Writing comes last, and ACER says it tests conveying ideas in precise language, with the ideas organised coherently. Read these 8 prompts of ours, with plans and model openings, before the exam in June 2027 Expected.
Very little beyond the timetable. Writing closes the exam day, after a short break of 5 minutes, and your child writes by hand in the answer booklet.
ACER gives a one-line description of what Writing tests, and the table shows what it leaves out. So prepare for any kind of task. The prompts below are ours, across a range of kinds: persuasive, story, description, explanation, reflection and an open title.
A child who can plan any of them quickly is better placed for whatever the exam sets. Our suggestion is to split the time evenly between the 2 tasks, with a short plan for each.
Each prompt shows ideas your child could use, what a good response looks like, a worked plan, a model opening and why it works.
Read the plan with your child and talk about how each part serves the task. A short plan keeps the piece on the task.
Worked explanation 1
A Garden for Every School
A Garden for Every School
Some people think every school should have a vegetable garden that students plan, plant and look after. Write a persuasive piece for your school newsletter arguing for or against this idea.
Write a persuasive piece for your school newsletter arguing for or against this idea.
What students would learn outside the classroom
Who would look after it in the holidays
The cost, the space and the teachers' time
Turning lunchtime food scraps into compost
40
Takes one side in the first few lines and keeps to it
Gives two or three reasons that matter to students, teachers and parents, each with an example
Answers the strongest point from the other side before finishing
Position: yes, every school needs a student garden
Reason 1: real science, from seeds to soil
Reason 2: teamwork and patience over a whole season
Other side: holidays and cost; answer with a roster and donated seeds
End: picture the first harvest at our canteen
Every lunchtime, our school throws out bags of fruit peel and half-eaten sandwiches. Imagine if that waste fed a garden instead, and the garden fed us. A student vegetable garden would teach us more science, more teamwork and more patience than any worksheet, and it would cost far less than most people think.
The task asks your child to persuade a real audience, the school community, not to write everything they know about gardens. The usual trap is drifting into a description of plants or a story about a garden. A strong piece picks a side early, writes to readers who could actually decide, and keeps every paragraph pointed at its reasons.
Worked explanation 2
The Key
The Key
Write a story that begins with a character finding a key that doesn't fit any lock they know.
Write a story that begins with a character finding a key that doesn't fit any lock they know.
A key hidden in second-hand furniture
A key a grandparent kept for years
A key that opens something outside, not a door
A character who decides not to use it
40
Keeps the cast small and the time span short
Builds to one clear moment where something changes for the character
Makes the key matter to the ending, rather than forgetting it halfway
Open: Mia finds a key taped under the old desk left in the garage of their new house, tag says 'Try the garden'
Tries every lock in the house; none fit
Garden: an old tin box buried under the lemon tree
Inside: letters from the desk's first owner, a girl who lived in the house in 1962
End: Mia writes her own letter and buries it for the next person
The key was taped under the bottom drawer of the old desk we found in the garage when we moved in. It was small and brass, with a paper tag that said, in faded pencil, "Try the garden." I tried it in every lock in the house that afternoon anyway. It didn't fit a single one.
A strong story uses the key to start something the reader cares about, such as a family memory or a question that needs answering. The usual trap is a long chase through many places, with the key forgotten or explained away in the last line. In about 20 minutes, one small, well-told event beats a big adventure that runs out of time.
Worked explanation 3
A Place That Changes
A Place That Changes
Describe a place at the moment it changes. You might choose a beach as a storm comes in, a kitchen as dinner is served, or a school yard when the bell rings. You may choose a place of your own.
Describe a place at the moment it changes.
A school yard in the seconds after the bell
A beach as a storm rolls in
A kitchen as the family sits down
A street when the lights come on at dusk
40
Shows the place before and after the change, so the reader feels the shift
Uses exact nouns and verbs and more than one sense, not a list of adjectives
Has a shape, such as moving from quiet to busy, rather than a pile of details
Before: empty yard, magpies, chip packet in the wind
The change: bell rings, every door bursts open
During: noise, colour, handball, smells from the canteen
After: bell again, the yard empties
End: the magpies return as if nothing happened
At 12.59 the school yard belongs to the magpies. They stalk across the empty handball courts as if they own them, and a chip packet skates along the fence in the wind. Then the bell goes, and every door bursts open at once.
