What the assessment focuses mean in practice
Some pairings of the assessment focuses can be helpful when looking for evidence, for example AF3&4;
AF5&6; AF7&8. However when making a judgement of pupils’ overall attainment in writing, you need to
consider how all the different strands combine to make an effective piece when judged against the criteria for
AF1&2.
AF1
Write imaginative, interesting and thoughtful texts
 This AF relates to the overall impact of the piece.
 It includes the coverage and selection of content and how well thought out the ideas are.
 Imagination and creativity are needed for all kinds of texts, not just stories; for example, taking a fresh
approach to a topic taking risks and challenging the reader by using humour in a serious topic.
 Pupils need opportunities to develop as independent writers, choosing topics, forms and purposes that interest
them.
AF2
Produce texts that are appropriate to task, reader and purpose
 This AF covers adaptation, viewpoint and style.
 Pupils need to be set tasks that prompt them to make use of their knowledge of different text types in
adventurous ways (adaptation).
 In refining their purposes pupils need to decide their stance on the topic eg objective/partisan, expert/non
expert, child/adult, supportive/critical (viewpoint).
 Help pupils to understand how specifying a ‘reader’ suggests they need to make decisions about eg levels of
formality, choice of vocabulary, form of writing (style).
AF3
Organise and present whole texts effectively, sequencing and structuring information, ideas
and events
 This AF is about the overall coherence of texts and includes layout, use of subheadings, pictures in print and
digital texts.
 There are underlying ways to think about text organisation in non-fiction eg logical order, chronology, moving

AF4
from general to specific points. There are similar choices in fictional writing – strict chronology is not always
needed.
In stories, endings matter – both plot and theme have to be resolved. Information texts also need endings,
whether these are signalled by the last in a series of numbers or by a brief conclusion.
Construct paragraphs and use cohesion within and between paragraphs
 This AF is about the ways paragraphs hang together as a sequence as well as connect internally.
 Within paragraphs, pupils should try different ways of developing topics within paragraphs, grouping related
content, developing details around main ideas, writing topic sentences.
 Pupils need to experiment with different ways to make links between paragraphs, eg by time, by reason, by
subject, by importance.
AF5
Vary sentences for clarity, purpose and effect
 This AF is about the purposeful variation of sentence structure. More able writers use varied sentence
structures as a way of packaging meaning into sentences with little redundancy
 Pupils need to work on both endings and beginnings in complex sentences to achieve different effects
 When writing poetry, pupils need to construct and select different types of sentences to fit a rhyme or rhythmic
scheme
AF6
Write with technical accuracy of syntax and punctuation in phrases, clauses and sentences
 This AF is about using accurate grammar and punctuation in sentences.
 Effective punctuation creates clarity and meaning and can be helpfully linked to understanding of grammar.
 As pupils reach for more complex sentence construction, their punctuation often does not keep pace.
AF7
Select appropriate and effective vocabulary
 This AF is relevant to all kinds of writing and supports the other AFs.
 Vivid writing, whether fiction and non-fiction, is achieved by choices of nouns, verbs and adverbs, not just
adjectives.
 In non fiction writing, the use of technical and precise vocabulary is vital to conveying content accurately and
giving the sense that the writers know what they are talking about.
AF8
Use correct spelling
 This AF is developed in two ways in APP so that distinctions can be made between correct/incorrect spelling of
grammatical function words (a small set of items) and the larger pool of content words that carry most of the
meaning.
In learning to spell, pupils need help with both phonemes and word structure (morphemes).

 Spelling accuracy is an important focus, but does not necessarily correlate with achievement at
sentence and text level.