Personal Writing: All Your Questions Answered
Whether you are practising for examinations or simply trying to improve your own writing, this article contains some top tips for GCSE Personal Writing. I have been teaching for a looooong time and have also marked CCEA Unit 4 Personal Writing, so these tips come from a wealth of experience. Read on to get advice to help you make your writing feel lively, engaging, honest and effective for your reader.
If you would like to read some examples of personal writing, I have a few posts that might help you:
FAQs about the question
What topics could come up in the exam?
In general, the topics are broadly grouped around the big four topics of:
- a person
- a place
- a thing/object
- an experience/time when you felt …
What are the past paper questions for Unit 4 Personal Writing?
There are a number of past paper questions as well as a specimen assessment question provided by CCEA. Here they are in order of year from the most recent:
- Summer 2024: Write a personal essay for the examiner about a memorable occasion.
- November 2023: Write a personal essay for the examiner describing the best weekend you have had, explaining why it was memorable.
- Summer 2023: Write an article for your school magazine describing your favourite song/piece of music and why you like it.
- Summer 2022: Write a personal essay for the examiner describing your dream destination.
- November 2022: Write a speech for your classmates describing a treasured possession, explaining why it is important to you.
- Summer 2021: Write a speech for your classmates about the most interesting person you have ever met.
- November 2021: Write an essay for the examiner about the best advice you have ever been given.
- November 2020: Write a personal essay for the examiner about an experience that resulted in a positive change in your life.
- Summer 2019: Write a personal essay for the examiner about what you consider to be one of the proudest moments in your life.
- Specimen assessment materials: Write a personal essay for the examiner about an incident in your own life that did not start well but ended up being a positive experience.
What type of writing will I be asked to do?
Examiners call the type of writing the form. You might be asked to write one of the following forms:
- an essay (also called a personal essay) for the examiner
- an article for your school magazine
- a speech for your class
- (I think these ones are unlikely, given the questions above, but you could also be asked to write a diary entry, a letter, a blog or an internet article).
Who is the audience for personal writing?
This will be stated clearly in the question. Look at the examples of past paper questions above: you will see that the audience is clearly stated. Most frequently, it is either the examiner or your classmates. The audience could be the readers of your school magazine. Think about who would read your school magazine: parents, grandparents, students, teachers, members of your school community such as local residents, local businesses, members of the Board of Governors, etc.
How much time should I spend on the personal writing task?
The exam paper tells you to spend 55 minutes on your answer and I definitely think you should stick to this. You need all of the minutes allocated for the other questions, so don’t overrun. In 55 minutes, you should spend 3-5 minutes planning a nicely structured response and the rest of your time is for writing your response and proof reading to correct accuracy.
What am I being marked on in the personal writing task?
Your mark is based on two main assessments: your content and your accuracy.
Content mark: the examiner will consider how lively and engaging your response is. They want to see the development of detail and structure in your writing. In addition, they want to see your ability to write in the form (see above) and for the audience mentioned in the question (e.g. your classmates, the examiner etc). Also, your work is marked for flair and use of language, so build in language devices. Similes, metaphors, personification, adjectives, descriptive verbs, questions etc all add to your mark. Lastly, consider your vocabulary choices; the more sophisticated and well chosen, the better.
Accuracy mark: the examiner will consider how well you have constructed your sentences, used a wide range of punctuation to create impact and who well you have used accurate spelling for a range of words including more challenging vocabulary and spelling patterns.
FAQs about your answer
Do I have to tell the truth in personal writing?
Great question! The answer is no, but … your answer should feel true, even if it isn’t exactly the truth. I always tell my students that I won’t be phoning home to check who your primary 5 teacher was, or what your cousin’s middle name is! But at the same time, if you write about the time you were President of the USA, or your best holiday to the moon, or the time your sister Kylie Jenner helped you do your make up, then it’s pretty obvious that this story is not true. In fact, it’s a big issue, because the task is PERSONAL writing, so you are meant to be writing about yourself and your own experiences, not CREATIVE writing, which is made up. If you make your personal task feel made up, then you have missed the whole point of the task and will be penalised.
Another thing I tell my students is that the best responses are true: you have lived through them, so you will remember the details such as the colours of the flowers, the taste of the burger, the weather that morning, the emotions you felt as the experience unfolded, etc etc. All of these small details add together to make a very engaging and believable piece, so it is important to write from your experiences. It’s not the end of the world if you exaggerate a bit, or add a few details to make a better story (who doesn’t do this in real life too, right?!) but try to stick to experiences that you have had, so that they feel true and authentic.
What should I write about in personal writing?
