Many independent school exams, and some grammar schools, include a writing task. It's the paper parents feel least able to help with, because "make it better" is hard to act on. Here's what actually earns marks, and what doesn't.
The great misconception: fancier is not better
The most common problem I see in 11+ writing isn't weak vocabulary. It's over-decorated writing: every noun buried under three adjectives, similes strained past sense, and long words deployed slightly wrongly. Children are often coached into this because it looks impressive at a glance. Examiners, who read hundreds of scripts, see through it immediately.
What strong scripts share is control. Sentences that vary in length deliberately. Punctuation used correctly, including the brave bits like semicolons only where they belong. A paragraph structure that shapes the story rather than arriving at random. One striking, precise image beats five borrowed ones.
What examiners are marking
Broadly, four things. Accuracy: spelling, punctuation and grammar, which function as a hygiene factor; persistent errors cap the mark whatever the ideas. Sentence control: variety and correctness in how sentences are built. Structure: a beginning that starts in the right place, a middle that develops, an ending that lands rather than stops. And ideas and voice: originality within sensible bounds, and vocabulary that is precise rather than merely long.
Notice what's not on the list: length. A tightly controlled page and a half routinely outscores three rambling pages.
The plan is half the mark
Under time pressure, most children start writing immediately and discover their story has no ending five minutes before time. The single highest-value habit is a two-minute plan: where does it start, what changes, how does it end. Children who know their ending write toward it with purpose, and it shows in the structure marks.
A related technique that transforms scripts: start close to the action. Not the morning routine, not the car journey, but the moment something happens. Examiners have read ten thousand alarm clocks going off.
How to build this before the exam
Writing improves through short, frequent, focused practice with feedback, not occasional marathon stories. In my sessions we work on one element at a time: openings one week, dialogue punctuation the next, endings after that. Pupils redraft short pieces rather than always starting new ones, because the redraft is where the learning happens. And we read good writing together and steal its techniques honestly: how did this author show fear without saying "scared"?
What you can do at home
Keep them reading, since every strong writer I've taught reads. Encourage any real writing they enjoy: stories, a diary, comics with captions. When they show you a piece, find one specific thing to praise and, at most, one thing to improve. A child who believes they're a writer improves fast; a child whose every story returns covered in corrections learns to write short and safe.
If you'd like an honest assessment of your child's writing against 11+ standards, the easiest first step is a free 15-minute phone chat.