writing articles gcse english

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Writing a magazine article

A useful overview for students learning how to write a magazine article, perfect for GCSE English Language non-fiction writing. 

This resource is designed to support students in planning for article writing activities, including coming up with great article ideas, considerations about the right target audience for their creative writing and honing their writing style.

Packed with supportive writing tips to inspire students with their article or 'story' idea, this resource helps students to focus on the appropriate language, style and tone for their readership. It can also shape their responses in terms of writing about current events in a feature article. 

Students will benefit from this step-by-step guide, particularly if they are interested in a future career as a magazine writer or blogger. It can also help students who might want to write for a local newspaper or launch a writing career in creative writing or copywriting.

More GCSE writing style resources to help develop students’ writing skills are available to browse, including additional creative writing and article writing resources.

An extract from the resource: 

Your article should include: 

An eye-catching headline which may include a pun, an abbreviation or an ambiguity. The task is to arouse the reader’s interest so a question might work. Do not make it too long.

The opening

A key sentence, which is, in effect, a summary of the main theme of the article and which will often contain the essential facts. Make it clear to the reader how you are connected to the issue and your view of the issue. You could begin by reliving an experience. Once you have stated it, you start again at the beginning of your information and work through to the end.

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Writing an article

Subject: English

Age range: 14-16

Resource type: Lesson (complete)

Last updated

14 April 2024

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Year 10 and 11 - writing an article. (Edexcel and AQA)

I have exhausted the typical article question such as write an article on why ‘homework should be banned’ and ‘school uniform is good’ etc etc… and my classes wanted something new and different. So, I picked something controversial such as whether cycle lanes were good or bad and my classes was surprisingly upbeat and very engaged! They had some really excellent ideas, I was proud of them all!

The PowerPoint went down well and they really enjoyed it.

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Really useful!

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Visuals are perfect for my ESL students. Thanks.

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I’m glad that the resource helped 😊

Exactly what I needed for my group. Will add to include further tasks. Thank you.

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Writing: Exercise 6 (Writing an article)

This is the final exercise of Paper 1 and 2. It can be an article, a report or a review writing. We’ll look at articles here.

You will be given a topic (more like a question to ponder up on) on which you have to write your views and opinions. This can either be a two-sided article (for and against) or a one-sided article (just your opinion). It is up to you to decide.

The topics usually given for this exercise are easy enough that you can come up with points right there in the exam, but it is good if you read upon various issues from around the word (obesity, technological influences, environmental issues, animal welfare, teenager issues etc).

So here’s how to attempt this question:

• Before you start it is a good idea that you come up with a plan . Use the blank space below the question to make your plan, in pencil. In your plan write down the answers to these questions:
• The audience : this will be specified in the question (it is almost always a school magazine). So when you write, keep in mind that you need to write to that audience. Your language, tone and vocabulary should reflect this.
• Is my article going to be two-sided or one-sided?  If you know a lot about the topic and can weigh up the pros and cons, then go for two-sided. If you’re not too knowledgeable about it, stick to one-sided.
• How do I introduce the topic? Start off by saying what the topic is and how important the topic is in today’s world. Why it is such a problem? Or is it a problem?
• What’s in the body ? Write down three points . (If it’s two-sided write two pros and two cons) . You will develop your body based on these points. A few points will be given in your question paper, and you can use those!
• How will I conclude the article? You need to sum up your points and give your final opinion (even if it’s two-sided, give your final opinion on the matter).
• Organise . By now, you’ve pretty much come up with the contents of your article. Now organise your points into paragraphs.
• One-sided Article: Paragraph 1: Introduction
• Paragraph 2: First point with justification (or counter-argument)
• Paragraph 3: Second point with justification (or counter-argument)
• Paragraph 4: Opposing point which you contradict (here, you state a point said by people who have a different opinion from yours and explain why they are wrong. This is called argument and   counter-argument )
• Paragraph 5: Conclusion- summary, (solution?), repeat your opinion
• Two-sided Article: Paragraph 1: Introduction
• Paragraph 2: Advantages/’For’
• Paragraph 3: Disadvantages/’Against’
• Paragraph 4: Conclusion- Summary and final opinion
• Write . Use a variety of connecting words and argumentative phrases . Examples:
• Expressing opinions: I agree/ disagree with the above statement that
• In my opinion
• I believe that
• I am in favour of
• I am against the idea of
• It seems to me that
• I sympathize with
• Presenting and contrasting opinions: The main argument in favour/ against is
• It is often said that
• First of all I should like to consider
• Apart from that
• Even though
• Furthermore
• In addition
• Nevertheless
• Despite the fact that/ In spite of
• On the other hand
• On the contrary
• What is more
• What matters most in this case is
• It is a fact that
• There is no doubt that
• Reasoning: Because of
• As a result of
• Consequently
• On account of
• Concluding: To sum up
• To conclude
• It can be concluded that
• Thus, I am of the opinion that
• Argumentative verbs (use these instead of say/tell ):

Here’s an example of a  one-sided article . This is one-sided because, even though it weighs up both ‘for’ and ‘against’ points, in each paragraph it contradicts the ‘for’ points and alludes to the same conclusion that zoos should be abolished. This is called the argument/counter-argument format.

• Use your own points , words and phrases as far as possible. The more original your content is, the better.
• Give a suitable title
• Keep to the word limit 150-200 words. Exceeding a little over 200 is not a problem.
• Always have an introduction and conclusion
• Always organise your points into paragraphs . One para for each point (one-sided) or all advantages in one para and disadvantages in another para (two-sided) is the ideal format.
• A final opinion has to be given.
• Punctuation, spelling and grammar is very important. Check your writing once you’re done.

Time Management

For the core paper 1 take 20 minutes for this exercise

For the extended paper 2, 30 minutes should suffice to answer this question. Spend 10 minutes to come up with a plan, 15 minutes to organise and write your article. Use the 5 minutes left to read over your article, make changes and correct spelling, grammar and punctuation errors.

Notes submitted by Lintha

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46 thoughts on “ Writing: Exercise 6 (Writing an article) ”

wonderful! hope you keep updating with the new Syllabus

OMGGGG this information in awesome, thanks a lottt. Tomorrow im having a test on this!!!!!!!!

Like Liked by 1 person

Hi, this post was really helpful, but I have a question. Is it ok to take a stand (for or against) in magazine article writing? It is not a persuasive writing.

It’s preferable to remain neutral when it comes to magazine articles unless the specific topic you are addressing in the article expects you to take a stand for something, then go for it.

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