Structuring an Extended Written Response: English – First Language 0500 (Cambridge O Level / IGCSE)

A student is planning a discursive essay in answer to the question: "Some people think schools should replace all paper textbooks with tablets. To what extent do you agree?"

Before writing, they jot down six notes for their essay, in no particular order:

Note 1: A counter-argument. Tablets can run out of battery, break, or open up opportunities for distraction (games, messaging apps) during lessons.

Note 2: A closing recommendation. Schools should trial a mixed approach, keeping paper textbooks for exams while introducing tablets gradually elsewhere.

Note 3: An opening image, a student's backpack weighed down by six heavy textbooks, set against a single lightweight tablet.

Note 4: A supporting point. Tablets have built-in accessibility features (text-to-speech, adjustable font size) that help students with visual impairments or dyslexia.

Note 5: Background context. Many schools worldwide have already piloted tablet schemes over the past decade, with mixed results.

Note 6: A supporting point. Tablets can be updated instantly when a syllabus changes, unlike printed textbooks, which quickly become outdated and expensive to replace.

(a) Number the six notes to show the order in which they should appear as paragraphs in the essay, and label each one with its paragraph role (for example, "opening hook", "counter-argument"). [4]

(b) In two or three sentences, justify your chosen order: explain why this sequence is more effective than simply following the order the notes are listed in above. [2]

A student is writing a discursive essay in answer to the question: "Should schools introduce a daily 20-minute silent reading period?"

Below is one body paragraph from their essay. Its topic sentence is missing.

"___ For example, a recent trial at Fernbridge Academy found that pupils who took part in a daily reading period improved their reading-comprehension test scores by an average of 11% over one term. Teachers also reported that pupils arrived at lessons afterwards calmer and more focused, having had a few minutes to settle before returning to academic work."

Which sentence would work best as the missing topic sentence for this paragraph? [1]

Read this extract from a student's discursive essay about a proposed bike-share scheme.

"The local council has proposed introducing a bike-share scheme in the town centre. ___, several residents have raised concerns about where the docking stations would be placed, arguing that pavements in the old town are already narrow."

Which word or phrase, placed in the gap, most clearly links these two sentences? [1]

You are writing a discursive essay in answer to the question: "Should all students be required to learn a musical instrument at school?"

(a) Write the opening paragraph of your essay (60–90 words). Your opening should engage the reader, establish the topic, and signal a clear stance. [5]

(b) Briefly explain two techniques you used in your opening paragraph to engage the reader and signal your stance, referring to your own wording. [3]

A student has written the following paragraph for a report on a town's new recycling scheme, but it reads as a list of disconnected facts rather than a fluent paragraph.

"The town introduced a new recycling scheme last year. The scheme sorts waste into five different bins. Sorting waste into five bins confuses some residents. Some residents put items in the wrong bins. Putting items in the wrong bins means the recycling plant has to sort some waste by hand. Sorting waste by hand costs the council extra money."

(a) Rewrite this paragraph to improve its cohesion, using pronouns or synonyms to avoid repetition, discourse markers to make relationships between ideas explicit, and varied sentence structures. Do not add new information. [6]

(b) Briefly explain two specific changes you made and why each improves the paragraph's cohesion. [2]

You are writing a discursive essay in answer to the question: "Should cafes and restaurants in town centres be banned from using single-use plastic straws?"

(a) Write the concluding paragraph of your essay (50–80 words). Assume the essay has already argued that a ban would meaningfully reduce local plastic waste, that biodegradable alternatives already exist at a similar cost, and that a small number of customers with medical needs could be exempted. Your conclusion should draw these points together and close the essay with a clear final position, without simply repeating the opening paragraph. [5]

(b) Briefly explain two techniques you used in your conclusion to avoid it reading as a repeat of your opening, referring to your own wording. [2]

Read this extract from a student's report on a new community garden scheme. It is currently written as a single paragraph, but a new paragraph should begin partway through, at the point where the writing shifts from describing the scheme so far to describing plans for its future.

1. Last spring, the council transformed an unused plot behind the library into a community garden.
2. Local volunteers now grow vegetables and flowers there every weekend, sharing the produce among residents who help maintain the beds.
3. The scheme has proved surprisingly popular: more than sixty people have signed up to volunteer, and a waiting list has already formed for garden plots.
4. Looking ahead, the council plans to expand the garden onto a neighbouring plot next year, and is considering adding a small greenhouse for winter growing.
5. This expansion would allow the scheme to run throughout the year rather than only in the warmer months.

Which sentence should begin the new paragraph? [1]

A student is writing a report in answer to the question: "Should the council introduce a late-night bus service on Friday and Saturday nights?"

Below is one paragraph from their draft report. It is grammatically fluent, but it actually covers two distinct ideas fused together into a single paragraph.

"The council should introduce a late-night bus service running from the town centre to the outlying estates on Friday and Saturday nights. Many young people currently have no safe way to get home after nightclubs and bars close at two in the morning, and several parents have written to the council describing the cost and unreliability of booking a taxi at that hour. A part-time worker who finishes a late shift at the multiplex cinema has also raised the same concern, since the last regular bus leaves at eleven. Running the service would cost the council an estimated forty thousand pounds a year, largely because drivers must be paid a higher overnight rate. Ticket prices would likely need to be set slightly above the normal daytime fare to offset part of this cost. A neighbouring town that introduced a similar service reported that fare revenue covered around a third of the running costs within its first year."

(a) Identify the exact sentence where a new paragraph should begin, and explain the shift in idea it marks. [3]

(b) Rewrite the material above as two separate, complete paragraphs. Do not add new content or omit anything given. Each paragraph should open with a clear topic sentence appropriate to its own idea, and the second paragraph should begin with a discourse marker or a clear reference back to the first paragraph's idea, signalling the shift. [5]

A student is writing a report evaluating a proposal to convert a disused railway line into a walking and cycling path. Below are two paragraphs from their report, written in the correct order but with nothing linking them together.

Paragraph 1: "The old railway line that once linked Marsden and Thorpe End has been unused since services stopped in 1998. Weeds now cover the tracks, and several sections of the boundary fencing have collapsed, making the corridor an eyesore as well as a safety hazard for the children who sometimes climb through gaps to explore it."

Paragraph 2: "A dedicated path along this route would connect the two towns without requiring residents to use the busy A312, which currently has no separate provision for cyclists. Early estimates suggest the conversion could be completed within eighteen months, at a cost considerably lower than building an entirely new path from scratch."

(a) Write one or two sentences that could be inserted between these two paragraphs to bridge them, making the shift from the current problem to the proposed solution explicit. Do not repeat either paragraph's content word for word. [4]

(b) Explain how your bridging sentence(s) connect back to Paragraph 1 and forward to Paragraph 2. [3]

A student has written a discursive essay in answer to the question: "Should the local council introduce a car-free day in the town centre once a month?" The essay's opening paragraph described a Saturday afternoon in the town centre, choked with slow-moving traffic and exhaust fumes drifting past outdoor café tables. The body paragraphs then argued that a monthly car-free day would improve air quality, encourage local trade by making the streets more pleasant to browse, and could be trialled cheaply using the road closures already set up for the town's annual summer festival.

Which sentence would work best as the concluding sentence of this essay? [1]