What this page helps you practise
- clear narrative or persuasive structure
- audience awareness and relevant ideas
- sentence control, punctuation, and paragraphing
- vocabulary choices that strengthen meaning
NAPLANYear 5Writing
NAPLAN Year 5 Writing Practice Prompts
Year 5 writing preparation should focus on planning, paragraph control, sentence variety, vocabulary, and editing. Students need practice responding to prompts without memorising a fixed essay.
Year 5 Writing sample prompts with worked plans
Each prompt comes with a worked plan, a model opening and what markers look for, so students can see how a strong response is built.
Prompt 1Persuasive
Persuasive: should students have to wear a school uniform?
Worked plan
- Introduction: state your opinion clearly in the first two sentences.
- Argument 1: give your strongest reason with an example, such as uniforms saving families money.
- Argument 2: a second reason, such as school pride or safety on excursions.
- Rebuttal: mention what the other side thinks and explain why your view is stronger.
- Conclusion: restate your opinion and end with a strong final sentence.
Model opening
Every school morning, thousands of students stand in front of their wardrobes wondering what to wear. With a school uniform, that worry disappears. I strongly believe that all students should wear a uniform, because it saves families time and money, it builds school pride and it helps teachers keep everyone safe on excursions.
What markers look for
- Audience: persuading the reader with confident, polite language.
- Persuasive devices: rhetorical questions, strong modal words (must, should) and examples.
- Paragraphing: one main reason per paragraph, each with a topic sentence.
- Cohesion: linking words such as 'Furthermore', 'However' and 'In conclusion'.
Prompt 2Narrative
Narrative: the message in a bottle I found on the beach.
Worked plan
- Orientation: set the scene at the beach using sight, sound and smell.
- Complication: find the bottle and reveal part of the message.
- Rising action: decide to follow the message's clue, and show what goes wrong.
- Climax: the most exciting moment, when the mystery is almost solved.
- Resolution: explain who wrote the message and how it changes your character.
Model opening
The tide had gone out further than I had ever seen it, leaving the sand shiny and wet. That was when I noticed the bottle, half-buried beside a clump of seaweed. It was green and cloudy, sealed with a cork and a twist of string. Inside, a curled piece of paper waited, and the first line read: "If you find this, please help."
What markers look for
- Text structure: building suspense towards a clear climax.
- Character and setting: sensory details that make the beach feel real.
- Ideas: a mystery that is solved in a satisfying way.
- Sentence structure: varying sentence length for effect, including short sentences for tension.
Prompt 3Persuasive
Persuasive: convince your local council to build a new skate park.
Worked plan
- Introduction: address the council and state exactly what you want.
- Argument 1: health and fitness benefits for young people.
- Argument 2: giving teenagers a safe place to meet, away from roads and car parks.
- Argument 3: benefits for the whole community, such as events and local businesses.
- Conclusion: a call to action asking the council to approve the plan.
Model opening
Dear Councillors, young people in our town need somewhere to go. Right now, skaters practise in car parks and on footpaths, where they risk being hit by cars and annoy shopkeepers. A new skate park at Jubilee Reserve would give them a safe, healthy place to spend their time, and I urge you to build one this year.
What markers look for
- Audience: writing formally for adults who make decisions.
- Persuasive devices: facts, examples and a clear call to action.
- Ideas: reasons that consider the whole community, not just the writer.
- Vocabulary: precise, persuasive words such as 'urge', 'essential' and 'benefit'.
Preparation strategy
1
Practise five-minute planning before writing full responses.
2
Alternate narrative and persuasive prompts.
3
Leave time for editing spelling, punctuation, and repeated words.
Frequently asked questions
Does Year 5 NAPLAN writing use narrative or persuasive prompts?
Students may be asked to write either a narrative or persuasive response, so practice should include both formats.
How can students improve NAPLAN writing quickly?
The fastest gains usually come from better planning, stronger paragraphing, clearer sentences, and consistent editing.