How to Pass GCSE English Language

Much like GCSE Maths, GCSE English Language is a mandatory subject that’s taken by every single student in the United Kingdom. With the new scoring system, the minimum grade that’s required to pass GCSE English Language is a 4, with anything above this being a pass mark.

If a student doesn’t manage to achieve a 4, then they’ll have to resit the paper next year, continuing on until they pass or turn 18. Considering that the vast majority of jobs in the UK require a pass mark in both English Language GCSE and Maths, it’s always a good idea to make sure this is a qualification that you spend a little extra time working on.

There is a huge misconception about both GCSE English Language and Literature, which is that you can’t revise for it. This is completely incorrect, with this misunderstanding probably causing more fail-rate marks than anything else.

In this article, we’ll detail exactly how you can pass GCSE English Language, detailing top tips for success. We’ll be covering:

• Know Your Exam Board
• SPAG is Half the Battle
• Read Widely
• Hire an Online GCSE English Language Tutor
• Attempt Every Question

Let’s get right into it.

Know Your Exam Board

Every single GCSE paper that you have to sit will follow a general formula, with past papers allowing you to understand exactly what format the test will take before you even enter the exam hall.

Past papers are a wealth of knowledge and will allow you to understand what questions come up, what format they’ll take, and what examiners are looking for in your answers. Going beyond just GCSE English Language, this can be incredibly useful in Chemistry, Biology, and Physics GCSE as they detail the exact words you should use in each question to get a mark.

Within English, examiners will detail the type of answers that they’re looking for, often including direct examples of high-scoring marks. If you’re aiming to just pass, then take a look at what writing is indicative of slightly above what you’re aiming for, and try and emulate it.

If you find it easy to recreate, why not shoot even higher?

The most important thing to remember when working from past papers is to ensure that you’re using the right exam board. In the United Kingdom, the three most popular exam boards are:

• AQA
• OCR
• Edexcel

However, this is not a comprehensive list, so be sure to ask your teacher which exam board you’ll be sitting come exam season. From there, you can access the past paper section of their site, or use a general website like RevisionWorld to get all your papers in one place.

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SPaG is Half the Battle

For both English Literature and English Language GCSE, SPaG (Spelling, Punctuation, and Grammar) are worth up to 20% of all the total marks available. This means that even if you wrote something that only slightly answered the question, but was written perfectly, you would still be able to get some marks.

If you’re aiming for a 4, previous years in English Language have needed 76/160 across all papers. If you’re able to get that full 20% for SPaG, then you’re already 32/76 marks towards your goal, reducing the number of content marks that you need to obtain by a significant margin.

Source.

Improving SPaG comes down to practice, with writing frequently and getting a parent, friend, or teacher to correct your work being incredibly useful. Equally, you can find online punctuation and grammar guides to help you through anything you’re stuck on.

Read Widely

It’s almost impossible to be a GCSE English Language student and get through the entire course without your teacher telling you that reading widely is the key to the exam. While annoying, this is actually fairly true, with strong reading skills allowing you to move through the extracts quickly while extracting all the information you need.

As the English Language essentially comes back to being able to pull out relevant information and then explain it, reading is the most vital skill that you can build. One way to improve your reading skills, apart from reading novels or comics, is to turn to newspapers. If you’re interested in a particular topic, like science or football, music or art, then find newspaper articles about those interests.

Using structured newspapers like the Guardian will allow you to read through articles for free. After reading, try and summarize information about the article. Answer things like:

• What was the main idea?
• How did the argument develop throughout
• Were there any important statistics?
• What emotions or mood did the writer of the article show? How do you know this? (hint: look for emotive words and other adjectives).

Once you’re in the habit of reading frequently, the English Language exam will suddenly feel a lot easier!

Hire an Online GCSE English Language Tutor

Online tutors can help guide you through exams, giving you the exact formulas, ideas, and structures that you’ll need to succeed. By working with an online tutor from TutorChase, you’ll have access to someone that will walk you through every step of the exam.

Practising with an expert GCSE tutor once a week will radically boost your confidence, as well as your overall grades, helping you pass IGCSE English Language once and for all!

Attempt Every Question

Our final tip for passing the English Language GCSE is to always write something down for every single question. Unlike a subject like maths, you’re scored holistically in English, meaning that even if you get the wrong answer, you’ll get marks for any amount of writing that you can produce on the right topic.

In English Language, you’re never marked down for attempting a question but getting it wrong. Due to this, you should always attempt every question, writing at least a paragraph and trying your best. Especially on the 20+ mark questions towards the end of each paper, this will go a long way towards boosting your grade.

Best of luck in your GCSE English Language exam, we’re sure you’ll smash it!