ISC English Language Writing Skills: Visiting Examiner Guide (Class XII)

The Writing Skills component is the only part of the ISC English Language Project Work that is assessed by someone from outside your school. Worth 10 marks and evaluated by a Visiting Examiner appointed locally and approved by CISCE, it applies exclusively to Class XII. This post covers everything you need to know — what the Visiting Examiner looks for, the five marking criteria, all six assignment types with guidance, and a full sample piece.

Where Writing Skills Fits in the Project Work

Writing Skills is a Class XII-only component. In Class XI, the full 20 marks of Paper 1 Project Work are divided between Listening and Speaking. In Class XII, the introduction of the Visiting Examiner for Writing Skills shifts the internal components down to 5 marks each, while Writing Skills takes the remaining 10. This makes the written piece the single highest-weighted component of the Class XII English Language Project Work.

What the Visiting Examiner Assesses

The Visiting Examiner evaluates one piece of written work of approximately 500 words. The piece must be produced by the student during the course of Class XII English coursework and presented for external evaluation. It is assessed on five criteria, each carrying equal weight.

Notice that four of the five criteria — Originality, Appropriate Language, Structure, and Style — are about how the piece is written, not merely what it contains. This means a technically correct but generic, formulaic, or plagiarised piece will score poorly even if it is grammatically flawless.

The Six Prescribed Assignment Types

CISCE prescribes six suggested assignment types for the Writing Skills component. Your school or teacher will assign one of these, or a close variant. Understanding what each type demands — in terms of format, register, vocabulary, and structure — is essential for scoring well on the Presentation and Appropriate Language criteria.

1. The Text of a Brochure

A brochure is a persuasive-informational document designed to attract, inform, and convince a specific audience. It uses concise, punchy language, headings and sub-headings, bullet points or short paragraphs, and a tone that is warm but professional.

• Format requirements: Title/heading, sub-sections with clear headings, short paragraphs or bullets, a call to action
• Register: Persuasive yet factual; accessible to a general audience
• Common pitfalls: Writing in continuous essay prose without any formatting; using overly formal or academic language that does not suit the brochure register
• Example topics: A brochure for a new school library initiative; a tourism brochure for a historical site in your city; a health awareness brochure for teenagers

2. A Product Description

A product description presents and promotes a specific product to a potential buyer. It combines factual detail with persuasive language, highlighting features, benefits, and the problem the product solves.

• Format requirements: Product name/title, key features (often in a list or sub-sections), benefits to the user, concluding statement or call to purchase
• Register: Precise, confident, and reader-focused; avoid vague superlatives ("the best", "amazing") without supporting detail
• Common pitfalls: Describing what the product looks like without explaining what it does or why it matters to the reader
• Example topics: A newly designed school bag with ergonomic features; an educational mobile application; an eco-friendly stationery kit

3. A Process Description

A process description explains how something works or how to do something — step by step, in logical order. It may describe a scientific experiment, a recipe, instructions to operate a device, or any other sequential procedure.

• Format requirements: Clear title, numbered steps or clearly sequenced paragraphs, present tense or imperative mood, technical vocabulary appropriate to the process
• Register: Precise and objective; clarity matters above all else
• Common pitfalls: Skipping steps, assuming knowledge the reader does not have, or mixing up the sequence of operations
• Example topics: How to conduct a simple water purification experiment; how to set up and use a particular software tool; how to prepare a regional dish step by step

4. Description of a Sporting Event

This assignment requires a vivid, structured account of a sporting event — either one you witnessed or one you report on journalistically. It combines descriptive and reportage writing, capturing both the factual sequence and the atmosphere of the occasion.

• Format requirements: Introduction (event, venue, date), development (key moments, turning points, atmosphere), conclusion (result and significance); may use sub-headings
• Register: Energetic and descriptive; sports reporting vocabulary (momentum, crucial moment, tactical decision, dramatic finish)
• Common pitfalls: Writing a dry scoreline commentary without any descriptive or emotional texture; or conversely, writing so atmospherically that the factual account is lost
• Example topics: The final match of your school's annual cricket tournament; a state-level athletics competition; a football derby between rival schools

5. An Autobiographical Experience

This is a first-person narrative account of a real personal experience — one that was significant, transformative, or revealing in some way. It is the most personal of the six assignment types and the one where voice and originality carry the most weight.

• Format requirements: First-person narrative prose; may be divided into sections but does not require formal headings; a clear arc (situation → development → reflection)
• Register: Personal, reflective, and vivid; specific sensory detail and genuine emotional honesty distinguish a strong piece from a generic one
• Common pitfalls: Narrating events without any reflection or significance; writing a list of things that happened rather than a story with meaning
• Example topics: A moment when you realised something you had believed was wrong; an experience that taught you the value of patience or persistence; a day that changed how you saw a familiar place or person

6. Review of a Television Serial

A review is a critical-evaluative piece that informs the reader about a television serial and offers a reasoned recommendation. It is not a summary — it analyses, evaluates, and takes a position.

