What is the examiner looking for? (Edexcel GCSE English Language): Revision Notes
📚 Revision Notes
What is the examiner looking for?
infoNote
You'll be assessed slightly differently for section A and section B, have a look at the table below to see what skills you need to demonstrate in each half of the paper.
Section A
| Skill | Assessment Objective | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Reading | AO1 | Identify and interpret explicit and implicit information and ideas. Select and synthesise evidence from different texts. |
| AO2 | Explain, comment on and analyse how writers use language and structure to achieve effects and influence readers, using relevant subject terminology to support views. | |
| AO3 | Compare writers' ideas and perspectives, as well as how these are conveyed, across two or more texts. (Not assessed in this exam.) | |
| AO4 | Evaluate texts critically and support this with appropriate textual references. |
Section B
| Skill | Assessment Objective | Assessment Objective |
|---|---|---|
| Writing | AO5 | Communicate clearly, effectively 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. | ||
| AO6 | Use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect, with accurate spelling and punctuation. |
How long should you spend answering each question?
Use the table below as a rough guide and aim to spend about a minute per mark.
| Task | Marks | Suggested Timing |
|---|---|---|
| Reading text | N/A | 8 minutes |
| Question 1 (AO1) | 1 mark | 2 minutes |
| Question 2 (AO1) | 2 marks | 5 minutes |
| Question 3 (AO2) | 6 marks | 10 minutes |
| Question 4 (AO4) | 15 marks | 25 minutes |
| Question 5/6 (AO5 & AO6) | 40 marks | 45 minutes |
| Checking work | N/A | 10 minutes |