PAPER 1 QUESTION 5 This question is changing from 2026 onwards – let’s take a look at some of the things you need to include to hit top marks. AQA English Language paper 1 Question 5 is your chance to be creative. There are two questions to choose from—one with a picture prompt, and one without. You choose one of the questions to answer, and you should spend around 45 minutes on it. The questions could be narrative (writing a story opening) or descriptive, but it’s important to note that you won’t always have a choice between the two types of writing. There might be two narrative or two descriptive questions, so you need to be comfortable with both. Let’s look at a typical question. A nature website is running a creative writing competition. Choose one of the options below for your entry. Either Write a description of an animal from your imagination. You may choose to use the picture provided for ideas. Or • Write the opening of a story with the title ‘The Animals Take Over’. (24 marks for content and organisation, 16 marks for technical accuracy) [40 marks] As you can see, there are 40 marks available for this question. That’s half the marks of the entire paper being awarded for just one question, with up to 24 available for AO5 and up to 16 marks awarded for AO6. Now I’ve already made a video on story openings, which I’ll link at the end, so let’s look in detail at the descriptive question. Notice how the wording is that you’re writing ‘from your imagination’ and ‘may choose to use the picture provided for ideas’. This is part of the new wording for 2026 onwards, where AQA want to make it clear that the picture is a jumping off point for ideas – you don’t have to stick religiously to every detail you see in it. So what sorts of things should we include in descriptive writing? Well another change for 2026 onwards is that the mark scheme now lists typical features of descriptive writing. You don’t have to do everything in the list to hit a certain level, but let’s go through a few key areas. Imagery is the use of descriptive and figurative language (things like similes, metaphors, personification) to create vivid pictures in the reader’s mind. Let’s go through some examples that build from simple and limited all the way to distinctive and original. We’ll start with a very basic description: The dog is small and fluffy. It runs around in the garden. It barks loudly and wags its tail. This tells us what’s happening, but it doesn’t paint a picture. Let’s improve it. The little dog scampers across the garden, its fluffy tail wagging excitedly. It yaps eagerly, its bright eyes watching every movement around it. OK so this is a bit better, because Words like scampers and yaps eagerly add energy and movement, making the dog feel more active. Describing the tail as wagging excitedly gives us a sense of the dog’s enthusiasm, and bright eyes shows that the dog is engaged with its surroundings, making the whole description feel more dynamic. But we can do more. How about, The tiny pup darts across the garden, its golden fur ruffled by the breeze. Its tail whips back and forth like a feather caught in the wind. A playful bark bursts from its mouth as it pounces onto a fallen leaf, sending it spinning. Now I’ve added some figurative language, and crucially we can say that figurative language is effective, because it helps create the ideas I’m looking for: describing the tail whipping back and forth like a feather caught in the wind gives the movement a light, fluid quality, adding to the sense of freedom and playfulness that I’m trying to capture. Now an example of a simile that would NOT be effective here might be The tail whipped back and forth like a chainsaw cutting through wood. This simile is no good because although it does make us think of movement, it creates a sense of power and violence, not the light, playful movement I want to create with a description of a playful and carefree dog. So the way to choose imagery that is effective (and that’s a descriptor of level 3) is to focus on the mood and atmosphere you want to create (and by the way, another part of the level 3 mark scheme is all about creating a clear mood and atmosphere). In this case, we’re aiming for a lighthearted, playful description, so the imagery like a feather caught in the wind or a playful bark bursting from its mouth are effective in creating that, because they match the mood and atmosphere I’m looking for. So in your descriptive writing, think about the mood and atmosphere you want to create, and choose imagery that ties in with that. The very highest marks are awarded to students who present distinctive and original imagery. How do we do that? One way to make your imagery distinctive is to avoid clichés and think of fresh comparisons or descriptions. Instead of saying "The dog’s tail wagged like a feather in the wind", you might describe how "The dog’s tail fluttered, a golden ribbon dancing in the breeze"—this is much more original, and still captures the atmosphere I’m looking for. Now let’s look at a sample answer sent in by Izzy Lidmore, and see some of the other skills needed in descriptive writing. Izzy was writing a description of a powerful person where the picture prompt was this, and here’s their answer: She was barely twenty when the crown was forced upon her head, and there it sat now, crammed onto her pillow of cascading red curls. Those curls: curls that were once beautifully untamed, but now were so ferociously glued to her scalp that barely a wisp escaped the iron grip of her hair net. A vigorously carved parting separated her fringe, adorning her face like a hideous scar; it was ruthlessly