Course Outline

Aim

The aim of the course is to combine instruction in examination skills and techniques with practice and feedback on how the candidate's performance can be improved. The course is suitable for students entered for the Higher Tier (Grades A*-D) of the GCSE and IGCSE specifications devised by the main examining boards.

Key Topics Covered

An initial timed assessment of students' responses to reading and writing questions will identify strengths and weaknesses.

The course will concentrate on the two main areas to be examined for English. (It will not be possible to offer tuition for individual literary texts or anthologies). However, pupils who will be tackling poetry questions in an English Language paper can be set tasks on those poems. This will apply, for example, to AQA (A) candidates.

1. Reading and response to media*/non fiction texts. This is to evaluate how the candidate has understood aspects of the text such as style, content and meaning.

* ‘media texts’ could be, for example: adverts, magazine articles, brochures or web pages

2. Writing tasks. These test the candidate’s ability to analyse, review, summarise, comment or argue, persuade, advise – perhaps in the form of a letter, speech or newspaper article – and transform a passage into another genre

Students will consider the appropriate style and presentation to adopt in relation to audience and purpose. In addition, students will write responses to questions in timed conditions, as well as using them as a basis for discussion with the tutor.

Student/tutor interaction is an important part of the course. Students are encouraged to discuss topics and questions in considerable detail, and will be given one-to-one feedback on all the work they complete. They will also be given additional written work for evening homework during the course, as well as guidance on how best to continue their revision programme leading up to the examination.

Students will have ample opportunity to tackle past papers and sample papers.

N.B: Pupils whose teachers have given them Pre-Release material should bring their own copies and any notes with them, as these will contain useful annotations and comments. Equally, pupils tackling poetry questions on an English Language paper should bring their poetry anthologies with them.