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1.2.2 Composition task types

Composition task types: understand the requirement

  1. Specification focus. Section B: Composition (40 marks) • There will be three tasks from which students choose one: descriptive, imaginative, argumentative and/or discursive.
  2. What success looks like. The response demonstrates the named skill accurately and purposefully. Relevant evidence, developed reasoning and controlled communication matter more than memorised labels or formulas.
Key Idea
  • Turn the specification wording into an action that can be demonstrated with an unfamiliar text or task.

Composition task types: a reliable method

  1. Clarify the requirement. Restate the specification point as a practical action and identify evidence that demonstrates success.
  2. Choose a fitting strategy. Select reading, writing or speaking processes that match the task rather than one universal formula.
  3. Practise with variation. Apply the skill to unfamiliar texts, genres, situations and audiences.
  4. Review precisely. Identify one exact strength and one exact improvement using the specification wording.

Composition task types: application and improvement

  1. Worked thinking. Apply the requirement to a fresh task, record the decisions made and explain why each decision improves the response.
  2. Diagnose and revise. Name the exact weakness, such as unsupported inference, thin development, weak organisation, unsuitable register or inaccurate expression, then revise that feature specifically.
Exam technique
  • For Oxford AQA International GCSE English Language 9270, follow the exact paper instructions and stepped question sequence. Use source boundaries carefully and reserve time to check relevance and technical accuracy.
Common Mistake
  • Avoid generic effects and universal paragraph formulas. Every explanation or crafted choice must fit the text, task, purpose and audience.
Key Idea
  • Apply composition task types specifically within Oxford AQA 9270 Section 1.2. Check whether the requirement belongs to an examination paper, centre-assessed project or spoken endorsement, then practise it through a complete task and evaluate the resulting clarity, evidence and control.
Self review
  • Can I explain composition task types in my own words?
  • Can I apply the four-step method to an unfamiliar task?
  • Have I used precise evidence or deliberate crafted choices?
  • Can I identify and correct one likely weakness?
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In Section B: Composition, you choose one task from three options. The task may be descriptive, imaginative, argumentative and/or discursive, so your first job is to identify exactly what the task asks you to create.

Success means demonstrating the named skill purposefully. Relevant ideas, developed reasoning or deliberate crafted choices matter more than memorising a paragraph formula.

Turn the task into an action: identify the purpose, audience, form and key skill, then decide what evidence or choices will demonstrate control.

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Question 1

40 marks

Seen from below

Describe a place as seen from below.

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How many marks is Section B: Composition worth?

1.2.2 Composition task types Revision Guide

  1. IGCSE
  2. /English Language
  3. /1.2.2 Composition task types

Revision notes for Oxford AQA IGCSE English Language 1.2.2 Composition task types: explanations and worked examples.

Revision guides