The one-page spine of the writing course. How you're graded, the exact codes we mark your mistakes with, and the fill-in templates for both exam tasks. Explanations in English; every model in French.
CLB 5 = you're over the PR line but rough. CLB 7 = the money target: controlled, structured, few errors. CLB 9 = near-native polish. Aim your writing at the CLB 7 column; treat CLB 9 as a stretch.
Does your continuation fit the opening and add genuinely new events? You must move the story forward — invent what happened next.
✕ Recopying or summarizing the given opening earns zero and wastes time. This is the single biggest Section-A mistake.
On topic but thin — one or two obvious facts added.
Clear, believable chain of new events that fits the opening.
Vivid, coherent, unexpected-but-logical developments.
Richness of detail: who, what, where, when, how, why. Witnesses, emergency services, causes, consequences, reactions.
Bare facts, little detail.
Each event fleshed out with concrete, plausible detail.
Layered detail; cause → consequence made explicit.
Clear time order and linked sentences. Time connectors (soudain, peu après, finalement) and cause links (c'est pourquoi, si bien que) carry the story.
Understandable but choppy; few connectors.
Smooth chronology; varied, correct connectors.
Seamless flow; every sentence earns its place.
Varied, precise, journalistic word choice — not the same three verbs repeated.
Basic, repetitive (il y a, faire, dire).
Precise verbs & nouns; some news register.
Rich, idiomatic, consistently neutral news tone.
Accents (é/è/ê), agreement, punctuation. The easiest points to lose — and to recover in the 5-minute proofread.
Frequent slips that occasionally block meaning.
Minor, non-blocking errors only.
Near error-free.
Ton (tone): stay neutral, 3rd person — no personal opinion in a news item. · Récit (tenses): narrate in the past — passé composé for events, imparfait for background. Mixing in présent is an instant giveaway.
Take a clear side in the introduction — pour, contre, or nuanced — and hold it.
Opinion present but vague or wobbling.
Explicit thesis stated up front, defended throughout.
Nuanced, confident position with rhetorical control.
At least 3 developed arguments, each with an example (claim → because → example).
✕ Three one-line assertions with no examples caps you below CLB 7.
2–3 thin reasons, examples missing.
3 arguments, each illustrated with an example.
Developed arguments + a genuine concession.
Varied linking words that signal structure: addition, contrast, cause, example, conclusion.
Mostly et / mais / parce que, repeated.
Range: d'une part, en revanche, par ailleurs, en effet.
Precise, unobtrusive; connectors carry the logic.
Formal, polite, vouvoiement. Opening + closing formulas. No texting tone.
Slips into casual/spoken phrasing.
Consistently formal; correct letter formulas.
Elegant, controlled formal voice.
Correct complex sentences (subordination, relatives), agreement, tenses.
Simple sentences; recurring errors.
Complex sentences attempted & mostly correct.
Varied structures, near error-free.
Pertinence: answer the actual question asked — going off-topic sinks the score. · Subjonctif: where you use it (bien que, il faut que), it must be correct. Use a small safe set rather than reaching and slipping.
When we correct your writing we mark each mistake with a short code in the margin — then you fix it yourself (that's where the learning happens). The first six codes are flagged automatically by the trainer; the rest are marked during human review.
| Code | Means | Example — wrong → right | Flagged |
|---|---|---|---|
| accord | Agreement (gender / number / past participle) | elle est allé → elle est allée | auto |
| temps | Wrong tense (esp. PC vs imparfait, or présent in narration) | hier, il mange → hier, il a mangé | auto |
| preposition | Wrong / missing preposition | je pense à que… → je pense que… | auto |
| orthographe | Spelling & accents | un evenement tres → un événement très | auto |
| syntaxe | Word order / sentence structure | je suis d'accord pas → je ne suis pas d'accord | auto |
| registre | Register too casual (Section B) | c'est trop bien → cela présente un réel intérêt | auto |
| calque | "English in French" — literal translation | faire une décision → prendre une décision | by hand |
| article | Wrong / missing article (du, de la, des) | je bois eau → je bois de l'eau | by hand |
| vocab | Weak or imprecise word — upgrade it | il y a un problème → un problème se pose | by hand |
| connecteur | Connector missing or misused | …deux raisons. Les écrans… → …deux raisons. D'abord, les écrans… | by hand |
| repetition | Same word repeated — vary it | les gens… les gens… les gens → les gens… la population… chacun | by hand |
| ✓✓ | Good — do more of this (we mark strengths, not only errors) | un bel emploi du subjonctif ! | by hand |
You're given the opening lines of a news item. Continue the story in the past, neutrally, adding new events. Here is the skeleton to fill, then a model built on it.
Hier soir, vers 21 h, un violent orage a provoqué une panne d'électricité dans tout le quartier de Saint-Léonard. Les habitants se sont retrouvés dans le noir…
D'après la municipalité, la panne était due à la foudre ; c'est pourquoi le courant n'a été rétabli qu'au petit matin. Finalement, aucun blessé n'a été signalé, mais plusieurs commerçants ont déploré des pertes de marchandises.
« Les téléphones portables devraient être interdits dans les écoles secondaires. »
Madame, Monsieur,
J'ai lu avec intérêt votre article sur l'interdiction des téléphones portables au lycée. Pour ma part, je suis convaincu que cette mesure serait bénéfique, et ce pour trois raisons.
D'abord, le téléphone nuit à la concentration des élèves. En effet, les notifications interrompent sans cesse les cours. Par exemple, une étude récente a montré qu'un élève distrait met vingt minutes à se reconcentrer.
Par ailleurs, cette interdiction favoriserait les liens sociaux. Privés d'écran, les adolescents se parlent davantage pendant la pause.
Certes, le téléphone peut constituer un outil pédagogique ; néanmoins, il me semble qu'une tablette fournie par l'école remplirait ce rôle sans les inconvénients des réseaux sociaux.
En conclusion, je reste persuadé que limiter le portable au lycée profiterait à tous. Je vous prie d'agréer, Madame, Monsieur, l'expression de mes salutations distinguées.
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