Creative Writing or Opinion Writing? What Should My Child Prepare for a Scholarship Exam?

Which writing workshop should I book?

If your child is preparing for an academic scholarship exam, you may have come across both Creative Writing and Opinion Writing as preparation options. That often leads to an obvious question: does my child need to prepare for both?

It's an important question because families don't necessarily know exactly what type of writing prompt their child will receive on exam day. The best approach is therefore to understand what the writing component is assessing, how different writing styles develop different skills, and what your child is preparing for.

Why scholarship exam writing can be confusing

One reason for the confusion is that there isn't one universal scholarship exam used by schools across Australia.

Academic scholarship exams are developed and administered by different exam providers - AAS, Edutest and ACER being the major players in this field. Individual schools can also make changes to their testing arrangements - so a scholarship exam administered by Edutest at one school, may be slightly different in structure or content to an Edutest exam delivered at another school. This is why Hendersons recommends checking the current exam provider and scholarship requirements with each school your child is applying to.

Each provider describes and structures its writing assessment somewhat differently (the information below was last updated October 2026, please check the exam provider websites directly for the most up-to-date information):

Edutest: Written Expression

Edutest describes Written Expression as an Achievement test designed to assess a student's ability to convey ideas clearly in writing.

The test is 15 minutes long, with no separate planning or reading time. Edutest states that punctuation, creativity, construction, grammar, spelling and relevance to the task are assessed. Importantly, it also says that the writing may take a range of forms, including creative, descriptive, narrative, persuasive, expository or informative writing.

This is particularly important for parents trying to choose between Creative and Opinion Writing preparation. The provider itself does not describe Written Expression as a test of only one of those writing styles.

AAS: Writing

Academic Assessment Services describes its scholarship Writing assessment in terms of the skills being assessed, rather than prescribing one particular genre on its public scholarship testing page. The areas it identifies are:

• genre and structure

• arguments

• vocabulary

• sentence structure and cohesion

• syntax and tense

• punctuation

• spelling

AAS states that its Written Expression exam is 25–30 minutes and, unlike its predominantly multiple-choice tests, requires a long-form response.

This helps explain why preparation shouldn't focus only on memorising a particular type of essay. The assessment extends to the way students structure, develop and communicate their ideas.

ACER: Writing / Written Expression

ACER describes Writing as part of both its primary and secondary scholarship testing. For secondary scholarship tests, the available components include Written Expression, Humanities and Mathematics; primary scholarship testing includes Reading and Viewing, Mathematics and Writing.

ACER's broader scholarship assessment also emphasises critical thinking, higher-order thinking and problem solving, rather than simply testing what a student already knows.

So, what does this mean for parents?

Although all three providers assess written communication, they don't present their writing assessments to parents in exactly the same way.

That's why the question “Will my child get Creative Writing or Opinion Writing?” isn't always as straightforward as it sounds.

Rather than treating one previous exam prompt as a prediction of the next examination, it is more useful to consider the provider your child is preparing for, the skills that provider assesses, and your child's individual strengths and weaknesses.

What is the difference between Creative Writing and Opinion Writing?

Although there are writing skills that cross over between the two, Creative Writing and Opinion Writing ask students to organise and communicate their ideas in different ways.

Creative Writing

Creative Writing asks a student to develop an engaging piece of writing from a given idea or stimulus.

Preparation may involve developing skills in areas such as:

• generating and developing ideas

• organising a narrative

• creating characters and settings

• using descriptive language effectively

• varying vocabulary and sentence structure

• creating a coherent beginning, development and ending

• responding closely to the stimulus rather than simply reproducing a memorised story

Most importantly, students need to do this within the constraints of an exam environment.

Opinion Writing

Opinion Writing requires a different way of thinking.

Rather than developing a narrative, students need to establish a clear position and communicate their reasoning coherently.

Preparation therefore focuses more heavily on skills such as:

• establishing a clear opinion

• identifying supporting reasons

• developing and explaining ideas

• structuring paragraphs logically

• supporting an argument

• linking ideas together

• reaching an effective conclusion

The common thread between both styles is clear communication.

