SPaG — the easy 8 marks

SPaG (Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar) carries roughly 20% of the writing marks on Edexcel — that's 8 marks per writing task, 16 marks across the qualification. AO6 specifically rewards: range of vocabulary and sentence structures + accurate spelling and punctuation.

Spelling — the high-yield list

The words most often misspelled by GCSE students:

• separate (not "seperate")
• definitely (not "definately")
• necessary (one c, two s — "neccessary" is wrong)
• occurred (two c, two r)
• recommend (one c, two m)
• occasion (two c, one s)
• embarrassed (two r, two s)
• government (don't drop the n)
• environment (don't drop the n)
• argument (no e between "argu" and "ment")
• conscience (sci, then ence)
• a lot (two words, never "alot")
• its / it's: it's = it is; its = belonging to it.
• their / there / they're: possession / location / they are.
• affect / effect: affect = verb; effect = noun (in 99% of GCSE uses).

Punctuation — the menu

• Full stop / question mark / exclamation mark — end of sentence.
• Comma — separates clauses, items in a list, parenthetical asides.
• Semicolon — joins related independent clauses (replace with "; " not just ", ").
• Colon — introduces a list, explanation, quotation.
• Dash — inserts an aside or beat (em dash —, not hyphen -).
• Brackets / parentheses — quieter aside than dashes.
• Apostrophes — possession (the dog's bowl) and contraction (don't).
• Quotation marks — for speech and short quotations.

Sentence structures to vary

A Level 4 writer demonstrably uses:

• Simple sentences for emphasis.
• Compound sentences (joined by FANBOYS — for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so).
• Complex sentences with subordinate clauses.
• Compound-complex sentences for layered ideas.
• Minor sentences for stylistic effect.

The 5-minute proof-read

Before you stop writing, spend 5 minutes:

1. Sentence-by-sentence: full stops at the end?
2. Apostrophes: it's vs its checked?
3. Common misspellings: search the page for separate/definitely/necessary/occurred.
4. Read aloud (silently): does each sentence make grammatical sense?

This 5 minutes routinely lifts a student from L3 to L4 on AO6.

Common slips

1. Comma splice: two main clauses joined by only a comma (see SC2.2).
2. Apostrophe in plurals ("apple's for sale" — wrong).
3. Run-on sentences: long sentences with no main verb, or with three main verbs jammed together.
4. Tense drift: shifting unintentionally between past and present.
5. Sentence-fragment overload: minor sentences are stylistic; a paragraph of nothing but minor sentences reads as ungrammatical.

SPaG isn't glamorous, but it's the most reliable mark-grab on the paper.