How the Papers Work

The two papers

First Language English is assessed by two written papers of two hours each. They carry 80 marks apiece and contribute equally to the grade. Nothing else counts.

Equal weight, opposite emphasis

The symmetry is deliberate. Paper 1 gives candidates three texts and asks them to prove they have understood and analysed them. Paper 2 gives candidates far less to read and asks them to produce writing of their own. Both are worth exactly half.

What separates them is the assessment objective weighting. Paper 1 awards four fifths of its marks for reading. Paper 2 awards four fifths for writing. A candidate strong in one and weak in the other cannot hide: each weakness is exposed by a full half of the qualification.

What sits on the desk

Both papers supply their texts on a separate insert, and dictionaries are not permitted in either. In Paper 1 the three texts run to roughly 1400 words in total, and roughly fifteen minutes should be spent reading them before a single answer is written. In Paper 2 the stimulus is shorter — 550 to 650 words across one or two texts — because the writing, not the reading, is the point.

Paper 1 · Questions 1 and 2

Paper 1 asks four compulsory questions, each worth 20 marks. Question 1 addresses Text A; Question 2 addresses Text B; Questions 3 and 4 both address Text C.

Question 1 — Comprehension · 20 marks

A series of sub-questions on Text A, testing understanding of both explicit and implicit meaning. From 2027 this question carries the full range of reading objectives: R1, R2, R3, R4 and R5. It is no longer a warm-up — a comprehension answer may now be asked to analyse, to evaluate, or to comment on how the writer achieves an effect.

Question 2 — Summary · 20 marks

Note the shape of 2(a): ten marks are for reading — did you select the right ideas? — and five are for writing — did you express them economically, in continuous prose, in your own words? Copying from the text forfeits both.

Paper 1 · Questions 3 and 4

Questions 3 and 4 both work on Text C. The first asks what the writer did; the second asks the candidate to do something with it.

Question 3 — Short answers and language · 20 marks

Two halves, ten marks each. The short-answer half tests understanding of particular words and phrases in context. The language half asks for about 200–250 words analysing how the writer uses language to convey meaning and create effect. Both halves assess R1, R2 and R4. Words the question wants you to attend to are now printed in bold, and a sub-question asking you to show understanding of an identified word carries 2 marks — enough to require a real explanation, not a synonym.

Question 4 — Extended response to reading · 20 marks

A piece of writing of about 250–300 words, in a form the question specifies, drawing on Text C. The marks divide cleanly: 10 for reading (R1, R2, R3, R5) — did you use the text, develop its ideas, and support what you claim? — and 10 for writing (W1, W2, W3, W4) — did you sound like the person the question asked you to be? The six permitted text types are letter, report, journal, speech, interview and article. An answer written in the wrong form has already lost its register marks before the examiner reaches the second paragraph.

Paper 2 · Sections A and B

Paper 2 asks two questions, one from each section, and both are worth 40 marks. Section A is compulsory. Section B offers a choice of four titles.

Section A — Directed Writing · 40 marks

Based on one or two texts totalling 550–650 words. The task now comes in two parts.

Section B — Composition · 40 marks

Four titles are offered: two descriptive and two narrative. One is chosen, and about 350–450 words are written. Every mark is a writing mark — W1 to W5. There is no text to lean on and no reading credit to collect. The marks divide internally into content and structure on one side and style and accuracy on the other. A vivid piece that is carelessly punctuated and a correct piece that is inert both land in the middle band; the top band requires both at once.

The ten objectives

Ten objectives. Five for reading, five for writing. Every mark in the qualification is one of these, and the question always tells you which.

AO1 · Reading

AO2 · Writing

The eleven command words

The command word is the instruction. Read it first, and let it dictate the shape of the answer before a single idea is chosen.

What changed for 2027

The four reading skills survive the revision intact. They were renumbered, re-marked and redistributed — but a candidate who can comprehend, summarise, analyse language and respond in form is prepared for either paper.

Paper 1 · the same skills, redealt

Paper 2 · one genuinely new demand

If a single line summarises the revision, it is this: the new paper asks candidates to judge as well as to understand. Analysis of a writer's technique has moved into places it never previously reached, and the command-word list has grown to match.