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GCSE English Language revision · Writing

Audience, purpose and register

The idea

Every writing task names an audience, a purpose and a form. Register is how formal your language is; it must fit the reader you are writing for.

  1. Underline the audience, purpose and form in the task.
  2. Choose a register: formal for a headteacher or newspaper, more relaxed for a teenage blog.
  3. Keep it consistent from start to finish.

Watch out Slang in a letter to a council, or stiff language in a speech to classmates, misses the audience.

See it worked

Worked example

Task: write a letter to your local MP arguing for a new youth centre. Which register, and why?

  1. Audience: an MP, an adult in authority.
  2. Purpose: to argue and persuade.
  3. So use a formal register: Standard English, no slang, polite but firm.

Answer A formal register: the reader is an MP, so use Standard English, polite and persuasive.

Your turn

Question 11 mark

Which sentence suits a formal letter to a headteacher?

Choose one
Question 21 mark

Task: "Write an article for a teenage magazine about staying safe online." What is the purpose?

Choose one
Question 32 marks

Rewrite this for a formal speech to school governors: "Loads of kids reckon the library's dead boring."

Write your answer, then see a model answer
  1. Replace slang ("loads", "reckon", "dead boring").
  2. Use measured, Standard English for the audience.

Answer "Many students feel that the library does not currently meet their needs."

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Independent practice for AQA GCSE English Language (8700), not endorsed by AQA.

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