GCSE English

There are a number of specific subject entry requirements, please visit our website to review the courses and entry requirements or alternatively please contact the Sixth Form for specific details.

*Please choose 3 subject courses from different blocks, you will automatically be added to Maths or English resit classes on enrolment if you do not achieve required 4 in Maths or English Lit/Lang but you must still meet requirements for entry per subject.

AQA 8700  -  QAN 601/4292/3                                 

WHAT WILL I STUDY?                                                                                                                             Students will study the skills required for the two GCSE exam papers. Paper 1 is based on an unseen fiction extract and requires pupils to complete an original piece of narrative or descriptive writing. In Paper 2 pupils read two unseen non-fiction extracts and complete an original piece of writing to present a viewpoint. The non-fiction texts are usually extracts from magazines or newspapers – one contemporary and one nineteenth-century – and pupils will be asked to compare the writers' viewpoints and perspectives.

The skills assessed over the two papers include the ability to identify specific information; interpret and summarise meaning; analyse writers' use of language and structural features and compare writers' viewpoints and perspectives.

Students will also learn how to apply language and structural techniques to their own writing alongside refining their basic writing skills, such as punctuation and paragraphing.

HOW IS THE COURSE ASSESSED?                                                                                                                Two exam papers:

• Paper 1: Explorations in Creative Reading and Writing
• Paper 2: Writers' Viewpoints and Perspectives

Pupils will also complete a Speaking and Listening task (a presentation followed by a question-and-answer session) which will be awarded a separate grade (Pass, Merit, Distinction or Not Classified).

WHY WILL I NEED TO STUDY THIS COURSE?
Students should take this course if they have not yet achieved at least the Government's baseline grade in GCSE English Language.

 

Where next? 
A baseline GCSE grade will help students to access many jobs and courses.