How to Ace the ELAT Exam

If you’re an Oxford or Cambridge applicant that wants to study English Literature at one of these institutions, then you’re very likely going to be sitting the ELAT exam in the near future.

ELAT, standing for English Literature Admissions Test, is a 90-minute examination, in which you’ll write one singular essay. In this exam, you’ll pick from 6 literary extracts, having to discuss them in your essay.

The possible extracts can range across any literary period, encompassing famous authors and those that have fallen into obscurity. As long as you have something compelling to say about both texts, you can put them into conversation in any way that you like.

How is the ELAT Scored?

The ELAT, composed of a singular essay, is marked out of a total of 60 marks. Every single essay will be reviewed by two separate examiners, with each marking the paper out of 30. By adding the scores given by each examiner together, a student will have a final mark out of 60.

Typically, if there is any level of discrepancy between examiners, a third examiner will be brought into the situation. However, this only occurs if the two initial examiners score differently by over five marks.

Your ELAT Score is made up of four key focuses:

• Response - Response judges your overall argument, testing your ability to understand a range of different texts and locate them within the wider literary canon.
• Close Reading - A core skill that anyone familiar with A-Level English Literature will know, examiners will put your close reading skills to test, asking you to identify distinctive features of language, structure, tone, and literary style.
• Structure - Your ability to construct a well-written, well-focused essay will be put to the test. This also tests your ability to take two or three separate passages and put them into dialogue in a neat and organised format.
• Fluency - Your writing ability, in terms of skill, fluency, accuracy, and balance, will be assessed by the examiners.

By combining all of these four areas, both examiners will then give you a final score.

Source.

As you can see by the above graph, the vast majority of people fall into the middle range of around 30-47 marks.

Based on your final score, you will be put into bands by Oxford and Cambridge, with the following scores influencing your chance of getting an interview:

• Band 1 - Score of 50-60, these candidates are highly likely to receive an interview.
• Band 2 - Score of 43-49, these candidates will probably get an interview.

These top bands are likely to get an interview, while the bottom two are not.

• Band 3 - Score of 36-42, these candidates will probably not get an interview, unless there are some additional factors or exceptional predicted A-Level grades
• Band 4 - Score of 0-35, these candidates have a very slim chance of getting an interview.

Based on your final scores, your ELAT score has a big influence on whether you’re likely to get an interview for Oxford or Cambridge.

How do I Prepare for the ELAT?

Preparing for the ELAT exam doesn’t have to be an arduous process. In many ways, it is a direct extension of the skills that you are learning in English Literature A-Level, making this one of the easier entrance exams that students have to sit each year.

To focus on preparing for your ELAT exam, you should attempt to:

• Read Widely
• Practise Constructing Arguments
• Essay Writing Practise

Let’s break these down further.

Read Widely

A core part of preparing for your ELAT exam, and English Literature in general, is making sure that you are reading widely. By pulling texts from different literary periods and familiarising yourself with them, you’ll be in a much better position to identify and engage with unseen texts. While this is a core skill that you learn in some of the English Literature A-Level exam boards, it is something that is tested in full in the ELAT.

By reading widely, you gain an understanding of the literary context in which all texts like. As Literature is a conversation through time, knowing some base texts from different literary periods will allow you to fully engage with a text when you open the paper.

Practise Constructing Arguments

A huge part of the ELAT exam is making sure that you have a coherent argument when discussing the texts you’ve chosen. While pointing out features of both, signalling how they compare and contrast, will get you marks, it won’t land you in that top band.

To secure the highest ELAT marks possible, you need to actively construct an argument based on the texts you’ve chosen, displaying to the examiners that you have all the skills needed to study English Literature at university.

Essay Writing Practise

The best way to improve your skills when it comes to the ELAT is to ensure that you are regularly writing essays that put your skills to the test. Instead of just reading or just practising different literary techniques, you should be actively using those skills to plan and write test essays.

You can navigate to the ELAT website to find a range of past papers. There, you will discover that every single paper gives you six possible texts, with students only having to compare two of these. Due to this, you can read through and find your favourite texts to write an essay on.

However, as you have up to six potential sources, you can write a maximum of three essays per past paper, allowing you to effectively practise your essay writing skills over time. This will build up your confidence and ensure that you’re as ready as possible come exam day.

Work with an Online ELAT Tutor to Boost Your Score

If you’re looking to increase your chances of achieving a high score on the ELAT exam, then we recommend that you work with an online ELAT tutor. With years of experience helping students pass the ELAT exam, our top ELAT tutors will be able to actively coach you through this paper.

From giving you exam tips and useful literary knowledge to helping you write and mark practice essays, online ELAT tutors can be an invaluable resource. Get in contact with TutorChase today to get paired with the perfect ELAT tutor for you.