AQA Paper 2 Question 5: How to Write a Persuasive Answer for Your Mocks
Half-term is almost here, mocks are only weeks away, and there is one question on AQA English Language Paper 2 that deserves more of your attention than any other: Question 5. It is worth 40 marks on its own, a quarter of your whole English Language GCSE, and it asks you to do something you already do every day: argue your point of view. The trick is doing it in a clear, controlled and convincing way in about 45 minutes.
In this guide, I'll show you what examiners look for, a five-part plan for any statement, and a model opening and paragraph.
What Paper 2 Question 5 Actually Asks You to Do
You will be given a statement, usually about a topic linked to the two sources in Section A, and asked to write a text giving your view. The form will be named for you: often an article, a letter, a speech or an essay.
The 40 marks are split in two:
24 marks for content and organisation: how well you match your writing to the audience and purpose, and how clearly your ideas build across the whole piece.
16 marks for technical accuracy: spelling, punctuation, grammar and a good range of sentences and vocabulary.
Sixteen marks for accuracy alone means careless errors cost more here than anywhere else on the paper.
Plan Your Answer in Five Minutes
The students who score highest almost always plan. Five minutes of planning saves you from the classic mock problem: three strong paragraphs, then a panicked repeat. Try this structure:
Hook: grab the reader with a vivid image, a short anecdote or a surprising statement.
Your strongest point: lead with your most convincing reason, backed up with an example.
The counter-argument: acknowledge what the other side would say, then show why it falls short.
A personal or emotional point: make the reader care, not just agree.
A powerful ending: link back to your opening and finish with a clear call to action.
One or two words for each part is all you need.
Match Your Writing to Form, Audience and Purpose
Before you write a word, underline three things in the question: the form (what you are writing), the audience (who will read it) and the purpose (to argue, persuade or advise). Then adjust your writing to suit:
Article: a headline, perhaps a short subheading, and an engaging, slightly conversational tone.
Letter: a suitable greeting and sign-off, with a formal tone if you are writing to a head teacher or a council.
Speech: speak directly to your listeners, using "you" and "we", and build to a strong ending.
Open With Impact: A Model Opening
Imagine the statement is: "Mobile phones should be banned from schools for the entire school day." A weak opening restates the question: "In this article I will talk about whether phones should be banned." A stronger opening pulls the reader straight in:
Picture a lunch hall at 12:30 on a Tuesday. Two hundred teenagers sit side by side, and the room is almost silent. Nobody is arguing, nobody is laughing, nobody is talking at all. Every head is bowed over a glowing screen. Is this really the childhood we want for our young people?
It uses a specific image, a pattern of three and a rhetorical question in five sentences, and every technique serves the argument.
Build Paragraphs That Persuade
Each paragraph should do one clear job. Start with a topic sentence that states your point, develop it with evidence or an example, then show the reader why it matters. Here is a model counter-argument paragraph for the same statement:
Of course, some parents will argue that a phone keeps their child safe, and that worry is completely understandable. Yet a phone locked in a pouch until the final bell does not make a child less safe; the school office has always been there for emergencies. What it does do is give every student six hours to concentrate, to make eye contact and to remember what a real conversation feels like. Safety and focus are not opposites, and we do not have to choose between them.
It respects the other side, then turns the argument around. Examiners reward this kind of control.
Use Techniques With Purpose, Not as a Checklist
Squeezing every persuasive technique you know into one answer usually feels forced. Instead, choose a few and use them well: a believable statistic, direct address, a well-placed rhetorical question or a pattern of three. Vary your sentence lengths too. A long, flowing sentence followed by a short one creates real emphasis. Like this.
Don't Throw Away the 16 Technical Accuracy Marks
Leave five minutes at the end to proofread. Read your answer slowly and check for:
Comma splices, where two full sentences are joined with just a comma.
Missing capital letters and apostrophes.
Commonly confused words such as their/there/they're and effect/affect.
A range of punctuation used correctly, including a semicolon, a colon or a dash.
Key Takeaways
Question 5 is worth 40 marks: 24 for content and organisation, 16 for technical accuracy.
Spend about five minutes planning using the five-part structure: hook, strongest point, counter-argument, emotional point, powerful ending.
Underline the form, audience and purpose, and adapt your tone and layout to match.
Open with a vivid image or anecdote, not a restatement of the question.
Use a few persuasive techniques well rather than many badly.
Save five minutes to proofread; accuracy marks are some of the easiest to gain.
Want Help Getting Mock-Ready?
If your child would benefit from expert feedback on their persuasive writing before their mocks, I'd be happy to help. Our online GCSE English lessons run on Google Meet in small groups of up to six or one-to-one, with a QTS-qualified teacher.
Book a free GCSE consultation and we can talk through where they are now and what will make the biggest difference.
