Transactional Writing Exam Practice

This final lesson brings together everything you have learned about transactional writing and applies it to exam-style practice. You will work through the exam routine, practise planning and writing under timed conditions, and learn from examiner-style feedback on model answers.

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The Exam Routine: 45 Minutes

Phase	Time	What to Do
Read and Analyse	2 minutes	Read the question carefully. Identify the form, audience, and purpose.
Plan	5 minutes	Decide your viewpoint. List 4–5 key arguments. Note form conventions and persuasive techniques.
Write	33 minutes	Write your response. Apply form conventions. Use PEEL paragraphs. Integrate persuasive techniques.
Proofread	5 minutes	Check sentence demarcation, spelling, punctuation, vocabulary, and form conventions.

flowchart TD
  A[Read question - 2 min] --> B[Identify Form / Audience / Purpose]
  B --> C[Plan - 5 min]
  C --> C1[Decide viewpoint]
  C --> C2[List 4-5 arguments]
  C --> C3[Note techniques + form conventions]
  C1 --> D[Write - 33 min]
  C2 --> D
  C3 --> D
  D --> E[Proofread - 5 min]
  E --> F[Submit]

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Exam-Style Prompt 1: Article

Question: "Social media is ruining young people's lives." Write an article for a broadsheet newspaper in which you argue for or against this view.

Model Plan

Section	Content	Techniques
Headline	"The Algorithm of Anxiety: How Social Media Is Stealing Childhood"	Alliteration, metaphor
Opening	Shocking statistic — hours spent on screens; contrast with previous generation	Statistic, direct address, contrast
Para 1	Mental health impact — anxiety, body image, FOMO	Emotive language, expert opinion, PEEL
Para 2	Addiction by design — algorithms, notifications, dopamine loops	Metaphor, facts, tricolon
Para 3	Impact on sleep and academic performance	Statistics, cause and effect
Counterargument	Social media connects people, gives a voice to the marginalised	Concession and rebuttal
Conclusion	Call for regulation, not abolition; responsibility of platforms	Tricolon, call to action, powerful final sentence

Model Response (Extract — Opening)

The Algorithm of Anxiety: How Social Media Is Stealing Childhood

"The average British teenager spends four hours and thirty-seven minutes on social media every single day. That is more than thirty-two hours a week — nearly a full-time job — dedicated to scrolling, liking, and comparing. In the time it takes to read this article, a thirteen-year-old somewhere in this country will have been exposed to dozens of digitally altered images of bodies she will never have, lives she will never live, and a version of happiness that does not exist. And we wonder why our children are anxious."

Examiner Commentary

Criterion	Comment
AO5: Content	Compelling opening with a convincing blend of statistics and emotive language. Clear viewpoint established immediately. Direct address ("we wonder") draws the reader in.
AO5: Organisation	Headline signals argument. Opening paragraph moves from fact to image to emotional impact in a logical sequence.
AO6: Technical Accuracy	Secure sentence demarcation. Varied structures (complex, compound, simple). Ambitious vocabulary ("digitally altered," "algorithm"). Accurate spelling. Effective use of dash.
Estimated Level	Level 4 — compelling, convincing communication with sustained structure.

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Exam-Style Prompt 2: Speech

Question: Write a speech to your school governors arguing that more money should be spent on mental health support for students.

Model Response (Extract — Key Paragraph)

"Let me tell you about a student I know. She is fifteen years old, she gets excellent grades, and she has not slept properly in six months. She sits in lessons with a smile on her face and goes home to a house where she cries herself to sleep. She has been on a waiting list for counselling since September. It is now March. And when she finally gets an appointment — if she gets an appointment — she will be given six sessions. Six. As if anxiety comes with an expiry date. As if trauma can be tidied away in a six-week half-term.

This student is not unusual. She is not an exception. She is the rule. And the fact that we have normalised this — the fact that we shrug and say 'there is nothing we can do' — is not a reflection of her resilience. It is a reflection of our failure."

What Makes This Effective

Technique	Where
Anecdote	The story of the student — specific, personal, powerful
Tricolon	"She is not unusual. She is not an exception. She is the rule."
Repetition	"If she gets an appointment" echoes the earlier "when"
Rhetorical questions (implied)	The sarcastic "as if" clauses challenge assumptions
Emotive language	"cries herself to sleep," "our failure"
Direct address	Speaking directly to the governors
Antithesis	"not a reflection of her resilience... a reflection of our failure"

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Exam-Style Prompt 3: Letter

Question: Write a letter to your local MP arguing that more should be done to tackle climate change.

Key Features to Include

• Formal layout (address, date, Dear + name, Yours sincerely)
• Formal register (no contractions, professional vocabulary)
• Clear viewpoint with evidence
• Respectful but firm tone
• A specific request for action in the conclusion

Model Conclusion

"I urge you, as my elected representative, to support stronger environmental legislation, to hold polluting industries to account, and to champion renewable energy investment in our constituency. The window for meaningful action is closing rapidly. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss these concerns with you further, and I trust that you will give this matter the urgent attention it demands.

Yours sincerely, A. Student"

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Common Exam Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

Pitfall	How to Avoid It
Ignoring the form	Underline the form in the question. Check: have I included the right conventions?
Wrong register	Check the audience. Formal for adults/officials; semi-formal for peers.
No clear viewpoint	State your position in the first paragraph and sustain it throughout.
All assertion, no evidence	Support every argument with a fact, statistic, example, or expert opinion.
No counterargument	Include at least one paragraph that addresses the opposing view and rebuts it.
Weak conclusion	Plan your conclusion before you start writing. End with impact.
SPaG errors	Proofread for 5 minutes. Check commas, apostrophes, spelling, and sentence demarcation.
Checklist approach to techniques	Weave techniques into your argument naturally. Do not force them.

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The Proofreading Checklist