Paper 2 · Narrative writing: past paper questions
Real questions on paper 2 · narrative writing
The newest 20 of 92 written questions. Open one to see it on the real paper.
- 0500/21 · May/June 2026 · Q4[40]
Write a story about a new group of friends. OR Narrative writing
See it on the paper → - 0500/21 · May/June 2026 · Q5[40]
Write a story with the title, ‘Following the river’.
See it on the paper → - 0500/22 · May/June 2026 · Q4[40]
Write a story which includes the words, ‘... and they looked towards the stars ...’. Or Narrative writing
See it on the paper → - 0500/22 · May/June 2026 · Q5[40]
Write a story where a decision is made to leave.
See it on the paper → - 0500/23 · May/June 2026 · Q4[40]
Write a story which includes the words ‘… they noticed something in the background …’. Or Narrative writing
See it on the paper → - 0500/23 · May/June 2026 · Q5[40]
Write a story with the title, ‘A different kind of family’.
See it on the paper → - 0500/22 · February/March 2026 · Q4[40]
Write a story which involves a character learning to trust someone. Or Narrative writing
See it on the paper → - 0500/22 · February/March 2026 · Q5[40]
Write a story with the title, ‘A strange moment’.
See it on the paper → - 0500/21 · October/November 2025 · Q4[40]
Write a story that includes the words ‘… I’m back …’. OR Narrative writing
See it on the paper → - 0500/21 · October/November 2025 · Q5[40]
Write a story where someone stands in for, or replaces, someone else.
See it on the paper → - 0500/22 · October/November 2025 · Q4[40]
Write a story that includes the words, ‘… I looked around the table … ’. OR Narrative writing
See it on the paper → - 0500/22 · October/November 2025 · Q5[40]
Write a story that involves finding a letter.
See it on the paper → - 0500/23 · October/November 2025 · Q4[40]
Write a story that includes the words ‘… everything went quiet …’. OR Narrative writing
See it on the paper → - 0500/23 · October/November 2025 · Q5[40]
Write a story that involves someone showing determination.
See it on the paper → - 0500/21 · May/June 2025 · Q4[40]
Write a story which includes the words, ‘… it could not be stopped … ’. OR Narrative writing
See it on the paper → - 0500/21 · May/June 2025 · Q5[40]
Write a story with the title, ‘The path to success’.
See it on the paper → - 0500/22 · May/June 2025 · Q4[40]
Write a story which involves an extraordinary journey. OR Narrative writing
See it on the paper → - 0500/22 · May/June 2025 · Q5[40]
Write a story with the title, ‘The switch’.
See it on the paper → - 0500/23 · May/June 2025 · Q4[40]
Write a story which involves making a new friendship. OR Narrative writing
See it on the paper → - 0500/23 · May/June 2025 · Q5[40]
Write a story with the title, ‘The last one’.
See it on the paper →
What examiners said
Comprehensive responses • Candidates chose scenarios and plotlines in which the loss and restoration of trust played a key part, often based on relationships which were realistic and credibly developed (for example, school-based friendships, family relationships and characters who were let down in familiar but painful ways). • Candidates paid attention to effective characterisation through close o...
— Examiner report, February/March 2026, 0500/22 Q4 (Cambridge)
Comprehensive responses • Candidates chose ‘moments’ of special significance for a character or narrator which were unusual or decisive, marking a change in the character’s life or relationships, on which their narratives were based. • Careful, concise characterisation helped to build credible scenarios and imbue the ‘strange moment’ with significance. • Narrative responses were well-managed to pr...
— Examiner report, February/March 2026, 0500/22 Q5 (Cambridge)
Both narrative writing questions were popular choices for candidates across the mark range though Question 4 proved to be a more common option than Question 5. There was a very wide range of plots, characters and scenarios in these responses as candidates took the opportunities offered by the open questions to determine the genre, style and content for themselves. For Question 5, examiners sometim...
— Examiner report, May/June 2025, 0500/21 Q5 (Cambridge)
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