GCSE English Language and Literature Changes

September 2015

JLM presentations ©2015

Why are the English GCSEs changing?

▪ A desire to make the subjects more challenging and rigorous. In English Literature, pupils will have to study whole texts. A focus on ”deeper learning”

▪ In the past it is thought that not enough attention was paid to grammar, spelling and punctuation – so there is now an increased focus on this in both English and the Humanities subjects

▪ A push to return to traditional English Literature written by English writers

▪ The numerical system will hopefully allow for examiners to distinguish between candidates’ performance-especially at the top grades

What are the main changes to both GCSEs?

▪ No more controlled assessments

▪ More emphasis on grammatical accuracy

▪ Texts no longer allowed in the Literature exams (closed book)

▪ No Foundation or Higher – a tiered paper instead

▪ More pre-20th century fiction and non-fiction

▪ Grading

New Grading Structure

Current Grading Structure

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 U

A* A B C D E F G U

English Language GCSE

Main changes

▪ Revised grading structure

▪ No more controlled assessments

▪ Two exams in total

▪ The English Language GCSE will have much more of a focus on technical accuracy. A 5th of the marks will be dependent on candidates being able to, "use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect, with accurate spelling and punctuation,”.

English Language Paper 1 (1hr 45 mins) (40 %)

Section A

(Unseen 19th century fiction)

▪ An Extract to be read (approx. 650 words in length)

▪ Short response questions focusing on close reading of the extract and longer response questions asking students to demonstrate their understanding of the whole text (questions get harder through the paper allowing everyone to access it whilst still enabling the gifted students to excel)

Section B

(Creative Writing)

▪ Choice of 2 tasks linked to the theme of the 19th century fiction

▪ One task will include images as an optional stimulus for learners (this will help visual learners)

▪ Student responses will be assessed on their ability to adapt their writing according to the purpose and audience, as requested in the question. They will need to comment on tone, grammatical features and try to spell accurately

English Language Paper 2 (2hrs) (60%)

Section A

(comparison of 2 unseen texts from the 20th and 21st century)

▪ One will be non-fiction; the other will be literary non-fiction

▪ Extracts will be up to 1000 words in total

▪ Shorter response questions will focus on close reading of the texts and the longer response questions will require comparisons of the writers use of language (again questions get harder through the paper allowing everyone to access it whilst still enabling the gifted students to excel)

Section B

(Transactional writing)

▪ Choice of two tasks linked to the theme of the comparison texts of section A

▪ Newspaper articles, letters etc.

▪ Assessing writing for audience purpose and tone, as well as grammatical and structural features, spelling and punctuation

English Literature GCSE

Main Changes

▪ No more controlled assessments (two exams again)

▪ Content is much more tightly stipulated by the DFE than previously, with less flexibility for exam boards. The DFE requirements state that the texts studied for the English Literature GCSE must include:

At least one 19th century novel

At least one Shakespeare play

fiction or drama from the British Isles from 1914 onwards

A selection of poetry since 1789 including representative Romantic poetry

English Literature Paper 1 (1hr 45 mins) (50%)

Section A

(Shakespeare)

▪ Two questions-one based on an extract of approximately 30 lines and one on the play in its entirety

Section B

(Post-1914 British Drama or Fiction)

▪ Students study EITHER drama (a play) or fiction ( a novel)

▪ Choice of essay questions

▪ For the first time, vocabulary, sentence structure and punctuation will be assessed making the A* (9) harder to achieve

English Literature Paper 2 (2hrs 15 mins) (50%)

Section A

(19th century fiction)

▪ Two questions-one based on an extract of approximately 400 words (provided for students) and one based on the whole novel

Section B

(Poetry)

▪ One question comparing one named poem from the chosen anthology collection, and another anthology poem of the students’ choice from the same collection

▪ One question asking students to compare two unseen contemporary poems

Examples of Literature texts

Post 1914 texts

An Inspector Calls Animal Farm

Lord of the Flies The Woman in Black

Journeys End Hobson’s Choice

Anita and Me

19th century novels

Jane Eyre Pride and Prejudice Great Expectations A Christmas Carol

Frankenstein Silas Marner

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Shakespeare plays

Romeo and Juliet Macbeth

The Merchant of Venice Much Ado About Nothing

The Tempest Twelfth Night

Observations of these reformed qualifications

▪ Coursework / controlled assessment has gone completely from both English Language and English Literature, with final exams accounting for the 100% of the overall grade. A huge change.

▪ There will be no “tiering” in the reformed qualifications (Foundation / Higher).

▪ These changes will place different demands on teachers and pupils who will have to spend longer in the exam room.

▪ In English Literature, pupils will no longer be able to have their texts with them in the exam room. They will inevitably have to learn and remember quotations.

What can YOU do to help your daughter with these new GCSEs ?

▪ Talk to your daughter regularly about what she is doing in class

▪ Read the same texts so you can discuss characters, themes and story development

▪ Read non-fiction articles together e.g. newspaper articles, blogs and reviews

▪ Link family situations / occasions to possible writing tasks

▪ Look at homework she does and teacher feedback

▪ Any uncertainties or worries – encourage your daughter to talk to her English teacher immediately

A quick recap…

▪ No more controlled assessments for either GCSEs

▪ No tiering in either GCSE

▪ Differentiated questions throughout the Language exams

▪ Texts no longer allowed in the Literature exams

▪ Greater emphasis on Grammatical accuracy

▪ A return to more traditional English Literature

Any Questions ?

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