Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How many answers must the candidate produce?

In what ways is Part 1 different from Part 2?

How many marks is each question worth?

How many marks does the Writing paper carry in total?

Where do students write their answers?

What if students write less than the number of words stated in the task?

What if students write more than the number of words stated in the task?

How is the Writing paper marked?

How many answers must the candidate produce?
Two. One compulsory task (Part 1) and another from a choice of three tasks (Part 2).

In what ways is Part 1 different from Part 2?
In Part 1 there is one compulsory task. The candidate is not offered a choice of task or task type. The task is based on graphic input - graphs, bar graphs or pie charts.

How many marks is each question worth?
Part 2 is worth twice as many marks as Part 1. Examiners award marks according to a General Mark Scheme, which describes bands of performance. These scores are converted to provide a mark out 10 for Part 1 and a mark out of 20 for Part 2.

How many marks does the Writing paper carry in total?
The Writing paper is out of a total of 30 marks (25% of the total score).

Where do students write their answers?
In the question booklet. This booklet also contains sufficient space for students to write their rough work.

What if students write less than the number of words stated in the task?
If students write less than the word limit, this will probably mean that they have left out some important information.

What if students write more than the number of words stated in the task?
Students should not worry if they run slightly over the word limit. But if they write far more than the word limit, they will lose marks, primarily because they are likely to have included irrelevant information or not made use of the appropriate concise business style.

How is the Writing paper marked?
The Writing paper is marked by small teams of examiners working with a team leader, all guided and monitored by a Principal Examiner. Each examiner is apportioned scripts chosen on a random basis from all the entries. In this way, examiners will be assessing scripts from a variety of centres and countries.

Do you have any questions about BEC Higher Writing? Contact us and we'll put the answers to the most frequently asked questions up here.