EDU-GEducation, Lifelong Learning and Careers

Free writing: a 12-line article, post or e-mail on schooling and careers

Idée directrice

Task 2 of the Writing section regularly leaves the classroom to ask about the school system itself or about the working life that follows it: online learning against face-to-face classes, dropping out, a stressful school, a career plan, well-being at work. The brief fixes a genre (article, blog post, e-mail to the headmaster), a length (about 12 lines) and a number of arguments (usually three). The mark rewards a position that is stated, argued and addressed to the right reader, not a list of complaints.

Signature de reconnaissance — l'énoncé se trahit ainsi

« Write a 12-line article for your school magazine in which you give your opinion about online learning » ; « Write your headmaster an e-mail to express your choice and support it with at least three sound arguments » ; « write a post on your blog in which you support the mother’s point of view » ; « you feel concerned with the issue of career planning. Write a 12-line article »

Sujet principal

Writing — Task 2 (free writing, 8 to 10 marks)

1 questionCorrigé masqué

II - Writing (Task 2). During a long period of school closure, your school offers every student a choice: attend face-to-face classes in small groups or follow all courses online from home.

Which of the two would you choose? Write your headmaster a 12-line e-mail in which you state your choice and support it with at least three sound arguments. Do not sign the e-mail with your real name.

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Model answer (12 lines)

Dear Headmaster,

Thank you for letting us choose how we will study this term. I would rather attend face-to-face classes in small groups, for three main reasons. First, a classroom keeps me focused: at home, the phone, the television and the family are permanent distractions, and a lesson followed on a screen quickly turns into background noise. Second, learning is a social activity. In a small group I can ask a question the moment I do not understand, hear my classmates' answers and work in pairs, which no chat window really replaces. Third, not every student has a quiet room and a reliable connection; face-to-face classes give all of us the same conditions. Online courses could remain a back-up for revision or for students who are ill. I hope this choice can be organised safely for everyone.

Yours faithfully,
A student of the final year

Move 1 — Adherence to task and content adequacy (EN-WRIT-02). The e-mail answers the exact question (one of the two options), addresses the headmaster with an opening and a closing formula, and gives three distinct arguments — concentration, interaction, equal conditions — each developed in one or two sentences. A text that describes both options without choosing, or that argues about the pandemic instead of the choice, loses here.

Move 2 — Language, grammar and vocabulary (EN-WRIT-03). Modals and comparatives carry the reasoning (I would rather…, quickly turns into…, no chat window really replaces); linkers order the arguments (First, Second, Third) and a concession opens the last paragraph (Online courses could remain…). Vocabulary stays in the school field: focused, lesson, revision, reliable connection.

Move 3 — Mechanics of writing (EN-WRIT-04). One paragraph per argument, a capital letter after Dear Headmaster,, apostrophes in classmates' answers and do not, no abbreviation typical of chat messages.

Exercices d'entraînement — une nuance à la fois

Entraînement 01 / 02

Drill EDU-G.1 — An article on dropping out of school

1 questionCorrigé masqué

II - Writing (Task 2, 10 marks). Many students in your region leave school before the end of secondary education, for different reasons. Deeply affected by the problem, write a 12-line article for a weekly newspaper in which you highlight the negative effects of dropping out and suggest possible solutions. Do not sign the article.

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Model answer (12 lines)

Every year, hundreds of teenagers in our region leave school before their final exam. Some need to earn money for their family, others feel lost in classes that no longer make sense to them. The consequences are heavy. Without a diploma, a young person is limited to badly paid and unstable jobs, and the risk of long unemployment grows year after year. Dropping out also isolates: school is where friendships, sport and culture happen, and leaving it early often means leaving all of that. Solutions exist. Schools could detect early absences and call the family before it is too late; tutoring by older students could help those who fall behind; and vocational paths, with a real trade at the end, would keep motivated the students who dislike theory. A diploma is not only a paper: it is a door that stays open.

Move 1 — Adherence to task and content adequacy (EN-WRIT-02). The article does both things the brief asks: effects (economic, social) then solutions (early detection, tutoring, vocational paths). It is written for a newspaper readership, not to a friend.

Move 2 — Language, grammar and vocabulary (EN-WRIT-03). Cause–effect vocabulary (consequences, risk, means) and modal suggestions (could detect, would keep); linkers Some… others, also, and.

Move 3 — Mechanics of writing (EN-WRIT-04). Paragraph breaks between effects and solutions; capital letters only where needed; no bullet points in an article.

Entraînement 02 / 02

Drill EDU-G.2 — A blog post on well-being at work

1 questionCorrigé masqué

II - Writing (Task 2, 10 marks). Creating a positive and stress-free environment in the workplace increases productivity and employees' engagement. Do you agree or disagree? As a final-year student about to enter working life, you feel concerned. Write a 12-line post for a business blog in which you express your opinion and support it with at least three sound arguments.

Voir la correction commentéeAprès avoir posé votre démarche

Model answer (12 lines)

I fully agree that a positive, stress-free workplace makes people more productive and more engaged, and I see three reasons for it. First, a calm employee makes fewer mistakes: constant pressure produces rushed work that someone has to correct later. Second, people who feel respected stay. Every departure costs a company months of recruitment and training, so a good atmosphere is also good accounting. Third, ideas circulate in a team that is not afraid; nobody suggests an improvement to a manager who shouts. Of course, well-being is not the absence of effort, and clear objectives remain necessary. But a company that invests in reasonable hours, a quiet space and simple recognition gets that investment back in quality and loyalty. Stress is expensive; respect is not.

Move 1 — Adherence to task and content adequacy (EN-WRIT-02). The post answers the agree/disagree question in the first line and keeps three separate arguments (quality, retention, creativity) plus one concession, all inside the business frame.

Move 2 — Language, grammar and vocabulary (EN-WRIT-03). Cause–consequence structures (so a good atmosphere is also…), a conditional generalisation (nobody suggests… to a manager who shouts), business vocabulary (productivity, recruitment, loyalty).

Move 3 — Mechanics of writing (EN-WRIT-04). Short paragraphs, an apostrophe in employees', the semicolon in the closing sentence used once, deliberately.

Méthode / Automatismes

Read the brief twice: genre (article / post / e-mail), reader, length, number of arguments.
Take a position in the first two lines; the rest of the text serves it.
One paragraph per argument, each opened by a linker and closed by a concrete example.
Keep the register of the genre: an e-mail to a headmaster opens and closes formally; a blog post may address readers directly.
Count the lines and the arguments before writing the final version.

Pièges classiques

The typical loss is a text that tells the story of the writer's own school life instead of arguing, or that piles up five weak arguments in one paragraph. The other is forgetting the genre: an e-mail without greeting and closing, an article signed with a real name when the brief forbids it.