GCSE English
This page provides information about the exam specifications for GCSE English and an outline of the key knowledge and skills that students will need to master in order to be successful in their exams. I also offer a range of useful revision tips and exam strategies.
Who decides on the GCSE English specification?
The Department for Education sets the content that state schools must cover for all GCSEs, AS and A-Levels subjects. This is overseen by the national qualifications regulator Ofqual that sets the rules for exam bodies to follow.
The main UK exam boards that develop, mark and award GCSE’s are: AQA, OCR, Pearson and WJEC Eduqas. Schools will decide on which exam board to follow and can follow different exam boards for different subjects. Scotland has its own exam board - the SQA.
Some independent schools follow a IGCSE exam body specification. (State schools cannot use this.)
What is in the GCSE English specification?
English is split into two separate GCSE’s: Literature and Language. The content covered in each is decided by the Department for Education.
English Literature:
All students must study the following:
at least one play by Shakespeare
at least one 19th century novel
a selection of poetry since 1789, including representative Romantic poetry
fiction or drama from the British Isles from 1914 onwards.
For each component, schools will choose from a selection of texts listed by their chosen exam board.
For example, for AQA a school may choose to study:
Macbeth
A Christmas Carol
Power & Conflict Poetry
An Inspector Calls
This is decided by the Head of Department and can depend on teacher expertise, training and available resources. Schools will begin studying one or more of these texts in Year 10.
English Language:
GCSE English Language is split between Reading and Writing. For Reading, students will need to respond to unseen fiction and non-fiction texts and show skills in comprehension, inference, interpretation, evaluation and analysis.
For Writing students will need to write creatively, descriptively and persuasively to different audiences for different purposes. They will be expected to plan and organise the content of their writing effectively and show strong technical accuracy, including accurate use of SPaG, ambitious vocabulary, accurate discourse markers, appropriate paragraphing and the effective use of literary and rhetorical devices.
There is also a Spoken Language Component that is reported as part of the qualification, but does not form part of the final mark or grade.
How is GCSE English assessed?
The exam boards will create the number and length of each paper and release the exam dates in advance. For example, for AQA there are two papers for English Literature (one is 1hour 45 minutes, the other 2 hours 15 minutes), and two papers for English Language (both 1 hour 45 minutes.) These will be spread out across the exam season.
Examiners will mark the student papers and release the results in late August. The exam board sets the grade boundaries each year.
Students will receive a separate grade, 1-9, for both English Language and English Literature. The previous government overhauled the GCSE grading system a number of years ago, replacing the classic letter grades, A-G, with numerical levels. Slightly confusingly the pass grade in English is a 4 but a grade 5 is considered a ‘strong pass’/ roughly the equivalent of an old C. Different schools providing post-16 education will have different entry requirements and a number will only accept a grade 5 or above for GCSE English.
A student will need to retake GCSE English (and Maths) if they did not achieve at least a grade 4. Students can choose to retake this exam even if they have achieved the minimum pass grade, depending on their school/college, but may have to pay a fee.
Some students may be able to take a Functional Skills qualification depending on their circumstances.
Check the government website for more information.
How can I support my child with preparing for their English GCSE?
Speaking to your child’s English teacher is important for understanding their current strengths and areas for development. The school should be setting regular homework, holiday revision material, and providing past papers that you can support your child at home with. This should include memorising key quotations for their English Literature texts. It is important that your child practises writing for extended periods under exam conditions (no phones or other distractions!)
An experienced tutor will be able to support your child with specific areas of the course that they need to focus on to progress, and can mark past papers and provide timely feedback.
Find out what exam board your child’s school follows and review the information and resources that they make available online. Most will have published past papers, mark schemes and standardised material, and release up to date information.
The CGP guides are recommended by schools and can be purchased from the CGP website, amazon or in local book stores. Guides are tailored for most of the individual texts studied.
BBC Bitesize has some excellent revision resources.
Oak National Academy provides digital revision material for teachers and pupils. They are aligned but operationally independent from the DfE.
Encourage your child to read regularly and widely. Simply put: the most successful GCSE English students are those that have read the most. Check out your local library and local first or second-hand book shops. A number of the classic texts studied at GCSE, including Shakespeare’s plays, are free online, or can be purchased cheaply. Not everyone can afford to go to the theatre, but if there are reasonably priced tickets available to see a GCSE text shown on stage nationally or locally, then you should jump at the chance. You may be able to find recordings of past productions online. Please see my ‘Suggested Reading’ page for suitable GCSE level reading recommendations.
For English Language it is important that your child keeps up to date with topical issues and current affairs, as they may be asked to express their point of view about a particular issue. The BBC website is of course useful for this, as is The Guardian Opinion section online for exploring ways in which writers express their viewpoints.
What should I avoid?
Social media can be a great way for students to connect with their peers and support each other with revision but there is a huge amount of misinformation circulating sites in the lead up to exams including false rumours about what will be in the exams. Similarly be careful with what websites or chat threads your child is using online to aid revision. Your child’s school should provide you with a list of appropriate online resources to use and may have their own digital revision tool e.g. Google Classroom.
Do not rely on film versions of a GCSE Literature text. Film versions of the texts can be useful but often deviate from the original text for dramatic purposes. For example, there is a brilliant BBC adaptation of An Inspector Calls that provides useful visuals of the setting and costumes from that period, but it very much has its own plot structure and dialogue. Remember your child is being assessed on the text, not the film. Memorising key quotations, revising the plot, characters and themes, and re-reading the texts is the best way to prepare.
Avoid last minute cramming. I provide additional information on how to support your child during the exam period, but the key thing to remember is that GCSE English is a two year course. Your child should put the same amount of effort into learning and assessments in Year 10, as they do in Year 11. This will allow them to go into their final exams confidently with a mastery of the skills and knowledge necessary to be successful whatever questions appears in the paper, and most vitally the chance of a good night’s sleep the night before the exam.
As mentioned, I provide further and more detailed information and guidance about the GCSE English exam texts and papers across my website. This includes further strategies to help your child revise at home, exam resources, and useful online links.
Please get in touch if you would like to enquire about GCSE English tuition for your child.