Studying English at GCSE
 Brand new specification
 Overview of courses
 What students can expect
 How parents can help
Mr Adam Simpson (Head of English)
Miss Stephanie Hill (KS4 Co-ordinator)
Brand new specification
•
•
•
•
Exams now graded 9-1, not A*-G
No controlled assessment
Exams have no tiers
All pupils now required to study Shakespeare
& a 19th Century Novel
• A greater emphasis on 'technical accuracy'
GCSE Course
All students will take two GCSEs;
GCSE English Language and GCSE English
Literature
Both GCSEs include:
1. Final exams in May/June 2016
2. Note: No controlled assessments or
coursework
English Language
100% final examination
Paper 1: Explorations in Creative Reading
and Writing
Paper 2: Writers'
Viewpoints and
Perspectives
Non-examination
Assessment: Spoken
Language
What's assessed
Section A: Reading
• One literature fiction text
Section B: Writing
• Descriptive or narrative writing
What’s assessed
Section A: Reading
• One 21st Century non-fiction text and
• One 19th Century non-fiction text
Section B: Writing
• Writing to present a viewpoint
What's assessed
• Presenting
• Responding to
questions and
feedback
• Use of Standard
English
Assessed
• Written exam: 1 hour 45 minutes
• 80 marks
Assessed
• Written exam: 1 hour 45 minutes
• 80 marks
• 50% of GCSE
• 50% of GCSE
Assessed
• Teacher set
throughout course
• Marked by teacher
• Separate
endorsement
• (0% weighting of
GCSE)
Questions
Reading (40 marks) (25%)
– one single text
• 1 short form question
• (1 x 4 marks)
• 2 longer form questions
• (2 x 8 marks)
• 1 extended question
• (1 x 20 marks)
Writing (40 marks) (25%)
1 extended writing question (24 marks for
content, 16 marks for technical accuracy)
Questions
Reading (40 marks) (25%)
– two linked texts
1 short form question
(1 x 4 marks)
2 longer form questions
(1 x 8, 1 x 12 marks)
1 extended question
(1 x 16 marks)
Writing (40 marks) (25%)
1 extended writing question (24 marks for
content, 16 marks for technical accuracy)
English Literature
100% final examination
Paper 1: Shakespeare and the
19th-century novel
Paper 2: Modern texts and poetry
What's assessed
• Shakespeare
• The 19th-century novel
What's assessed
• Modern texts
• Poetry
• Unseen poetry
How it's assessed
• Written exam: 1 hour 45 minutes
• 64 marks
How it's assessed
• Written exam: 2 hour 15 minutes
• 96 marks
• 40% of GCSE
• 60% of GCSE
(Spelling, punctuation and vocabulary = 2.5%)
(Spelling, punctuation and vocabulary = 2.5%)
Questions
Section A Shakespeare
Students will answer one question on their play of
choice. They will be required to write in detail
about an extract from the play and then to write
about the play as a whole.
Section B The 19th-century novel
Students will answer one question on their novel
of choice. They will be required to write in detail
about an extract from the novel and then to write
about the novel as a whole.
Questions
Section A Modern texts
Students will answer one essay question from a
choice of two on their studied modern prose or
drama text.
Section B Poetry
Students will answer one comparative question
on one named poem printed on the paper and
one other poem from their chosen anthology
cluster.
Section C Unseen poetry
Students will answer one question on one unseen
poem and one question comparing this poem
What texts will be studied?
Shakespeare
19th Century
Modern Texts
Poetry
Choose one of:
Choose one of:
Choose one of:
Choose one of:
• Macbeth
• Robert Louis
Stevenson The
Strange Case of Dr
Jekyll and Mr Hyde
• JB Priestley An
Inspector Calls
• Love and
relationships
collection
• Romeo and Juliet
• Much Ado About
Nothing
• Charles Dickens A
Christmas Carol
• Mary Shelley
Frankenstein
• Jane Austen Pride
and Prejudice
• Willy Russell Blood
Brothers
• William Golding
Lord of the Flies
• AQA Anthology
Telling Tales
• George Orwell
Animal Farm
• Power and conflict
collection
Course Delivery
Each half term will cover a different aspect of the
English Language or English Literature exam.
At specified tracking points throughout the year,
exam based assessments will take place which will
allow us to monitor the progress of all pupils.
Dates of these assessments will be communicated
to parents/guardians via SIMS.
Revision and intervention classes
Revision classes
Will be offered in the final term of year 11 and
the run up to the final exam in May/June 2017.
Intervention classes
Ongoing throughout the course as and when
needs arise based on assessment data.
What students can expect:
 To be given clear guidance and deadlines for preparation time
for each exam practice task.
 To receive detailed feedback and to respond to this during
lesson time.
 To be working for longer on one topic than at Key Stage 3.
 To be required to research and read ahead.
 To be required to work independently.
Revision Materials
• English Reading and Writing
Workbooks are available from
the Student Office.
• Students may also wish to
purchase the study guides for
the novels/plays studied on the
Literature course; these are
available at all good book
stores. Details of specific
novels studied by the class will
be provided by English
teachers.
How parents can help
 Check SIMS for dates of exam practice assessments.
 Ask them to tell you about texts they are studying and how they
respond to them.
 Encourage them to read a range of fiction and non-fiction,
particularly newspapers.
 Encourage them to use revision study guides.
 Don’t believe, “I’ve no work for English”. There is always
something to do!
 Follow us on Twitter. Christleton KS4 English
@ChristletonEng