GCSEEnglish LanguageWJEC EduqasPaper 1Revision Notes20th Century Literature Reading & Creative Prose WritingPaper 1: OverviewPaper 1: Walkthrough

Paper 1: Walkthrough (WJEC Eduqas GCSE English Language)

Revision Note

Deb Orrock

Expertise

English

Paper 1: Walkthrough

Eduqas GCSE English Language Paper 1, or Component 1, is the fiction paper. It is divided into 2 sections:

  • Section A: 20th Century Literature Reading

  • Section B: Creative Prose Writing

This exam is 1 hour 45 minutes in length and is worth 40% of your overall GCSE grade. In the exam, you will be given the question booklet and a separate source booklet containing the reading extract to use in Section A. 

The following walkthrough contains:

  • Paper 1 overview

  • Paper 1 walkthrough

  • Exam tips

Paper 1 overview

Paper 1 consists of two sections:

Section

What it involves

Section A: 20th Century Literature Reading

  • You will be given one reading extract, taken from a piece of literature written between 1900 and 1999

  • The extract will be about 60–100 lines long

  • You will have 5 questions to answer, based on sections of the extract

  • This section is worth 40 marks

  • You should spend 1 hour on this section

Section B: Creative Prose Writing

  • You will be required to write one piece of creative writing (a story or a recount) from a choice of 4 titles

  • You will not be given an image, nor are you required to write a piece of descriptive writing

  • Your story or recount should be between 2–3 sides of A4 (average handwriting)

  • This section is worth 40 marks

  • You should spend 45 minutes on this section

Exam Tip

You do not have to work through this paper in linear order. You can choose to start with Section B and write your story first. This is a good idea if you have pre-planned a story which you are going to adapt in the exam to fit one of the four titles. Just make sure to manage your timing and do not spend more than 45 minutes on Section B, otherwise you will run out of time to complete Section A. If you decide to complete Section B first, make sure you write “Section B” clearly at the top of your answer booklet, as well as the title you have chosen.

There are six assessment objectives for this qualification, and you are assessed on the following five in Paper 1:

AO1

Identify and interpret explicit and implicit information and ideas

AO2

Explain, comment on and analyse how writers use language and structure to achieve effects and influence readers, using relevant subject terminology to support your views

AO4

Evaluate texts critically and support this with appropriate textual references

AO5

(i) Communicate clearly, effectively and imaginatively, selecting and adapting tone, style and register for different forms, purposes and audiences

(ii) 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

Paper 1 walkthrough

Section A:

Question

Marks

Timing

What you have to do

1

5 (AO1)

5 minutes

  • List five things from a section of text

  • Most of the things you need to find in the text will be explicit, but some may be more implied

  • Write your answers as complete sentences in 5 bullet points

  • Do not use single word answers

2

5 (AO2)

10 minutes

  • You will be asked what impressions the section of text gives you of a character, place or thing

  • Read the section and highlight everything you are told about the character, place or thing

  • Start your answer using the wording of the question

  • For example: “The first impression the writer gives of X is that…”

  • Make sure you include 5 distinct impressions with a short, embedded quote to support each point you make

3

10 (AO2)

15 minutes

  • You will be asked “how” the writer shows you something in a section of the text

  • This will normally be about a character, or characters, or an event

  • Read the question and highlight the focus

  • Read the section of text and highlight anything relevant to the focus of the question

  • Start your answer using the wording of the question

  • Make as many separate points as you can about the focus of the question, supporting each point with plenty of textual references

4

10 (AO2)

15 minutes

  • This is the same kind of question as Question 3

  • You will be asked “how” the writer shows you something in a section of the text

  • This will normally be about a different character, characters, or an event

  • Read the question and highlight the focus

  • Read the specified section of text and highlight anything relevant to the focus of the question

  • Start your answer using the wording of the question

  • Make as many separate points as you can about the focus of the question, supporting each point with plenty of textual references

5

10 (AO4)

15 minutes

  • This question might be about the end of the text, the text as a whole, or both

  • You will be given a statement to consider about the text, and asked to what extent (or how far) you agree

  • There is normally more evidence in the text to agree than disagree — consider what evidence there is in what you have read that supports the statement

  • Start your answer using the wording of the question

  • Use the two bullet points in the question to structure your answer

  • Use “I agree/I think” to start each point you make in your answer

Exam Tip

The five reading questions in Section A will be about certain lines of the text. You should therefore start by dividing up the text according to the question instructions. So, for example, if Question 1 asks you to use lines 1–10, then draw a line under line 10, and do the same for the remainder of the questions. This is important, as if you take any information from outside of the specified lines, you will not be given a mark for it.

You should also complete the five questions in the order they are given. This is because they are designed to progress through the text logically, ending with Question 5, which normally asks you to consider the end of the text as well as the extract as a whole.

This also means that you do not need to spend time reading through the whole of the extract before attempting the questions. Divide up the text, read the question and then carefully read the associated section of text. This way, by the time you get to Question 5, you will have read most or all of the text.

Section B:

Question

Marks

Timing

What you have to do

1

40

(24 for AO5)

(16 for AO6)

5 minutes planning

35 minutes writing

5 minutes checking

  • Read the four titles carefully and choose one

  • Write a concise, imaginative and well structured narrative, with a clear beginning, middle and end

  • Write 2–3 sides of A4 (average handwriting)

  • Re-read and check for spelling and punctuation accuracy

Exam Tip

You can prepare a story before the exam by practising and refining it, making it as accurate as possible. If you look at the Eduqas GCSE English Language past papers, you will see that the choice of titles are quite broad. This means there is always one that you can adapt your prepared story to fit. However, if you do this, it is essential that the story you write in the exam is adapted, otherwise your story will not match the title and you will not obtain high marks.

Exam tips

  • Eduqas exam papers always follow a similar structure:

    • You can therefore familiarise yourself with the types of questions you will be asked in advance

  • Timing is really important:

    • Ensure you keep an eye on the time in the exam so that you do not miss out any questions, or run out of time to answer all of the questions fully

    • Pay attention as well to how many marks a question is worth — do not spend too long on questions that are only worth 5 marks

  • The passage you will be given will be either an extract from a longer piece of literature, or an entire short story:

    • Whatever you are given, it is essential that you remember that you are dealing with characters as a construct

    • Remember, the narrator is not the same as the writer

  • Do not simply list the literary devices you can spot in the reading extract:

    • This is called “feature spotting” and you do not get any marks for simply identifying that the writer has used, for example, personification without exploring why they have used it

  • Do not take any information from the section in italics at the top of the reading passage, or outside of the sections of text according to the question instructions:

    • You will not be given any marks if you do

  • Try to stick to writing your story in the past tense:

    • This is easier to control and results in fewer errors in mixing tenses and grammar

  • Limit your use of dialogue or direct speech in your story:

    • Only use it if it moves your story along

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    Deb Orrock

    Author: Deb Orrock

    Deb is a graduate of Lancaster University and The University of Wolverhampton. After some time travelling and a successful career in the travel industry, she re-trained in education, specialising in literacy. She has over 16 years’ experience of working in education, teaching English Literature, English Language, Functional Skills English, ESOL and on Access to HE courses. She has also held curriculum and quality manager roles, and worked with organisations on embedding literacy and numeracy into vocational curriculums. She most recently managed a post-16 English curriculum as well as writing educational content and resources.