There is no quick and easy answer to this question. It will of course depend on the question that comes up and on your own life and experiences. You should write about something that is directly relevant to the task. E.g. if you are asked about a time you felt proud of yourself, make sure this is the main focus of your response. Try to avoid losing track of your ideas and writing about someone else’s achievement or writing a story which ends with a big error. Ensure you focus all the way through your answer on telling a great story about a time you felt proud of yourself.
Can I write lots of smaller examples or one longer one?
One of the features of the mark scheme is the development of your answer. This means you want one extended answer to the task. For example, if you are asked to write about a time you felt proud of yourself, you are best to develop one story, organised into paragraphs which expand on the whole experience. This is much better than writing lots of different one-paragraph examples of different things you have done that you are proud of. Think about how to extend detail, set the scene, build up excitement and suspense for the reader, then reveal the best bit of the story, then reflect back on what this has taught you about yourself.
How to I get a top mark in personal writing?
Here are my top five tips on getting the top band score of your dreams:
1. A great introduction
Open with an introduction that really sets the scene. My favourite introductions use the weather to paint a picture for the reader. For example:
Year 12, have you ever felt so cold that you weren’t sure you would survive? Have you felt the chill move down your nostrils and into your lungs with each breath you take? Well, I have, and I am surprised that I made it through. Allow me take you back to an icy cold night in March of 2022, the night of my Duke of Edinburgh practice run. Let me tell you about the dark trees that towered over us, the freezing fog that descended to shroud us in fear and the shrieks of wild animals that I am sure were intent on devouring me for supper! Listen as I tell you the story of how I overcame my fears and weaknesses to achieve something that I will always be proud of.
2. Hold the audience's attention
Prove to the examiner that you can tell a good story – including humour, questions, lively and conversational phrases, and building up to a climax/high point of tension will win the examiner over.
3. Use language devices
The most sophisticated language devices will bring your writing to life. Metaphors and personification always add depth e.g. I approached the hospital from the car park on that fateful morning. It was a bully, standing tall and intimidating in front of me, refusing to move to let me past. I stared at the building; the building stared back at it. It seemed to narrow its eyes, whispered at my all of my worst fears, and grip me in a terrible embrace.
4. Vary your sentences
Use a range of short and long sentences with different punctuation to prove to the examiner that you can control the pace and emotion of your story. Create punchy sentences. Make them brief. Short. Witty. And then lure the reader back into the depth of your writing with a much longer, more detailed and more engaging sentence, using commas and triplets and even … an ellipsis for dramatic effect. See what I mean?
5. Finish with a strong conclusion
Finish with a reflection to bring your story to a more poignant ending. Don’t stop at the end of the event you are writing about. Add another paragraph at the end in which you comment on the importance of this event in your life. For example:
Looking back now, I know that I am the person I am today because of the lessons I learned from my Grandad. He has taught me that I am not only strong and brave, but I am important to others. I know that I have so much to give to others because of the example he set me. So if you’re listening up there Grandad, thank you! Thank you for the life lessons, the company and the laughs. You will always be the most important, most interesting and most important person I have ever met!
Will I lose marks for spelling mistakes in personal writing?
The short answer is yes. Part of your mark is for the accuracy of spelling. To start, you want to build your spelling skills to get frequently used and more basic words right. Words such as: there/their/they’re, to/too/two, here/hear, its/it’s, etc are important to get right to secure a middle score. Your examiner will credit your more ambitious attempts, so rather than using an easy word such as ‘big’, you could try enormous, gargantuan, titanic, etc. Even if you don’t get the spelling of these quite right, you are better to have a go to show that you have good vocabulary. If you can get more ambitious words right, then you can access the highest mark for spelling.
If the audience is your classmates, can you use slang?
No! You should always stick to standard English i.e. words and phrases that are in the dictionary, have correct spelling and meet the need to prove your writing skills. You are writing for the examiner as well as trying to engage your classmates. Use a level of formality that suits your audience, for example build in some conversational phrases, humour, relevant examples from celebrity culture etc, but ensure the examiner can credit you for correct spelling, punctuation and grammar.
How long should my answer be?
Most teachers do enjoy the old faithful reply: well, how long is a piece of string? But I think there’s a better answer.
CCEA give you three sides of paper in the examination booklet – that’s your guide.
Of course, handwriting size will vary and not everyone will have the exact same word count in three sides. But if you have average sized handwriting and don’t score out large chunks of writing, you should aim to fill the space provided, and stay within it. There is no need for additional paper. Bear in mind, you have been asked to write a speech or an article for a school magazine or an essay for the examiner – a piece that is too long will bore your audience. A piece that is too short will not meet the need for development of detail. Remember that the lines in exam booklets are wider than normal A4 so this isn’t three full sides of file paper.
That’s all folks. Please comment below if there are other questions you have and I will happily add them with answers to this FAQ page. Check out the other articles on personal writing which I have linked below. Thanks for stopping by!
Personal Writing Articles
