AQA GCSE English Language · Paper 1
Question 5: creative writing
You choose one of two tasks: a description, or the opening of a story. It’s half the marks on the paper. Most students write too much plot and not enough craft: examiners reward control, not events.
- Marks
- 40
- Minutes
- 45
- Tests
- AO5 and AO6
24 for content and organisation, 16 for technical accuracy
Changed from 2026. From 2026 the description says to write from your imagination: you may use the picture for ideas, but you don’t have to describe it. The story option asks for the opening of a story, so you don’t need to finish it.
What the question looks like
A travel magazine is running a creative writing competition. Choose one of the options below for your entry.
Either: write a description of a coastline from your imagination. You may choose to use the picture provided for ideas.
Or: write the opening of a story about someone who ignores a warning.
(24 marks for content and organisation, 16 marks for technical accuracy)
How to answer it
Plan for 5 minutes
Choose the task you have the clearest idea for. Sketch five short moments, one for each paragraph. A short plan is what stops you from drifting.
Use a shape, not a plot
For a description, move through time (dawn to dusk) or space (far away to close up). For a story opening, one person, one place, one problem. You can stop on a question.
Open with something you wouldn’t expect
Not the weather and not waking up. Try a very short sentence, one odd detail or something already going wrong.
Vary it on purpose
A one-word sentence after a long one. A one-line paragraph at the key moment. Begin sentences with different words. Each choice should have a reason.
Check for 5 minutes
Sixteen marks are for accuracy. Read it through as if out loud, and fix spelling, full stops and comma splices. Add a semicolon or colon where it’s natural.
How it’s marked
- Level 419 to 24 (content) and 13 to 16 (accuracy) marks
- Compelling writing that’s assuredly matched to the task. Ambitious vocabulary, crafted devices, inventive structure and linked paragraphs. A wide range of punctuation and sentence types, used accurately.
- Level 313 to 18 and 9 to 12 marks
- Consistently clear and engaging writing, with chosen vocabulary and devices, effective structure and mostly accurate spelling and punctuation.
- Level 27 to 12 and 5 to 8 marks
- Some success at matching the task, with some deliberate choices and some paragraphs. Punctuation and spelling are often right, but errors show.
- Level 11 to 6 and 1 to 4 marks
- Simple ideas and vocabulary, few or no paragraphs, and frequent errors.
In our own words. Your teacher can show you AQA’s full mark scheme.
If your writing doesn’t address the task, your content mark is capped at 12. A story opening isn’t a whole story, but it still has to be the task you chose.
A model story opening
The answer
Why it scores
Nobody reads the sign. That’s the thing about the sign.
A short, odd opening with a voice. It makes us ask questions at once, and it isn’t the weather.
It has stood at the top of Coldharbour Steps since before my mother was born, its paint peeling away in long grey curls, warning the tourists about something in letters too faded to read. They photograph it. They lean on it to take off their shoes. And then they walk down to the beach with their towels and their children and their sandwiches in foil, while the rest of us, the ones who live here, go indoors and draw our curtains.
A long sentence with a list, to contrast with the short opening. The detail of “sandwiches in foil” is ordinary, which is what makes it unsettling.
Today, I was late.
A one-line paragraph as the pivot. It’s the only event so far, and the reader knows it’s bad.
I could hear it before I reached the bottom step: not the sea exactly, but the sound of the sea breathing in. Far out, past the last of the swimmers, the water had begun to pull away from the sand, slowly, the way a hand is pulled back from a hot stove.
Original imagery that suits the mood. A simile that’s surprising but exact. The colon and the shift to sound show control.
A small boy, knee-deep and delighted, turned around and waved at me.
Ends the opening on a question, not an answer. That’s allowed since 2026: this is only the opening of a story.
A model description
The answer
Why it scores
Before anyone else is awake, the harbour belongs to the gulls. They stand along the sea wall like unpaid security guards, watching the tide decide whether it is coming or going.
Starts with a surprising image, with a touch of humour. It gives the place character straight away.
Lower down, the boats are still asleep, tilted on the mud with their ropes gone slack. Everything smells of diesel and salt and yesterday’s fish.
The focus moves down to the boats: a clear structure that’s based on space. A list of smells brings in another sense without saying “you could smell”.
Then the sun finds the top of the church, and the whole town slides slowly into colour, one roof at a time.
A shift in time. “Slides slowly into colour” is the kind of original phrase that markers notice.
Exam tips
- Learn a few sentence shapes you can use on any topic: a one-word sentence, a long list, a sentence beginning with a verb ending in -ing.
- Show feelings with actions and details. Not “she was scared”, but “her thumb kept finding the same loose thread”.
- About 450 to 600 good words is plenty. Don’t write more than you can check.
What loses marks
- Writing a whole action film in 45 minutes: gun, chase, explosion, “then I woke up”.
- Skipping the plan and running out of ideas halfway.
- Clichés such as “a shiver ran down my spine” and “the wind howled”.
- No paragraphs or full stops: comma splices are the most common lost mark.
- Using huge words you can’t quite control: “precise” beats “long”.
Now try it
Questions people ask
- Do I have to describe the picture in AQA Paper 1 Question 5?
- No. Since 2026 the question says you can write from your imagination and may use the picture for ideas.
- Do I have to finish the story in Question 5?
- No. The story option now asks for the opening of a story, so it can stop on a question or a cliffhanger.
- How much should I write for Question 5?
- Quality matters more than length, but aim for about 450 to 600 words in about 35 minutes of writing, with 5 minutes to plan and 5 to check.