Strong spelling and vocabulary are valuable, but effective exam writing also requires organisation, relevance to the task, control of sentences and the ability to develop ideas coherently.

For AAS scholarship testing, for example, the provider identifies genre/structure, arguments, vocabulary, sentence structure and cohesion, syntax/tense, punctuation and spelling among the areas tested in Writing. Its Written Expression component requires a long-form response.

Do scholarship exams always use the same type of writing prompt?

This is where parents need to be careful.

A child may sit an exam one year and receive a Creative Writing task. That does not necessarily mean a child sitting the exam in another year, or with the same provider for a different school, should expect the same thing.

Likewise, feedback from previous students can help families understand an examination, but it shouldn't be treated as a guarantee of what will appear next.

We see this issue firsthand at Hendersons because we actively seek feedback from students after real entrance and scholarship examinations. That feedback is useful for identifying patterns and informing preparation, but a pattern is not a promise about the next exam.

This is why preparing the underlying skills is so important.

Does my child need to do both Creative Writing and Opinion Writing to Prepare for their Scholarship Exam?

Not necessarily.

The right choice is dependent of several factors:

• the examination your child is preparing for

• your child's current writing ability

• whether one writing style is significantly weaker than the other

• how much preparation time your child has

• whether your child is preparing for one school or several

• what other exam preparation they need to fit around writing

Hendersons' current exam preparation pathways reflect this flexibility. For example, some of our scholarship program options allow families to choose Creative or Opinion Writing, while more comprehensive preparation can include both.

So rather than asking only:

“Which writing style is going to be on the exam?”

it can be more useful to ask:

“Which writing preparation would most benefit my child?”

That slight shift makes the decision much more individual.

What if my child is much better at one style?

This is quite common. A child who loves storytelling might be comfortable generating imaginative ideas but find it difficult to construct a clear argument. Another student might be excellent at explaining and defending an opinion but find creative prompts daunting.

In those situations, preparation in the less familiar style can help broaden the student's confidence and writing toolkit.

On the other hand, if preparation time is limited, parents may need to prioritise.

So, how should a child prepare for the writing component of a scholarship exam?

Regardless of whether your child ultimately focuses primarily on Creative or Opinion Writing, there are some broader principles worth considering.

Learn to respond to the actual task

A prepared student shouldn't need the exam question to look exactly like something they've practised before.

Instead, they should be able to read an unfamiliar stimulus, identify what it requires and make appropriate decisions about what and how to write.

Develop structure, not just vocabulary

Sophisticated vocabulary can be useful, but it cannot compensate for a response that lacks direction or doesn't address the task.

A child should know how to organise their ideas into a complete and coherent response.

Practise writing with time constraints

Writing at home with unlimited time is different from producing a complete response under exam conditions.

Practice should therefore eventually include timed writing rather than focusing exclusively on untimed drafting.

Exact requirements depend on the relevant provider and examination, so families should check the current information applying to their child's test

Use feedback to improve the next piece of writing

Writing practice is much more valuable when students understand what they need to improve.

At Hendersons, our Creative Writing and Opinion Writing workshops are taught separately, allowing students to focus on the specific techniques associated with each style. Students are provided with exam-style prompts to complete under timed conditions and these are assessed by the teacher and feedback is provided to help each student improve their next piece of writing.

Creative or Opinion Writing: What's the answer?

So, does your child need Creative Writing, Opinion Writing or both?

There isn't a single answer for every scholarship candidate.

For some students, completing both provides valuable experience across different forms of writing. For others, one carefully chosen workshop may be more appropriate because of their existing skills, exam requirements or available preparation time.

The important thing is not to choose preparation solely by trying to predict the next writing prompt.

Start with:

Which exam is my child sitting?

Then:

What does my child already do well, and where would additional preparation help most?

Those questions lead to a much more useful preparation plan.