Heading: Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Quill Writing Assessment?

The Quill Writing Assessment is a set of graded writing assessments for P1 – F4+ students in Hong Kong. Developed and administered by i-Learner of Nebula Group Limited and its collaborators, the Quill Writing Assessment provides students with an opportunity to test their writing skills in an exam environment and receive feedback on their writing abilities.

What is the format of the Quill Writing Assessment?
The Quill Writing Assessment tests writing skills through two types of tasks:
  • 1. Short answer tasks – students are presented with one or more passages and are required to write answers ranging from one word to two sentences.
  • 2. Extended writing tasks – students are presented with one or more writing tasks and required to produce a full-length response for each task.
What are the levels of the Quill Writing Assessment?

The Quill Writing Assessment has eight levels which cater to Hong Kong students from Primary 1 to Form 4:

Feature
Level 1: Gosling
Level 2: Goose
Level 3: Skylark
Level 4: Swan
Level 5: Flamingo
Level 6: Peacock
Level 7: Eagle
Level 8: Phoenix
School Year
P1-P2
P3-P4
P4-P5
P5-P6
F1-F2
F2-F3
F3-F4
F4+
Duration of Assessment
30 minutes
40 minutes
45 minutes
50 minutes
60 minutes
90 minutes
120 minutes
120 minutes
Short Answer Tasks
40% of total score
25% of total score
Extended Writing Tasks
60% of total score
75% of total score
Word Count(s) for Extended Writing Tasks
1 task
20 words
1 task
80 words
1 task
100 words
1 task
150 words
1 task
200 words
2 tasks
150 words 300 words
2 tasks
200 words
400 words
2 tasks
200 words
400 words
How does the Quill Writing Assessment compare to local and international standards?

The table below shows the approximate benchmarking between the Quill Writing Assessment, i-Learner programmes and international standards.

Feature
Level 1: Gosling
Level 2: Goose
Level 3: Skylark
Level 4: Swan
Level 5: Flamingo
Level 6: Peacock
Level 7: Eagle
Level 8: Phoenix
School Year
P1-P2
P3-P4
P4-P5
P5-P6
F1-F2
F2-F3
F3-F4
F4+
Writing i-Learner
L1
L2
L3
L4
L5-L6
/
/
Reading i-Learner
L1-L2
L3-L4
L4-L5
L5-L6
L7-L8
L8-L9
L9-L10
L10-L13
i-Learner Course: Love to Write
L1
L2
L3
L3-L4
L4
L5-L6
L7-L8
L8-L9
CEFR
Pre A1-A1
A1-A2
B1-B2
B2-C1
B1-C2
Cambridge English
Pre A1
Starters-A1 Movers
A1 Movers-A2 Flyers / A2 Key
B1 Preliminary-B2 First
B2 First-C1 Advanced
C1
Advanced-C2 Proficiency
IELTS
/
/
/
4.0-5.5
5.0-6.0
TOEFL iBT
/
/
/
31-46
35-60
Why should students take the Quill Writing Assessment?

Writing empowers students to add value to the world through expressing themselves, and numerous studies have emphasised the importance of writing. One study, for instance, found that the process of writing helps students to develop thinking skills and make persuasive arguments (Chappell, 2011). Another study found that the process of writing, which consists of planning, analysing and revising, is conducive to the development of students’ cognitive skills (Zajicova, 2011). Yet another study by Maley (2009) found that writing enables learners to manipulate the language in interesting and demanding ways and aids language development at all levels: grammar, vocabulary, phonology and discourse.

The Quill Writing Assessment is designed to help students acquire the vital writing skills they need to achieve the highest levels of academic success. The personalised quantitative and qualitative data provided by the Quill Writing Assessment will enable teachers and parents to pinpoint effective learning strategies for each student.

 References
Chappell, V. (2011). What makes writing so important? Retrived from http://www.marquette.edu/wac/WhatMakesWritingSoImportant.shtml
Maley, A. (2009). Creative writing for language learners (and teachers)
Zajicova,P.(2011).Kreativni Psani Ve Vyuce Nemciny.In V.Janikova (Ed.).
TOEFL iBT Test. (n.d.). Retrieved from ETS: https://www.ets.org/toefl/score-users/ibt/compare-scores.html
International language standards. (n.d.). Retrieved from Cambridge English: https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/exams-and-tests/cefr/
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