AQA Paper 1 Question 5: write, check, improve
Writing is 40 of the paper's 80 marks. Practise one opening, find one edit and try it again.
Paper 1 is Tuesday 3 November 2026, morning, 1 hour 45 minutes for AQA 8700. Make my dated plan
24 for content and organisation. 16 for technical accuracy.
Try 5 minutes to plan, 35 to write and 5 to check.
Try the task
For AQA's 2026 narrative option, practise the opening of a story. You do not need to finish a whole story.
A youth magazine is running a creative writing competition.
Write the opening of a story in which someone finds an object they thought was lost.
- Plan for 5 minutes
- Write for 35 minutes
- Check for 5 minutes
Who finds it? Why does it matter? What changes when it returns?
Read a model opening
A model opening
The key slipped out of the coat lining and struck the kitchen tiles. Lena had searched for it every morning after her father left. She had stopped looking in June. Now it lay at her feet, bright and ordinary, as if the last six months had never happened. She picked it up. A strip of blue thread clung to its teeth. Upstairs, behind the door that had stayed locked all summer, a floorboard creaked.
The key matters because it brings back a loss. A small object carries the character's history.
Stay in one moment. Let a detail raise a question before you explain the whole story.
Questions people ask
What changed for Paper 1 Question 5 in 2026?
The narrative option asks for the opening of a story. The descriptive option lets you use your imagination, with the picture available for ideas.
Do I have to finish the story?
No. Establish a character and situation, develop a change, then leave the main problem open.
How long should I spend on Question 5?
Try 45 minutes: 5 to plan, 35 to write and 5 to check. The whole paper lasts 1 hour 45 minutes.