C Curriculum Explorer
English·Writing Composition·meta

Choosing Form and Tone for Your Audience

Identify the audience for and purpose of writing before beginning, selecting the appropriate form, tone, and register to match the intended reader and communicative goal

Suggested ages 9–10

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Learning journey

Your child is developing sophisticated writing skills — crafting clear, well-organised pieces for different audiences and purposes, and supporting their ideas with evidence from texts they've read.

Evidence of understanding

  • Determine the audience (e.g., peers, teacher, younger children, a public audience) and purpose (to persuade, inform, entertain, or explain) before drafting and explain how these choices affect language and structure
  • Select an appropriate form for the writing task (letter, report, story, instructions, review) based on audience and purpose
  • Adjust vocabulary, sentence length, and level of formality to suit the identified audience, e.g. using simpler language for younger readers and more formal language for an official letter

Assessment prompt

Before Choosing Form and Tone for Your Audience starts a piece of writing, do they think about who will read it and why — adjusting their tone, vocabulary, and format accordingly, like writing more formally for a teacher than for a friend?

Standards alignment

Eng.UKS2.Write.Comp.1aGB · uk-nc-2013

Identify audience and purpose

The national curriculum in England: Key stages 1 and 2 framework document · Key Stage 2