal tone. Read carefully.

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Anatomy of an article: the essential features

graph TD
    A["HEADLINE<br/>(short, pointed, punchy)"] --> B["OPENING HOOK<br/>(2-3 sentences, grabs reader)"]
    B --> C["CONTEXT PARAGRAPH<br/>(what's the situation? why now?)"]
    C --> D["ARGUMENT PARAGRAPHS<br/>(2-4 developed points)"]
    D --> E["COUNTER-POINT ACKNOWLEDGED<br/>(1 paragraph)"]
    E --> F["CLOSING PARAGRAPH<br/>(echoes opening, looks forward)"]

    style A fill:#3498db,color:#fff
    style F fill:#27ae60,color:#fff

Headline. Examiners do not mark on headlines specifically, but a good headline signals that you understand the form. A good headline is short, pointed, and has bite. "The End of Homework" beats "Homework should be cut in half". "Why Your Phone is Lying to You" beats "Problems with Modern Technology".

Subheading (optional). A one-line summary of the argument, in italics or below the headline. Useful if you have space.

Opening hook. The first two to three sentences have one job: make the reader want the third sentence. The five workhorse hook types:

• Scene — put the reader in a specific moment
• Statistic — a striking number, often juxtaposed against an image
• Question — usually rhetorical, specific enough not to feel generic
• Anecdote — a micro-story, personal or observed
• Provocation — a flat, bold claim that the piece then justifies

Context paragraph. After the hook, the reader needs to know what's going on — the situation, the reason the topic is live right now.

Argument paragraphs. Two to four developed points. Each should follow the shape: assertion → evidence → analysis. The assertion is what you are claiming. The evidence is a specific example, statistic or anecdote. The analysis is the because sentence — why this matters.

Counter-point paragraph. Examiners reward responses that acknowledge the other side. Even one sentence ("Supporters of the current system argue that…") demonstrates Level 4/5 thinking.

Closing paragraph. Echo the opening, draw an implication, point forward. Never In conclusion.

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Worked example 1: a full article opening with annotation

Prompt: Write an article for a national newspaper arguing that teenagers are unfairly blamed for social problems.

Here is a model opening (210 words), followed by annotation of what each move is doing.

The Generation Nobody Listens To

Why teenagers are the country's favourite scapegoat — and what we lose by blaming them

Ask a politician about knife crime, and somewhere in the answer, a teenager will appear. Ask a commentator about social media, and within a sentence, "the youth" will be invoked. Ask a radio phone-in about the state of the country, and by the second caller, you will have been told that today's young people are ruder, lazier, and more entitled than any generation before them. It is an easy story. It is also, by almost every measure that matters, untrue.

Teenage crime in England and Wales is at its lowest recorded level. Rates of smoking, drinking and drug use among under-18s have fallen every year for a decade. More young people are in education, training or employment than at any point in the last forty years. And yet the cultural story — repeated by newspapers, politicians and well-meaning relatives at Christmas dinners — is that this is a generation in crisis. It is worth asking, seriously, who benefits from telling that story, and who it costs.

Annotation:

• Headline (The Generation Nobody Listens To): short, provocative, a clear point of view without being aggressive.
• Subheading (Why teenagers are the country's favourite scapegoat…): summarises the argument. Optional, but signals form.
• Opening tricolon (Ask a politician… Ask a commentator… Ask a radio phone-in…): a sustained three-part structure that builds — this is rhetorical craft in an article's clothing.
• Deliberate short sentence at paragraph end (It is an easy story. It is also, by almost every measure that matters, untrue.): resets pace, delivers a claim.
• Second paragraph: evidence blast: three statistics in quick succession establish the convincing strand of AO5.
• "And yet…": pivot word that signals counter-argument without making it clumsy.
• Closing sentence of paragraph two (who benefits from telling that story, and who it costs): opens up the piece, points forward. The next paragraph clearly has somewhere to go.

Notice what is not here: In this article I will argue, There are three reasons, Firstly. The argument is inside the writing, not hanging above it.

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Worked example 2: magazine tone, same topic

Now here is the same topic written as a magazine opening, for a parenting magazine, audience of parents of teenagers: