English GCSE

[cuggles]

Hello, I am currently on a career break having taught secondary for years. I am tutoring my cousin in GCSE maths and English (with English being one of my actual subjects (although only taught it at KS3). Today at Parents Evening his mum was told that to get his Language grade he has to pass Literature as well as it is a combined subject. I have never heard of this as what with Gold Standard etc I have always understood them to be separate and certainly when I last taught (admittedly 4 years ago) they were separate. Also he took Language in Nov so surely as he didn't sit Literature it is a stand alone qualification? I am pretty sure he is doing AQA which doesn't seem to have a "combined" spec?? Can anyone shed light on this as he is a C/D borderline (got a D in Nov) and I am focusing on Lang as that is the one he needs for his next stage. Thanks all.

[cuggles]

bump...please!

[ravenAK]

No, he has to sit the Lit for it to count towards the English Baccalaureate (for him) & the performance measures (for the school).

He doesn't need to actually pass it for his Eng Lang (4705) to count as a standalone qualification.

AQA does have a combined English GCSE (4700) - but if your cousin has been entered for the separate GCSEs, see above...

I'm fairly sure I'm right about this (secondary English teacher & GCSE Eng Lit examiner), but I'd suggest his mum double checks with school.

Link here: www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/english#bm-GCSE

[cuggles]

Thanks Raven...you are a star