1. AQA GCSE English Literature Overview: First Assessment 2017 (100% Exam)
What must students cover? What is the percentage breakdown of these elements?
Paper One: Shakespeare and 19th Century Novel
One Hour 45 Minutes. 64 Marks. (40%)
Paper Two: Modern Texts, Anthology Poetry and Unseen Poetry
Two hours 15minutes. 96 Marks. 60%
Section a) Shakespeare (20%) 30 marks (4 marks SPAG)
Section b) 19th C Novel (20%) 30 marks
Section a) Modern Texts (20%)
30 marks (4 marks SPAG)
Section b) Anthology Poetry (20%)
30 marks
Section c) Unseen Poetry (20%)
32 Marks
What will the exams be like? What questions will the students be asked? What understanding must they demonstrate?
Students will be given an extract from their chosen play. The paper will give a brief explanation of the context of this scene
Students will give one essay question. They must write in detail about the extract and write about the play as a whole.
Students must demonstrate character and thematic understanding across the whole play.
Students will be given an extract from their chosen text. The paper will give a brief explanation of the context of this scene
Students will give one essay question. They must write in detail about the extract and write about the play as a whole.
Students must demonstrate character and thematic understanding across the whole play
Students are given a choice of two essay questions on their chosen text and must answer one.
These questions may be about character, theme, or a combination of the two.
Students must demonstrate character and thematic understanding across the whole play.
Students will be given one poem from the anthology they have studied. This text will be readable.
Students will be asked one comparative essay question about the given poem and another poem from the anthology of their choice.
This section of the paper is in two parts.
Part a is worth 24 marks. Students will be given an unseen poem with an accompanying essay question
Part b is worth 8 marks. Students will be given another unseen poem and will a comparison question about a shared theme / idea of the two unseen poems.
How does this relate to the Assessment Objectives and the weightings?
A01: 12 Marks A02: 12 Marks
A03: 6 Marks A04: 4 marks
A01: 12 Marks
A02: 12 Marks
A03: 6 Marks
A01: 12 Marks A02: 12 Marks
A03: 6 Marks A04: 4 marks
A01: 12 Marks A02: 12 Marks
A03: 6 Marks
Part a:
A01: 12 Marks A02: 12 Marks
Part b: A02: 8 marks
A01: (15% of GCSE) A02: 24 Marks (15% of GCSE)
A03: 12 Marks (7.5% of GCSE) A04: 4 marks (2.5% of GCSE)
A01: 36 Marks (22.5% of GCSE) A02: 44 Marks (27.5% of GCSE)
A03: 12 Marks (7.5% of GCSE) A04: 4 marks (2.5% of GCSE)
A01
Read, understand and respond to texts:
• maintain a critical style and develop an informed personal response
• use textual references, including quotations, to support and illustrate interpretations.
37.5%
A02
Analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects, using relevant subject terminology where appropriate.
42.5%
A03
Show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written.
15%
AO4
Use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect, with accurate spelling and punctuation. 5%

2. AQA GCSE English Language Overview: First Assessment 2017 (100% Exam)
What must students cover? What is the percentage breakdown of these elements?
Paper One: Explorations in Creative Reading and Writing
One Hour 45 Minutes. 80 Marks. (50%)
Paper Two: Writer’s viewpoints
One Hour 45 Minutes. 80 Marks. (50%)
Section a) Literary Fiction (20th/21st C)
(25%) 40 marks
Section b) Narrative / Descriptive Writing (25%) 40 marks
Section a) Non Fiction and Literary Non-Fiction including 19th C (25%) 40 Marks
Section b) Narrative / Descriptive Writing (25%) 40 marks
What will the exams be like? What questions will the students be asked? What understanding must they demonstrate?
Students must consider descriptive and narrative approaches such as narrative perspectives atmosphere, characterisation, effective openings and endings. Students will be given one extract from a piece of Prose Fiction
Students will be answer four questions:
A short four mark question focussed on information retrieval
An 8 mark question analysing the use of language
An 8 mark question focussed on the analysing structural features
A 20 mark extended question focussing on a critical response to a particular aspect of the text e.g. characterisation
Students write their own creative text inspired by the topic in section a).
Students will be given a prompt, either a written prompt or an image.
There will be a choice of two scenarios from which students will select one.
Each scenario will define the audience, purpose and form of the writing task
Students will work with an Insert containing two non-fiction texts of different genres linked by a similar theme.
One text will be from the 19th Century and one from either the 20th or 21st Century depending on the time period assessed in Paper One. This allows students to consider perspectives through time.
Students will be answer four questions:
A short 4mark question focussed on information retrieval.
An 8 mark question summarising details from both texts
An 12 mark question focussed on the analysing language from the 19th C text.
A 16 mark extended question comparing attitudes conveyed in each text
Students write their own text giving a written perspective of the theme in section a).
Students will be given a prompt, such as an opinion, statement or scenario to provoke a response
The written task will define the audience, purpose and form required.
Students will need to adapt their language, register and form to meet the requirements of the task
How does this relate to the Assessment Objectives and the weightings?
Q1: AO1 4 Marks. Q2: AO2 8 Marks
Q3: AO2 8 Marks Q4: AO4 20 Marks
AO5: 24 Marks AO6: 16 Marks
Q1: AO1 4 Marks. Q2: AO1 8 Marks
Q3: AO2 12 Marks Q4: AO3 16 Marks
AO5: 24 Marks AO6: 16 Marks
Reading Objectives
Paper One %
Paper Two %
Total %
AO1
Identify and Interpret Explicit and implicit information and ideas
Select and synthesise evidence from different texts
2.5%
7.5%
10%
AO2
Explain, comment on and analyse how writers use language and structure to achieve effects and influence readers, using relevant subject terminology to support their views
17.5%
AO3
Evaluate texts critically and support this with appropriate textual references NA
AO4
Evaluate texts critically and support this with appropriate textual reference
12.5%
Writing Objectives
Paper One %
Paper Two %
Total %
AO5
Communicate clearly, effective and imaginatively, selecting and adapting tone, style and register for different forms, purposes and audiences. Organise information and ideas using structural and grammatical features to support coherence and cohesion of texts 15 30
AO6
Use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect, with accurate spelling and punctuation 10 20