The VCE French Written Sections, Decoded: What Each Task Really Asks For
Updated: 4 days ago
Introduction
This year, I worked with a Year 12 student whose spoken French genuinely impressed me. Great vocabulary, a solid grasp of grammar, and she watched French YouTubers for fun. She hadn't picked French for the scaling: she loved the language. We practised speaking together, and every session was a pleasure.
Then, one day she told me she'd scored very low on her written exam. I was (really) surprised. So when she got her paper back, she showed it to me... And her French wasn't the problem. She had jumped straight into writing without planning, without really unpacking the prompt, and without knowing what the examiners were actually looking for.
And it's not the first time I see this pattern. In my one-on-one sessions with VCE students, I’ve noticed that many jump straight into writing without spending enough time on the prompt, or without knowing what to pull out of it. Yet, learning to use the prompt first makes a huge difference to your planning, your writing and your result.
The strongest students I’ve worked with don’t reach the top band by chance. They read the prompt carefully, plan before they write, and consciously tick off what the marking criteria ask for.
Strong French gets you in the game; knowing the rules is what gets you to the top.
PS: This post is a summary of my new booklet, Write with Purpose, which has the full method, with toolkits, model texts and practice for every skill. I know it’s landing very close to the exam, so everyone who buys it is invited to a free live webinar on Saturday 7 November (9:30am). I’ll walk you through the booklet, help you focus on what matters most for you, and go through the mistakes past students made (taken from the examiners’ reports), so you don’t make them too.
The two VCE French written sections at a glance
You write two texts, and they are two very different jobs:
Section 2 Part B is compulsory: 15 marks, about 150 words. Your content comes from a stimulus, a short text and a visual. You find the main points (so it's also a reading comprehension) and rephrase them for a new reader.
Section 3 gives you a choice of four tasks: 20 marks, 200–300 words. There's no stimulus, so your content comes from you.
I went through every Section 2 Part B and Section 3 task from the last six years of exams (2020–2025). A few things stood out:
Vous wins. 17 of the 24 non-imaginative tasks were written to vous: an audience, readers, a principal, parents. Tu came up only 3 times.
Section 2 Part B leaned persuasive. It was persuasive in 3 of the 6 years, and never evaluative.
Style or text type? Two separate choices
The style of writing is what your text does: persuasive, evaluative, informative, personal (or imaginative, which I won't cover here). The text type is what it looks like on the page: an email, an article, a speech, a journal entry, a blog post, a letter or a report.
They don't come as a pair. In the last six years, the five emails set were persuasive, informative and evaluative. So "an email" tells you nothing about the style: the prompt always names both, and you need to find both before you write a word.
Before you write: five questions for every prompt
Top-band students make these five decisions before they plan. It takes two minutes in the exam, and it saves you from the most common mistakes.
Style and purpose. Which style does the prompt name, and what should my reader think, feel or do by the end?
Text type. What does this text type need on the page: a subject line, a title, a date, a sign-off?
Reader. Who is reading? One friend or relative: tu. Anyone else, or a group: vous. Then keep it from the first word to the last.
Content points. What exactly must I cover? Underline every task verb, every "and", every limit, and number them.
Angle or stimulus. In Section 3: what will make my answer detailed and different (original), without leaving the task? In Section 2 Part B: what are the main points of the text and the visual?
The four styles, and the moves that make each one work
Each style does a different job, so each one needs different tools. What follows is a sneak peek into my own method, the heart of Write with Purpose. Over years of working one on one with VCE students, I've broken every style down into a small set of moves: things a strong text in that style does, each with the French to carry it out. The moves aren't official VCAA categories; they're my way of making each style practical.
Persuasive: convince your reader, then push them to act
A persuasive text sounds certain, creates urgency and ends with a clear call to action. It can be emotional, direct and even a little exaggerated.
Express certainty: Il est évident que… · Il ne fait aucun doute que…
Answer the other side (to refute it): Certains diront que…, mais…
Imagine the consequences: Si tu venais, tu…
Call to action: Rejoignez-nous ! · Qu'attendons-nous pour agir ?
Evaluative: weigh both sides, then reach a verdict
An evaluative text is calm and fair. It gives each side a real hearing and keeps its verdict for the end. The difference from persuasive: the other side gets its due, it's not knocked down.
