GCSE English - What You Need to Know as a Parent

Andy Sammons is author of The Compassionate Teacher and Director of English and Strategic Lead at Kettlethorpe High School. Andy speaks to Tassomai about how the English GCSE subjects are structured and what parents need to know.

The English GCSEs aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but knowing their structure and preparing for them well is key to succeeding in both literature and language. There’s loads that you can do as a parent to help your child engage and prepare for English assessments at home, even if the student isn’t particularly interested in the subject matter, but it all starts with being informed about what is required of them at each stage.

English language

Now I can’t speak for all exam boards, as I only teach the AQA syllabus, but structurally there are a lot of overlaps between different boards and it is always worth having a look at any information they provide on their website so that you can get a feel for what they are after.

English language papers cover both fiction and nonfiction and require students to read and analyse an extract or piece of writing. For the fictional element, students have to comment on the structure of a fictional extract, usually a side of A4, and discuss, for example, how the writer has created the scene, how characters are introduced and developed, or how the setting impacts the rest of the piece. They are also asked to write a short narrative after being given an opening line, which allows them to express their creativity.

For the nonfiction element, students are asked to compare an old and new extract on a similar topic - this might be nursing or schools or entertainment - something where there are similarities and differences between how each era discusses the topic. There will also be a section where they have to unpick a piece of nonfiction writing on something like a leaflet or an advertisement to demonstrate their attention to detail and understanding of persuasive language.

English literature

Coursework no longer contributes to any English assessment, which means there is a lot of content for students to remember when it comes to their two lengthy literature exams at the end of year 11. These two papers will cover: a Shakespeare play, a 19th century text, a modern text, an anthology of poetry and a piece of unseen poetry. 

Parents can help with quizzing their children on what happens in the plot of each text and asking questions about the characters, themes and settings. I recommend, though I admit with some teenagers this could be a struggle, going out for a walk with your child while you quiz them - that way you’re moving, getting fresh air, changing up your working environment and removing the pressure of sitting at a desk, all while still holding them accountable for their own knowledge.

It’s all about getting match ready for the big exams and making sure your child really knows their stuff. If they know the content of the texts they’ve studied and they know the structure of the papers inside out, then they’re perfectly set up for being able to apply the knowledge of the former to the latter - it’s all about getting a good understanding of both textual and procedural knowledge.

Andy Sammons is a contributor to Tassomai’s GCSE Survival Guide, a free 28-page handbook, full of practical tips and expert advice to help families navigate their way through GCSEs. Download your copy of the GCSE Survival Guide here.

How to prepare

Exposure

One of the most useful things a parent can do is to make sure their children are exposed to a range of discussion and nonfiction texts. One I always recommend is reading The Guardian online, largely because it’s free and it has a fantastic editorial section. Exposing young people to good quality nonfiction writing is vital for them to gain a good grasp of the subject and can really help them succeed in all of their exams, not just English. 

If getting them to read for fun is a challenge, documentaries are also brilliant for this. My boy is only small now, but I like to think that one day when he is studying something like Animal Farm for literature, we can watch some good documentaries on George Orwell to help give him that extra boost. There are some brilliant documentaries available on everyone from Shakespeare to Malorie Blackman and they really help to bring subjects to life. Learning together in this way is really good for keeping students interested and engaged.

Being accountable

My second biggest tip for parents is to hold your child accountable for their own knowledge. Get some knowledge organisers or flashcards and make sure they know how each paper is structured. No matter the exam board, these papers are often very formulaic in terms of their structure and how they create their evaluation questions. If they know what the structure is like and what is on each of the papers, they will be more likely to succeed, it’s as simple as that. 

Quiz them on what sort of question they will be asked on Paper 2 or what is in Section A on another paper and ask them to explain to you how they will structure questions in each section. Plus, if they don’t know what’s on the papers by year 11 after their teachers have hammered it home for the last few years then they haven’t been paying enough attention and that is likely indicative of a greater issue in their approach to their learning.

Plan, plan, plan

Students usually have the same teacher for both literature and language, so don’t be shy about asking their teachers for advice on what to cover with them at home. Don’t take a quickly emailed revision guide as enough - ask what is being taught and when so that you can make a comprehensive plan with your child. Listen to when the mocks are, particularly the tension points around PPEs in December and March, and put something like a revision timetable in place to stop the amount of work feeling overwhelming. 

The biggest downside of GCSEs is that there is simply too much to cover - Year 11 kicks you in the backside - and students don’t know where to begin, but this can easily be rectified with good planning. Being able to break subjects down into their component parts makes them much more approachable, even if it’s a subject that your child doesn’t personally like. It’s all about knowing what you need to know.

- Andy Sammons