IGCSE Article Format: How to Write an Article That Scores High Marks

An IGCSE article needs five structural features to read as a genuine article rather than a letter with a different label on top: an angled headline, a hook opening, direct address to a named audience, clearly paragraphed points, and a conclusion that does more than stop. Get the format right and the organisation and register marks follow almost automatically; get it wrong and even a well-argued answer loses marks for not matching the text type the question asked for.

This guide is scoped to Cambridge IGCSE First Language English (0500), checked against the 2024–2026 syllabus PDF in this session (see sources). It focuses on structure and format specifically — for the full assessment-objective breakdown and a complete worked model article, see this guide's companion piece on IGCSE English article writing, linked below; for finding and practising with genuine past papers, see the companion piece on article writing and past papers.

Where 'article' format is tested

Article is one of several text types Cambridge offers, not a fixed, separately timetabled task. It can appear in Paper 1 Question 3 (Extended response to reading, 25 marks: candidates choose from letter, report, journal, speech, interview or article) or in Paper 2 Section A (Directed Writing, 40 marks, specifically discursive, argumentative or persuasive: candidates write a speech, letter or article). Both ask for roughly 250–350 words. Which text types are actually on offer changes with the question, so the first job in an exam is checking whether article is even one of the choices before planning in that format.

The five-part structure template, with a word budget

For a 250–350 word answer, a rough word budget per section keeps the structure balanced rather than front-loading the opening and rushing the ending — which is a common cause of a weak, under-developed final paragraph:

That adds up to roughly 240–340 words of body content before the headline, which sits comfortably inside Cambridge's 250–350 word guidance. The budget is a planning tool, not a rule to follow to the word — the point is noticing, before you start writing, that a plan with five points and no conclusion will not fit, rather than discovering that halfway through a timed answer.

Matching register to publication and audience

Directed Writing tasks specify the publication and audience, and that detail sets the register the whole answer should be written in — a school magazine, a local newspaper and a national broadsheet are not written in the same voice, even when arguing the same point:

Article vs letter vs speech: how the format actually differs

Cambridge often offers article alongside letter and speech in the same question, and each has its own structural markers examiners expect to see — mixing the three (a letter with a headline, or an article that opens 'Dear reader') signals confusion about the format rather than flexibility:

A before-and-after: turning flat prose into article format

The content can be identical between a weak, formatless answer and a strong, format-correct one — what changes is structure and address. Compare the same argument written two ways:

"Before" (no format): The council wants to close the sports centre. This would be bad because a lot of students use it. There should be another way to save money instead of closing it, such as charging a small fee.

"After" (article format): SAVE OUR SPORTS CENTRE — BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE. Every Tuesday evening, forty students queue for the five-a-side courts at Riverside. Under the council's new plan, that queue simply stops existing. Closing the centre would strip away the one place many of us go after school — and a modest membership fee, not a bulldozer, is the fix nobody on the council seems to have considered.

The "after" version has not added a new argument — it has added a headline that states a position, a concrete opening image instead of a flat summary, and a direct final claim instead of a vague suggestion. That is what "format" actually buys: the same content, organised and addressed the way an article specifically earns marks for.

Formatting mistakes that lose marks

• No headline, or a headline that just restates the topic ("The Sports Centre") instead of taking a position.
• One continuous block of prose with no paragraph breaks — Cambridge's organisation marks (W2) specifically reward clear paragraphing, one point per paragraph.
• A register that does not match the stated publication — a national-broadsheet task answered in the same casual voice as a school-magazine task.
• An opening that restates the task instead of hooking the reader — "I am going to write about whether the sports centre should close" earns nothing a direct scene or claim would have earned instead.
• A conclusion that simply stops, rather than issuing a call to action or returning to the opening image.
• Mixing conventions between formats — a salutation or sign-off inside what is meant to be an article, or a headline on what is meant to be a letter.

A format-specific checklist

• Does it have a headline that states an angle, not just the topic?
• Is the register matched to the stated publication and audience?
• Does every paragraph make one clear point, with a paragraph break between points?
• Does the opening hook the reader in the first sentence or two, rather than restating the task?
• Does the conclusion do more than stop — a call to action, or a return to the opening idea?
• Are there no stray letter or speech conventions (salutations, sign-offs, "good morning") inside what is meant to be an article?

Format is a skill that is easy to explain and surprisingly easy to still get wrong under timed pressure — practising full articles against this exact structure, with feedback on where the format slips rather than just the ideas, is exactly what a TutorWick English tutor works through with students on past-paper practice.

Does an IGCSE article need a byline?

No. Cambridge's mark scheme does not require a byline (a stated author name) — a clear, angled headline plus well-organised, directly-addressed paragraphs is what signals the format.

Can I use sub-headings inside an IGCSE article?

There is no rule against them, but for a 250–350 word answer, sub-headings usually cost more space than they save — a headline plus clear paragraph breaks is normally enough structure for a piece this short.