Frame the question: La question qui se pose est de savoir si…
Weigh one side against the other: Commençons par les avantages. · Penchons-nous maintenant sur les inconvénients.
Give the other side its due: Il faut reconnaître que… On ne peut pas nier que...
Reach a reasoned verdict: Tout bien considéré, …
Informative: facts, not opinions
An informative text explains clearly and stays objective. No je pense que: facts, figures and practical details do the work.
Stay objective: Il est important de noter que… · On constate que…
Back it up with evidence: Selon une étude récente, … · la moitié des jeunes…
Explain how and why: Il suffit de… · Cela permet de…
Guide the reader: a subheading as a question, like Comment ça marche ?
Personal: feelings first
A personal text shares an experience, how it felt and what it means to you. The events matter less than the emotions.
Name the feelings precisely: soulagé(e), ravi(e), déçu(e), ému(e) rather than simple adjectives such as content or triste
Let the emotion show: J'avais le cœur qui battait à cent à l'heure ! · J'ai cru mourir de honte !
Reflect and wonder "what if": Si je n'avais pas raté ce train, je ne l'aurais jamais rencontrée.
Look ahead: Demain, je… · J'ai hâte de…
The traps past students fell into
Year after year, the examiners' reports flag the same slips. None of them is about the level of your French:
The wrong style. In 2025, students were asked to inform blog readers about an ideal sustainable city they had designed. Some answers started describing the city, then slid into opinions and arguments for why it was the best way to live. The facts gave way to persuading, and that's not the style the task asked for.
Half the task. In 2020, a debate speech had to argue that we should eat less meat and seafood. Many students wrote only about meat. Two things joined by "and" are two content points.
Ignoring a limit. In 2022, an article had to evaluate an invention from the last 100 years. Some students chose inventions much older than that. A strong text on the wrong invention still misses the task.
The wrong register. Vous to a friend, or tu in a speech to a whole audience, or switching between the two halfway.
A text learnt by heart. A pre-prepared answer rarely fits the actual task, and it shows.
Forgetting the visual. In Section 2 Part B, the picture or graph always holds a point. Many students never mention it.
Idioms used to impress. They aren't part of the marking criteria, and they often go wrong. One well-placed expression you're sure of is plenty.
Section 2 Part B and Section 3: two different jobs
Section 2 Part B is a reading task first. Your marks come from finding the main points of the stimulus and rephrasing them in your own words. It's not a creative task: nothing invented, nothing from your own life. Three habits help:
Point to your source: D'après l'article, … · Comme le montre le graphique, …
Put the numbers into words: 52 % becomes plus de la moitié des jeunes.
Use your own theme vocabulary: before you write, think about every word you know on the theme, then use those instead of the text's where possible.
Section 3 rewards your own ideas, inside the task. Strong answers don't just state an idea, they expand it. Saying a trip was inoubliable is a start; saying what made it unforgettable is what earns the marks. For the very top band, your text needs something original: something only you would write, that still sticks to the task.
Quick final tips
Plan before you write. A few minutes of planning (one paragraph per point) saves you from missing part of the task.
Keep one register. Check your pronouns, possessives and verb endings: tu vas and votre message don't belong in the same text.
Link your ideas. Swap everyday connectors (mais, et, donc) for step-up ones in formal texts: cependant, de plus, par conséquent.
Check every content point before you hand it in, then the accuracy of your French: verb endings, agreements, accents.
Want the whole method?
Write with Purpose is my new step-by-step guide to the VCE French written exam. It has the full prompt decoder, a complete toolkit for each style with model texts and mind maps, the Section 2 Part B and Section 3 spotlights, and practice on every skill, with answers.
Who is it for?
Any Year 12 French student, whatever your level. If writing feels hard, it shows you exactly what each task asks for and how to plan your answer. If you’re already strong, it shows you what the examiners reward at the very top.
And since the exam is so close… I’m offering a free live webinar to everyone who buys it: Saturday 7 November 2026, 9:30 am. I’ll walk you through the booklet and show you exactly what to focus on before the exam, so it doesn’t feel overwhelming. I’ll also go through the mistakes past students made, taken from the official examiners’ reports. Knowing what cost other students marks is one of the most useful things you can learn before the exam.
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