• Format requirements: Title (name of serial, platform, year), brief synopsis (without spoilers), critical analysis (themes, characters, direction, writing quality), overall verdict and recommendation
• Register: Analytical but accessible; critical vocabulary (narrative arc, character development, thematic depth, production values, pacing) used with precision
• Common pitfalls: Writing a plot summary instead of a review; being entirely positive or entirely negative without balanced critical engagement
• Example topics: A review of a critically acclaimed Indian web series; a review of a documentary serial on a historical or scientific subject; a review of a classic serial you have watched recently

Presentation Requirements: What Must Be Included

The Presentation criterion (2 marks) is one of the most straightforward marks to secure — yet students frequently lose it through carelessness. Every submission must include:

• A separate title page — with the title of the piece, the student's name, class, and the assignment type clearly stated
• Headings and sub-headings where the format demands them (brochure, product description, process description, sporting event report)
• Clear paragraphing throughout — no wall-of-text submissions
• Adherence to the approximately 500-word limit — significantly under- or over-writing signals a lack of control

For assignment types that are primarily narrative prose — the autobiographical experience in particular — sub-headings are not required, but clear paragraph breaks and a title page remain non-negotiable.

A Note on Originality

The Originality criterion (2 marks) carries an explicit instruction: no plagiarism. At ISC level, this means the piece must be entirely the student's own work — in content, phrasing, and perspective. The Visiting Examiner is trained to recognise writing that has been copied from online sources, generated by artificial intelligence, or borrowed wholesale from published texts. Beyond avoiding plagiarism, originality also means bringing a genuine personal angle to the piece — a specific observation, a particular voice, or a distinctive perspective that only this student could have written. Generic, template-style writing that could have been produced by anyone will score poorly on Originality even if it is technically the student's own work.

Sample Writing Skills Piece: Class XII

The following is a model Writing Skills piece for the assignment type Autobiographical Experience, written to full Visiting Examiner marks standard at approximately 500 words.

Title Page

Title: The Dictionary on the Last Shelf
Assignment Type: Autobiographical Experience
Class: XII

The Dictionary on the Last Shelf

There is a dictionary on the last shelf of our school library — a large, olive-green volume with a cracked spine and pages that have yellowed at the edges. I doubt many students have opened it in years. I found it by accident in Class IX, when I was looking for something else entirely, and I have thought about it often since.

I had been assigned an essay on a topic I knew almost nothing about — the ethics of scientific experimentation. I went to the library expecting to find a textbook that would hand me the answer. What I found instead was a section of philosophy books, dense and uninviting, and at the end of the row, the dictionary. I pulled it out, half in frustration, and looked up the word "ethics." What I read was not a definition so much as an opening — a sentence that led to another idea, which led to a question I had never thought to ask. I sat there for forty minutes reading dictionary entries.

I did not use a single one of them in my essay. But something shifted that afternoon — something I did not fully understand until much later. I had been treating every subject as a problem to be solved with the right source: find the correct book, copy the relevant information, produce the required result. The dictionary, which is the least useful book for that approach, forced me to do something different. It made me think sideways. It reminded me that words contain entire arguments — that the moment you define a term carefully, you have already begun to reason.

I went back to the library the following week. And the week after that. Not always to find specific information, but to browse — to follow a thought wherever it led without knowing in advance where I would end up. It was the first time studying had felt genuinely interesting rather than merely necessary.

I am aware that this is a small story. Nothing dramatic happened in that library. No teacher changed my life with a single sentence; no book arrived at precisely the right moment with precisely the right message. What happened was quieter than that — I stumbled into a habit of curiosity, more or less by accident, because I was looking for something I could not find.

The olive-green dictionary is still on that shelf. I checked last week. I hope it stays there — not because anyone will necessarily open it, but because every library should have at least one book that refuses to be useful in the way you expect.

(Word count: approximately 500 words)

Criterion-by-Criterion Analysis

Before You Submit: A Final Checklist

• ☐ Title page is separate and complete (title, assignment type, student name, class)
• ☐ Word count is approximately 500 words — not significantly under or over
• ☐ Format suits the assignment type (headings for brochure/product/process; flowing paragraphs for autobiographical/review)
• ☐ Every sentence is your own — no copied phrases from online sources or published texts
• ☐ Vocabulary is specific to the task (technical for process; persuasive for brochure; reflective for autobiographical)
• ☐ The piece reads from beginning to end as a single, unified whole — no abrupt jumps or disconnected sections
• ☐ The style is clear and purposeful — a reader unfamiliar with you could read this and understand exactly what you are communicating

The next post in this series covers the ISC Literature in English Project Work — the 1000–1500 word written assignment for both Class XI and Class XII, the role of the Visiting Examiner in Class XII, the full marking criteria, prescribed texts, and a complete sample assignment.