English

Exam board and specification

AQA English Literature and AQA English Language

Scheme of assessment

The GCSE English papers are not tiered, and all students sit the same papers.

English language paper one uses a fiction extract wherein students are given an unseen extract to analyse and then are tasked with writing their own piece of fiction. This paper is worth 80 marks and lasts 1 hour 45 minutes.

English language paper two is a non-fiction paper. Students are presented with two non-fiction texts to analyse and compare and tasked with a non-fiction writing task. This paper is work 80 marks and lasts 1 hour 45 minutes

English literature paper one assesses the students’ knowledge on a Shakespeare text (Macbeth) and a 19^th century novel (A Christmas Carol). Students will have previously studied both texts and will have prior knowledge of contexts, themes and characters. They are given an extract to analyse and then are required to link this to their knowledge of the text as a whole. This paper is worth 64 marks and lasts 1 hour 45 minutes.

English literature paper two assesses the students’ prior knowledge of a modern drama (An Inspector Calls), poetry (power and conflict) and unseen poetry. Students will have previously studied An Inspector Calls and the power and conflict poetry. They will have practised poetry analysis skills for the unseen poetry section. In this paper, students are NOT given an extract for An Inspector Calls. They are given one of the poems they have studied and they have to compare it to another poem from memory. This paper has a total of 96 marks and takes 2 hours and 15 minutes.

They also have to complete a Spoken Language Endorsement (usually in year 10). This is a project where students create and perform a speech to an audience. The grading system for this is Pass, Merit, or Distinction.  

Lesson time and grouping

Pupils are taught for 7 hours (Y10)/ 8 hours (Y11) per fortnight.  As all pupils sit the same paper, we feel there are clear benefits to using mixed ability classes; however, in some cases, there may be a smaller group to better support those with additional needs.

Homework

Set once per week on prior knowledge, revision and key spellings.

Assessment during the course

As well as the whole school exam weeks in Year 10 (March/April) and Year 11 (December)E, each unit of work has an assessment point where students are given GCSE style questions to demonstrate understanding of the topics covered.
In language, students are assessed on information retrieval, analysis skills, comparison skills and writing skills (including spelling).
In literature, students are assessed on understanding of historical contexts, writer’s intention, themes, language and structure.

Useful curriculum links / revision guides

For this course, students will need copies of the following texts:
- A Christmas Carol
- An Inspector Calls
- Macbeth

- Past papers for all units can be found for free online.

Additional information (e.g. trips)

KS4 classes have access to reading lessons once a fortnight. There can be a slightly more flexible approach where the teacher feels this is appropriate wherein students may use some of this time for revision tasks set by their English teacher.

Term 1

Term 2

Term 3

Term 4

Term 5

Term 6

Year 10

 A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol
Language paper 1

 Unseen poetry
Power and conflict poetry1

 Language paper 1
 

An Inspector Calls

 Language paper 2
Spoken Language Endorsement
 

Year 11

 Macbeth

Language paper 2 revision
A Christmas Carol revision
Literature paper 1
Language paper 2 exams

Power and conflict poetry2
Unseen poetry

An Inspector Calls revision
Language paper 2 revision
 

Final revision and GCSE EXAMS