Literacy (Reading) - Text Detectives
US 32403 · 5 credits
External CAA (Achieved only)
📁 Case File — Evidence
Write texts to communicate ideas and information.
Two pieces of writing. Different purposes, different audiences, one of them formal. Here is what the marker is looking for, and drills to get you there.
Everything hangs off the brief
Before you write a word, the prompt tells you four things. Students who lose this standard usually wrote well — for the wrong reader, in the wrong form.
- TWO TEXTSDifferent text types, different purposes, different audiences. Instructions, an information report, a description, a narrative, an argument, persuasion — pick two that aren't the same job.
- ONE FORMALAt least one piece must be in a formal register. The other one can be informal, and that is not a lesser choice — it just has to suit its reader.
- 250+ WORDSOne piece must be continuous text of at least 250 words — real sentences in paragraphs, not a list or a table.
- CONVENTIONSSimple, compound and complex sentences. Correct punctuation, consistent tense, subject–verb agreement, everyday words spelled right.
Practise pulling a brief apart. Four questions per brief — decide before you tap.
The register dial
Register is the scale of formality, and it is the single thing markers notice fastest. Same message, same opinion, five different readers. Drag the dial.
What moved
Level 1 is not "bad writing". If the brief asks for a message to a friend, level 1 is the correct answer and level 5 would cost you marks. Match the dial to the reader.
Simple, compound, complex
The standard says you must construct a variety of complete sentences, and names all three types. Write only short simple ones and you haven't met it. Here's how to tell them apart.
Simple
One complete idea. One subject, one verb group.
The pool closes at four.
Compound
Two complete ideas joined by and, but, so, or — each half could stand alone.
The pool closes at four, so we caught the early bus.
Complex
One complete idea plus a part that can't stand alone — starting with because, although, when, that, which.
Because the pool closes at four, we caught the early bus.
The usual trap
Two verbs sharing one subject is still simple. "Packed up and walked" has no second subject, so there's no second complete idea.
The team packed up the gear and walked to the dairy.
Now sort these.
Error hunt
The standard only penalises intrusive errors — ones that change your meaning or trip the reader up. These are the ones that come up again and again.
Put it in order
Text coherence means ideas arrive in an order the reader can follow, with the links between them visible. These five sentences belong to one paragraph. Use the arrows to sort them, then check.
Practice pad
Two briefs that between them meet every range statement in the standard. Pick one, set the timer, write. The checks below read what you wrote — they don't write anything for you.
What the marker gives you
Each piece of writing is scored on a five-point scale for how much evidence it shows. You don't need a perfect score on both — you need enough evidence across the whole assessment.
| Score | What that means | What it looks like |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | No evidence | Blank, off-task, or too short to judge. |
| 1 | Minimal evidence | Something on the page, but the purpose or audience isn't visible and errors get in the way. |
| 2 | Weak evidence | The right idea, but thin content, a wandering structure, or errors that interrupt the reading. |
| 3 | Sufficient evidence | Clear purpose, right register, ideas in a followable order, errors that don't stop meaning. This is the target. |
| 4 | Strong evidence | All of the above, done confidently, with controlled sentence variety and well-chosen words. |
Aim at 3. Chasing 4 in the first ten minutes is how people run out of time and hand in one finished piece and one paragraph. Two solid 3s beats one 4 and a zero, every time.
Five minutes before you submit
Leave time for this. Most marks lost at this level are lost to things you can see yourself on a reread.