N-Level Computer Applications (SEAB 7018) Word Processing and Documents: character and paragraph formatting with styles, tables and lists, page layout and sections, proofing tools, and mail merge

Why this module matters

Word Processing and Documents teaches you to create clear, professional documents, a skill assessed in the lab-based practical paper that includes document processing. This module covers formatting text with styles, organising information with tables and lists, controlling page layout, finishing a document with proofing tools, and producing personalised letters with mail merge. Because the practical paper is hands-on, practising these tasks until they are automatic is the best preparation.

This guide ties together the matching dot-point pages, each with its own worked detail and practice. The strands below move from formatting text, through organising and laying out a document, to finishing and automating it.

Creating and formatting text

Start with formatting. See creating and formatting text for character and paragraph formatting and styles.

Apply character formatting (font, size, bold, italic, colour) and paragraph formatting (alignment such as left, centre or justify, and line spacing) to make text clear. Use styles, saved sets of formatting applied with one click, such as a Heading 1 style, for consistency and speed: change the style once and every heading using it updates together.

Tables and lists

Next, organising information. See tables and lists for tables and bulleted and numbered lists.

Insert and format a table to organise information in rows and columns, adding or removing rows and columns and formatting borders and shading. Use a bulleted list for items with no particular order and a numbered list for steps or ranked items, so information is easy to scan.

Page layout and sections

Then the page. See page layout and sections for margins, columns, headers and footers and page breaks.

Set up page layout to present the document professionally: margins, orientation (portrait or landscape), page size, columns, headers and footers (repeating content at the top and bottom of every page), page numbers, and page breaks to start text on a new page.

Proofing and document tools

Then finishing. See proofing and document tools for spell check, find and replace, word count and saving.

Use spell and grammar check to flag errors, find and replace to locate or swap text, and word count to check length. Then save and export in a suitable format. Still read the document yourself, because spell check misses correctly spelled but wrong words (such as "their" for "there").

Mail merge

Finally, automating personalised documents. See mail merge for the main document, data source and merge fields.

Mail merge combines a main document (such as a letter) with a data source (a list of names and details) using merge fields to produce a personalised copy for each recipient. Write the letter once, insert fields where the personal details go, and the merge creates one letter per person, saving time and reducing mistakes when sending to many people.

How this module is examined

• Lab-based practical paper (document processing task). Produce a formatted document: apply styles, insert tables and lists, set up the page layout with headers, footers and page breaks, proof it, and run a mail merge.
• Paper 1 (written, 30%). Explain styles, page layout features, proofing tools, and how mail merge works, with examples.

Check your knowledge

Try these, then take the matching quiz for this module.

1. Explain one benefit of using a style rather than formatting headings by hand. (2 marks)
2. State when you would use a numbered list rather than a bulleted list. (1 mark)
3. Explain why a page break is better than pressing Enter many times to start a new page. (2 marks)
4. Describe what mail merge does and name its two main parts. (3 marks)