QCE English imaginative extended response (IA3) quiz

Persuasive writing on a contemporary issue

Literary analysis through a critical perspective

An imaginative extended response (around 800-1000 words) demonstrating craft control over form, voice, and language in response to a stimulus

An oral presentation

Originality of subject matter

Craft control (deliberate, sustained choices across form, voice, structure, language)

Word count

Use of complex vocabulary

Writing in first person

Voice drift (starting in one voice and shifting to another by the second page)

Using contractions

Writing in present tense

Big topics are forbidden

Writing about war, climate, or grief in 800 words usually fails because the subject crushes the form; quieter subjects with specific detail score higher

Big topics are too political

Big topics require external research

The kitchen was tense.

The kitchen smelled of burnt toast and her father's silence.

It was a kitchen.

Everyone was in the kitchen.

Changing tense halfway through

Around two-thirds of the way through, the piece pivots: something previously assumed or framed one way is reframed

Switching from one character to another

Reversing the order of paragraphs

Mention it once at the opening then write whatever you want

Weave it through the piece structurally - as recurring motif, closing line, or conceptual frame the piece interrogates

Quote the stimulus directly in every paragraph

Avoid the stimulus and impose your own subject

300 to 500 words

Around 800 to 1000 words

1500 to 2000 words

As long as the writer wants

Write the piece in one sitting the day before

Memorise a piece word-for-word

Draft 3 to 5 times across several weeks, sharpening voice, structure, and detail between each round

Trust your first instincts

Yes, heavy subjects always score higher

Possible to do well, but high-risk; markers cannot reward intensity without craft, and many strong IA3 pieces deal with quieter subjects that reward the specific craft being assessed

Heavy subjects are forbidden

Always avoid any difficult subject