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Should Homework Be Abolished?

Persuasive Writing

Foundation

25 minutes

Independent

FSCE

The Prompt

“Write a persuasive speech arguing for OR against the abolition of homework. Write as though you are delivering this speech to your class.”

Planning Hints

5 tips to help you plan your response

Choose a side and stick to it — don't sit on the fence.

Address your audience directly ("You all know the feeling...").

Use personal examples and relatable scenarios.

Include a counter-argument and knock it down.

End with a memorable final line.

Starter Sentences

Suggested opening lines to get you started

“Hands up if you have ever sat at the kitchen table, staring at a maths worksheet, wishing you were literally anywhere else.”

“Ladies and gentlemen of Year 6, I stand before you today to defend something deeply unpopular: homework.”

“Picture this: it is four o'clock. You have just finished six hours of school. And now someone wants you to do more.”

Key Techniques to Demonstrate

Techniques the examiner will be looking for in your response

Annotated Model Answer

A high-quality example response with techniques highlighted

Hands up if you have ever sat at the kitchen table, staring at a maths worksheet, wishing you were literally anywhere else. In a tree. On the moon. Inside a volcano. Anywhere. I thought so. Nearly every hand. Today I am going to argue that homework — in its current form — should be abolished. Not because I am lazy (although my mum might disagree), but because the evidence shows that it doesn't work, it isn't fair, and it makes us miserable. Let me explain. Firstly, homework doesn't actually help us learn. Research from the University of Oxford found that primary school homework has little or no impact on academic achievement. None. We spend hours colouring in fronted adverbials and labelling diagrams of volcanoes, and our test scores stay exactly the same. If a medicine didn't work, we wouldn't keep prescribing it. So why do we keep prescribing homework? Secondly, homework is unfair. Some children go home to a quiet house, a desk, and a parent who can help with fractions. Others go home to a crowded flat, a noisy kitchen table, and no one available to explain what a denominator is. Homework doesn't test what you know — it tests what you have access to. That isn't fair, and a system that isn't fair shouldn't be compulsory. Thirdly — and this is the one that matters most to me — homework steals our childhood. We are children. We are supposed to play, explore, build dens, read books we actually want to read, and occasionally do absolutely nothing at all. Those things aren't wasted time — they are how we grow. Every hour spent on a worksheet is an hour not spent being a kid. Now, I know what you're thinking. "But what about responsibility? What about preparing for secondary school?" Fair point. But there are other ways to build responsibility: looking after a pet, helping with dinner, managing your own time. These teach real-world skills. A worksheet on the Romans does not. So here is my proposal. Replace homework with something better: reading for pleasure. Thirty minutes a night, any book you like, no questions, no book report, no test. Just reading. Because reading actually does make you smarter, and nobody has ever wished they were inside a volcano to avoid it. Thank you.

Hover or tap the highlighted phrases to see the technique and explanation

Techniques Used in This Answer

Listing (x2)

Analogy

Emotive Language

Personification

Counter Argument

Callback

Ready to Write?

Practice this prompt under timed conditions, just like the real exam. You have 25 minutes.

Planning Templates

Suitable for persuasive writing

Persuasive Writing Frame

A structure for persuasive articles, speeches, and letters. Organises your argument logically.

4 steps|3-5 minutes

Marking Focus Areas

organisation

sentence variety

vocabulary

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