Craft of writing
Use imaginative, discursive, persuasive and/or reflective writing in response to a question that may include stimulus or unseen texts.
Standard exam specifications ↗HSC English writing guide
Support students to craft imaginative, discursive, persuasive, reflective, informative and analytical responses with a clear purpose and an intentional reader in mind. Start by selecting the student’s actual course.
Choose the right HSC English course.
The 2024 English syllabuses are being implemented from 2026, with the first HSC examinations in 2027. This guide brings the main writing demands together, but each course has its own focus areas and question wording.
Craft of writing
Compose imaginative, discursive, persuasive and/or reflective responses, with choices shaped by purpose, audience and the question.
Advanced exam specifications ↗Writing
Practise imaginative, discursive or persuasive responses. Build control of form and language while keeping the idea and audience in view.
EAL/D exam specifications ↗Writing for purpose
Practise informative, analytical, imaginative and persuasive responses. The optional HSC examination has its own structure.
Studies exam specifications ↗The new 2024 syllabuses replace the 2017 syllabuses. Check the syllabus and sample materials for the student’s examination year.
Help students make deliberate compositional choices.
Students need to respond to the question and stimulus in front of them. A memorised plot, opening or paragraph plan cannot replace a purposeful response.
- Read the stimulus and question. Identify the concept, audience, purpose and required mode or form.
- Generate a central idea. Write one sentence that captures what the piece will explore, argue or make the reader consider.
- Select a form. Choose imaginative, discursive, persuasive, reflective, informative or analytical writing because it fits the task.
- Plan a movement. Decide how ideas, examples or images will develop from opening to ending.
- Draft with control. Use structure, language features and textual evidence to shape meaning for the reader.
- Reflect and revise. Explain how a compositional choice affects meaning, then improve one feature in a fresh draft.
Use language to develop thinking and shape a reader’s response.
A small bank of useful relationships supports precise writing better than a long list of interchangeable linkers.
Extend a line of thought
A further implication · this develops · more significantly · what matters here is
Qualify a claim
Although · in this context · to some extent · this does not necessarily mean
Reflect on experience
At first · in retrospect · the turning point was · I began to recognise
Shape imaginative writing
Specific nouns and verbs · controlled imagery · shifts in pace · purposeful point of view
The craft of writing includes critical and creative decisions. Teach students to comment on how language, form and structure shape meaning in their own compositions.
Respond to the choices the writer can revise.
Use assessment criteria and the particular question. Keep feedback brief enough for the student to act on it.
One focused feedback cycle
Meaning: What idea or experience is the student developing? Craft: Which choice of form, structure or language has the clearest effect? Next step: Name one move to try, such as adding a specific detail, strengthening a transition or reshaping the ending. Transfer: Ask the student to use that move in a new response.
Use NESA pages for the specific course.
The syllabus pages include current outcomes, course content, assessment requirements and sample examination materials.
These are teaching guides, not official mark schemes. Check the syllabus and assessment materials for the exact course and examination year.
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