slashed in a straight line across the top of her head. And on top of it all, a collection of insipid jewels that dimmed in elegance in comparison to the spiralling river of her crimson hair which spoke so strongly of her past freedom. Freedom now lost. Forever. Concealed behind the empty pallor of her foundation lay hundreds of freckles -freckles that swirled and adorned her face like stars, stunning constellations that glowed with sheer happiness and joy. Happiness that was gone now. Clumsily, the alluring sharpness of her chin had been softened by hastily applied rouge that only emphasised her obvious fatigue, caused by the money that had transformed her into a very prosperous slave. Her past was a distant memory. Her face. The beautiful, uplifting melodies of her face tainted with the dissonance of royalty. For the soft and sweet hue of her cheeks had been poisoned with blood-red; the perfect cadence of her hazel eyes diminished in pools of suffering; the harmonies of her nose and lips distorted by unwanted wealth. The pearls wound so tightly around her slender neck seemed to strangle her in a discord of sheer misery. The tear-drops that hung limply from her ear lobes only served to express the cacophony of sadness that the strings of her heart played on a daily basis. Because it seemed like she would be held a prisoner on the throne she hated. Forever. What an amazing piece of writing! So there’s lots of original and distinctive imagery in there – I particularly like the crown being ‘crammed onto her pillow of cascading red curls’ – that image combines the oppressive heaviness of the crown with the softness of the hair. The simile describing ‘a vigorously carved parting separated her fringe, adorning her face like a hideous scar’ is so original, turning something simple (a parting in hair) into a visual metaphor for a deep pain. The image of how the pearls ‘wound so tightly around her slender neck seemed to strangle her in a discord of sheer misery’ brings a twist to the idea of wealth, that pearls symbolise, transforming it into something suffocating. Now another part of the top level of the mark scheme for this question is conceptualized ideas. A conceptualized idea refers to the central theme or underlying idea that is explored throughout the answer. A well-conceptualized idea will be developed consistently throughout the answer, with each detail or description contributing to its exploration, and every part of the writing reinforcing this central theme. The conceptualized idea in this piece by Izzy revolves around the contrast between the queen’s lost freedom and her forced position as royalty, and all of the description fits into that. Her physical transformation reflects her internal struggle—once free-spirited, and now trapped by her role as queen. The description of her hair, once ‘beautifully untamed’ but now ‘ferociously glued’ to her scalp, symbolises that loss of freedom. The pearls ‘strangling’ her neck and the ‘insipid jewels’ that ‘dimmed in elegance’ emphasise how her wealth has become a burden, not a source of freedom. Another part of the top level of the mark scheme is compelling and evocative description. what does that mean? It refers to writing that grabs and keeps the reader’s attention, and stirs up an emotional response. Wee see that throughout this answer don’t we? These descriptions don't just paint a picture—they pull the reader into the character's world, making the reader feel sympathy, and perhaps sadness. Now what if you’re sat there saying ‘well I could never write like that?’ Let’s take some of the lessons learned from this that we can apply to any student’s work… Step 1: Think about the atmosphere or mood you want to create in your descriptive writing before you start writing Step 2: Use figurative language like similes, metaphors, personification to create imagery that fits that mood and atmosphere you’ve chosen Step 3: Use original comparisons and metaphors. Avoid cliches or overused phrases. Instead, try to think of new ways to describe things. And finally, remember that 16 marks are available for technical accuracy This is something a lot of students don’t think about, but a little preparation and planning can really boost your AO6 mark. There are two sides to technical accuracy. The first is making sure you don’t have any mistakes. Give yourself five minutes at the end to check your spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Check your work as you’re completing it—there’s enough time to make sure you’ve got it right. The second is being ambitious with your technical skills. Vary sentence lengths and paragraph lengths, use a range of sentence openings, and employ a wide variety of punctuation. Here’s something most people don’t realise—these things don’t happen automatically. You have to remind yourself to do them as you write. You have to consciously craft your answer, and you’ve got time to do it because this is a 45-minute question. If this were me, I would probably, in my plan, draw out the eight different types of punctuation I want to use. I might write ‘cyclical structure’ or other things I want to include—sentence length, paragraph length. Then, as I’m writing my piece, whether descriptive or narrative, I might be halfway through paragraph one and look back at my plan. If I realise I haven’t used much punctuation, I’d consciously add a semicolon and tick it off my list. If my sentence lengths are too similar, I’d insert a short sentence for effect. Stopping and pausing to check your plan and the skills you’re demonstrating is so important. And you have time to do it. Now if you’ve found this useful you can buy my ebook.