Grammar and punctuation matter here because they let a marker read your child's ideas without stopping. Children in Year 7 now sit the exam in Year 8, in June 2027 Expected, and its handwritten Writing comes last.
Each "after" keeps the writer's ideas and fixes only the slips that make a reader stop. Both versions are shown together, so read them with your child and name each fix. Pick one fix to watch for this week.
Worked explanation 1
Write about a weekend you enjoyed.
Write about a weekend you enjoyed.
on saturday we went to the zoo it was fun we saw the giraffes they were eating leaves from a tall tree
On Saturday, we went to the zoo. The best part was the giraffes, which were eating leaves from the top of a tall tree.
The "before" has no capital letters or full stops, so the reader has to work out where each sentence ends. The "after" adds capitals at the start of sentences and for "Saturday", and shapes the ideas into two clear sentences. In handwriting, clear sentence boundaries help any reader follow along.
Worked explanation 2
Write a story that includes a short conversation.
Write a story that includes a short conversation.
Where are you going asked Mum. To Ava's house I said, can I stay for dinner. Maybe said Mum.
"Where are you going?" asked Mum.
"To Ava's house," I said. "Can I stay for dinner?"
"Maybe," said Mum.
The "before" has no speech marks or question marks, and every speaker runs together on one line. The "after" puts spoken words inside speech marks, places question marks and commas inside the closing mark, and starts a new line for each new speaker. These rules let the reader know who is talking without guessing.
Worked explanation 3
Persuade your council to build a skate park instead of a car park.
Persuade your council to build a skate park instead of a car park.
The councils plan to build a car park is a mistake, its not what the kids in our area needs. Their is already enough parking and a skate park would give teenager's somewhere to go.
The council's plan to build a car park is a mistake. It's not what the kids in our area need. There is already enough parking, and a skate park would give teenagers somewhere to go.
The "before" has six small errors: wrong or missing apostrophes ("councils", "its", "teenager's"), "their" for "there", "kids … needs" instead of "need", and two sentences joined by a comma. None hides the meaning, but together they distract from a good argument. These slips are common when writing fast by hand.
How should my child approach it?
Aim for sentences any reader can follow, and keep a few minutes at the end of each task to reread. That's the safe target, because ACER says nothing about how spelling or grammar count, so nobody can tell you what an error costs.
What ACER does publish is in the table. Dictionaries are on its list of items not allowed in the exam room, so spelling has to come from memory.
The writing is in pen, so a slip can't be rubbed out. Teach your child to cross it out with a single neat line and keep going. These steps are ours, and each one targets a slip from the examples.
Mark where each sentence ends
A capital letter to start and a full stop to finish. In handwriting, clear sentence ends help any reader keep their place.
Set out speech properly
Spoken words go inside speech marks, the question mark or comma goes inside the closing mark, and each new speaker starts a new line.
Check the small words
Apostrophes (it's, council's), there and their, and whether the verb matches its subject.
Don't join two sentences with a comma
If both halves could stand alone, use a full stop.
Leave time to reread
Save the last few minutes of each task to read it back slowly and fix the slips.
Check for sentence ends first, because a missing full stop changes how everything after it reads. Then look for the slips below, in this order, in your child's own practice pieces.
No sentence boundaries. The zoo weekend has no capitals or full stops, so the reader has to guess where each idea ends.
Speech run together. In the conversation with Mum, every speaker shares a line with no speech marks or question marks.
Small slips that pile up. None of the errors in the skate park piece hides the meaning, but together they pull attention from a good argument. They're easy to miss when writing fast by hand, so a slow reread is the fix.
How can we practise it at home?
These examples show what to fix; a full practice test shows whether your child still catches slips after 40 minutes of handwriting. Practice test 1 is free and has both writing tasks. Read the end of the second task closely, because on exam day it's the last thing your child writes.
Between tests, try short habits instead of grammar worksheets.
Read a short paragraph aloud while your child writes it down, then compare it with the book.
Write a paragraph with a few slips on purpose and let your child find them.
Copy out a short conversation from a novel and notice where the speech marks and new lines go.
Write practice pieces by hand, with a pen, at full length, so a steady hand feels normal on the day.