The word that matters is "changes". A strong piece describes the place before, during and after one change, so it has a beginning and an end. The usual trap is a list of adjectives ("the big, blue, beautiful sea") with nothing happening. Exact words, such as "stalk" instead of "walk", do more than piles of describing words.
Worked explanation 4
Getting Good Takes Time
Getting Good Takes Time
Explain how a person gets good at something that takes a long time to learn. Use one skill you know well as your example, such as an instrument, a sport, a language or a craft.
Explain how a person gets good at something that takes a long time to learn, using one skill you know well as your example.
Learning an instrument, from first squeak to concert
Why short daily practice beats one long session
What a teacher or coach adds
What to do on days you feel stuck
40
States the main idea early, such as "small practice, often, beats long practice, rarely"
Explains in a clear order, with each paragraph covering one stage or one idea
Uses one real example all the way through, with specific details
Main idea: a little every day, with someone telling you what to fix
Stage 1: the awkward start (violin squeaks)
Stage 2: a daily habit, ten minutes before school
Stage 3: teacher feedback, fixing one thing at a time
Stage 4: the stuck patch, and pushing through it
End: the concert, and what it shows about any skill
When I started learning the violin, it sounded like a squeaky gate. Three years later, I can play at the school concert without anyone wincing. Nothing magical happened in between. I got better the way most people get good at hard things: a little every day, with someone telling me what to fix.
This task asks your child to explain a process, not to tell a story or argue. The usual trap is either a general list of tips ("practise, don't give up") or a story about one concert. A strong answer gives a clear main idea, then walks through it step by step, using one skill the child knows well as the example.
Worked prompts: reflect, argue, tell, any form
These are harder. Each one leaves more of the choices to your child, such as which side to take or which form to write in.
Worked explanation 5
Changing My Mind
Changing My Mind
Write about a time you changed your mind about something or someone. What made you change, and what do you think now?
Write about a time you changed your mind about something or someone, explaining what made you change and what you think now.
A classmate you misjudged
A food, book or sport you used to dislike
A place you didn't want to visit
A rule you once thought was unfair
40
Tells the moment briefly, then spends most of the words on what it meant
Sounds like a real person thinking, honest rather than preachy
Shows the "before" view fairly, so the change means something
Before: sure Arjun didn't like me (one-word answers)
Moment: at the back of the camp hike together
Turn: he's shy, not unfriendly; we talk about birds the whole way
Reflection: how often I read quietness as dislike
Now: friends, and I give quiet people more time
For two whole years, I was sure that Arjun, the boy who sat behind me in Year 6, didn't like me. He never laughed at my jokes, and he always answered in one word. Then, on a camp hike, we ended up at the back of the group together, and I found out he was shy, not unfriendly. I've thought about that walk a lot since.
Reflective writing asks for a small event and the thinking it led to. The usual trap is spending nearly all the time retelling what happened, then adding a one-line lesson at the end ("and that taught me not to judge people"). A strong piece sounds like an honest person working something out, so the reader can hear the writer's own voice.
Worked explanation 6
In Praise of Boredom
In Praise of Boredom
"Being bored now and then is good for young people." Do you agree, disagree or partly agree? Write a piece arguing your view.
Write a piece arguing whether you agree, disagree or partly agree with this statement.
Boredom pushing people to make or invent things
Screens filling every spare minute
Daydreaming and rest as useful, not lazy
When boredom really is wasted time
40
Takes a clear position; "partly agree" is fine if the line is explained
Backs each reason with a specific example, not a general claim
Deals with the obvious objection, for example that boredom wastes time
Position: mostly agree
Open: internet out for four days, cardboard marble run
Reason 1: boredom sparks making and inventing
Reason 2: it builds patience without a screen
Other side: some boredom is wasted; the difference is what you do next
End: leave a little nothing in every week
Last school holidays, our internet stopped working for four days. By day two, my brother and I were so bored that we built a marble run out of cardboard tubes that stretched across the whole lounge room. I'm not saying boredom is fun. I am saying it is useful, and that young people need more of it, not less.
The statement sounds easy but needs real thinking. The usual trap is agreeing or disagreeing in general terms and repeating one reason three ways. A strong piece finds two or three different reasons, such as creativity, patience and rest, and backs each with a real example. "Partly agree" works well, but only if the writer explains exactly where the line is.
