Language accuracy and register

1. Overview

Every writing task is marked on two separate things: content (what you say) and language (how you write it). The same ideas can earn a low or a high language mark depending only on your accuracy, range and register. Because language is scored on its own, it is the most reliable place to gain marks - and across the writing tasks it is worth roughly a third of the Reading and Writing paper. This is the language toolkit you apply to every writing task: Summary, Directed writing and Discursive and opinion tasks.

Key Definitions

• Register: The level of formality you use, chosen to suit your reader (formal, neutral or informal).
• Accuracy: Getting the grammar, punctuation and spelling right.
• Range: Using a variety of vocabulary and sentence types, not the same simple ones.
• Agreement: Making the subject and verb match (she was, not she were).
• Tense consistency: Keeping to the right time - for example staying in the past when you narrate.
• Homophone: A word that sounds like another but is spelt differently (their / there).

Core Content

The two-axis idea

Content and language are marked separately, so:

• accurate, varied, well-pitched English can lift your grade even when your ideas are ordinary;
• strong ideas written in error-filled or wrongly-pitched English lose the language marks.

Both are worth protecting.

Choose your register from the reader

Register is a dial, not a single rule. Set it from the audience:

• A friend -> informal (contractions, questions, a warm tone).
• A stranger or someone in authority (a manager, a head teacher) -> formal or neutral.

The same idea, re-pitched:

• Informal, to a friend: "You have got to see this place - the food's amazing!"
• Formal, in a review: "The restaurant is well worth a visit, particularly for its food."

Then hold that register from your greeting to your sign-off; do not start formal and drift into a chatty tone.

Show range - safely

Range means variety, not showing off:

• mix short and longer sentences (join two ideas with because or although);
• choose a few precise words that suit the reader.

Do not reach for rare words you are unsure of - a forced "impressive" word that is wrong costs more than a simple word that is right. Correct and controlled beats ambitious and broken.

Accuracy - the slips that cost most, and their fixes

• Tense drift when narrating:
  • ❌ "We arrived at the park and everyone is excited."
  • ✓ "We arrived at the park and everyone was excited." (stay in the past)
• Subject-verb agreement:
  • ❌ "The students was ready."
  • ✓ "The students were ready."
• Run-on sentence:
  • ❌ "The trip was long we were tired."
  • ✓ "The trip was long, so we were tired." (join it properly, or use a full stop)
• Apostrophes:
  • ❌ "Its a good idea." / "the teachers desk"
  • ✓ "It's a good idea." / "the teacher's desk"

Each fix is small, but these are the errors that most often pull the language mark down.

Formal and informal - quick signals

	Informal (a friend)	Formal or neutral (authority, wider reader)
Greeting	Hi Sam,	Dear Mr Khan, / Dear Sir or Madam,
Style	contractions (I'm, don't), questions	full forms (I am, do not)
Sign-off	See you soon,	Yours sincerely, / Yours faithfully,

If you open with a name (Dear Mr Khan,) close with Yours sincerely; if you open Dear Sir or Madam, close with Yours faithfully. For each text type's full format, see Directed writing.

A last-minute self-check

When you finish, make one quick pass for each of these:

1. Tense - did you stay in the right time?
2. Agreement - do subjects and verbs match?
3. Register - any word that clashes with your reader?
4. Punctuation - capitals, full stops, apostrophes.
5. Spelling - the words you were unsure of (watch homophones).

How language is marked

Language is marked separately from content, so it is worth checking as carefully as your ideas. Cambridge sets the exact marks for each session, so follow what is printed on your own paper.

Exam Focus

• Pick the register from the reader and hold it to the end.
• Be correct before clever - controlled simple English beats broken ambitious English.
• Vary your sentences - mix short and longer ones.
• Leave two minutes to check tense, agreement, punctuation and spelling.

Common Mistakes

• ❌ Wrong: A formal connective (furthermore) in a friendly email, or slang in a report.
  • ✓ Right: Match every word to the register, and keep it consistent.
• ❌ Wrong: Slipping between present and past while telling a story.
  • ✓ Right: Choose the time and stay in it.
• ❌ Wrong: Subject and verb not matching (the boxes was heavy).
  • ✓ Right: Plural subjects take plural verbs (were).
• ❌ Wrong: Reaching for rare words and getting them wrong.
  • ✓ Right: Use precise words you can control.
• ❌ Wrong: Missing full stops and apostrophes so meaning blurs.
  • ✓ Right: Punctuate for clarity; check its/it's and their/there.

Exam Tips

1. Decide your register before you write the first word.
2. Write a couple of longer sentences on purpose - but keep them under control.
3. Check each paragraph for tense as you go, not only at the end.
4. Save two minutes for the five-point self-check above.
5. Keep a short personal list of the words you spell wrong, and learn them - high-value marks.

Practice task

Task: The passage below is meant for a head teacher, but its register and accuracy are wrong. Rewrite it so it is accurate and correctly formal.

"Hi! So basically the trip was great, we seen loads of cool stuff and everyone were happy. Its a shame it were so short."

Check yourself: a good rewrite fixes the register (a formal greeting, no slang, full forms) and the errors (we saw; everyone was; It's; it was). For example: "Dear Sir or Madam, The trip was very enjoyable: we saw a great deal and everyone was happy. It was only a shame that it was so short."