Worked explanation 7
A Small Disagreement
A Small Disagreement
Write a story in which two characters disagree about something small, and the disagreement turns out to matter more than it first seemed. Include some dialogue.
Write a story, including some dialogue, in which two characters disagree about something small that turns out to matter more than it first seemed.
Naming a new puppy
Whose turn it is to choose
Which way to walk home
Who gets the last piece of something
40
Sets dialogue out correctly: speech marks, punctuation inside them, a new line for each new speaker
Uses dialogue to show who the characters are, not to fill space
Lets the small disagreement lead to a real change by the end
Open: Lily writes 'Biscuit' on the tag (dialogue)
Tom: 'We agreed we'd choose together'
Middle: the real issue, Tom never gets a say
Turn: Lily finds Tom's list of fifty puppy names in his notebook
End: Lily crosses out the tag and they choose together
"We're calling her Biscuit," said Lily, already writing it on the collar tag.
"We agreed we'd choose together," said Tom.
It was only a name for a puppy, Mum said. But to Tom, it didn't feel like only a name.
Dialogue is where punctuation slips show most, so this prompt tests conventions: speech marks, commas before the closing mark, and a new line for each new speaker. The usual trap is long runs of talk that sound alike and go nowhere. A strong story uses a few lines of dialogue to show who the characters are, and lets the small argument reveal something bigger.
Worked explanation 8
Bridges: Any Form
Bridges: Any Form
Bridges. Use this word as your title. You may write in any form you choose, such as a story, a poem, a letter, a speech or a reflection. You may take the word literally or use it as an idea.
Write a piece with the title "Bridges", in any form you choose.
A family bridging two languages
A bridge between an old friend and a new one
One real bridge seen across many years
A poem about building something that connects people
40
Picks a form on purpose and keeps to its shape
Makes the title matter to the whole piece, not only one line
Takes an interesting angle, such as a bridge between people or between two times
Form: personal reflection
Open: Mum as the bridge between me and Grandma
Middle: dinners where every word goes through Mum
Turn: I start learning Vietnamese, one word a day
First short talk with Grandma, no bridge needed
End: some bridges you build so you can cross them yourself
My grandmother speaks Vietnamese and I speak mostly English, so for years our conversations crossed a bridge called Mum. Mum sat in the middle of every dinner, carrying words one way and laughter back the other. This year, I decided to build my own bridge, one word at a time.
Open tasks are the hardest because your child must choose both the form and the angle. The usual trap is writing the first idea, often a plain description of a real bridge, with no reason behind it. A strong piece decides early what the word will mean, picks a form that suits that meaning, and keeps the idea alive to the last line.
What are the common traps?
These are the slips our prompts are built to show. Read the list with your child, then pick one to watch for in their next piece of writing.
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Writing about the topic instead of doing the task: Asked to persuade, a child describes gardens. Asked to explain, they list tips. Underline the verb in the prompt first.
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An adventure too big for the time: One small event told well beats a chase with no end.
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A pile of adjectives: 'The big, blue, beautiful sea' is a list, not a description. Exact nouns and verbs do more.
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A long retelling and a one-line lesson: In reflective writing, most words belong on what the moment meant.
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One reason, said over and over: Find different reasons, each backed by a real example.
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Dialogue that goes nowhere: Use speech marks, commas and a new line for each speaker, and make each line show the character.
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The first idea, with no reason behind it: With an open title, decide early what the word means, then pick a form to suit it.
Which skills do these prompts cover?
Each prompt links to the skill it works on most. Each skill page shows short worked examples: a weak sentence or paragraph, a stronger version, and why it works.
No. They are our own worked prompts. ACER offers a set of sample questions to download, for the style and format of the exam questions, but no sample writing task, so treat anything sold as a real ACER writing task with care.
How is the writing marked?
ACER doesn't publish marking criteria beyond its one line. Our skill pages work on what any careful reader looks for: whether the piece does the task, and its ideas, structure, voice, language and accuracy. For the whole writing test, see VIC selective entry writing.
Can my child get feedback on their writing?
Yes. With a free account your child gets AI writing feedback on the free practice test's writing task, inside our selective entry practice tests. Read it together and pick one thing to change in the next piece.
