Odd question I know English specific exceptional reader year 11:kindly knowing answers only please...

OP, there are no grade boundaries until students complete actual exams and these can vary wildly form year to year. Whoever has said she is 'one mark off an 8' is not being accurate or especially helpful.

I, too, am confused by your mention of tiers and combined Lang Lit. You seems quite confused about the qualification and need to clarify this with the school. There are no tiers in English or Lit GCSE

GCSE English does have a habit of putting students off - that is a legacy of political interference I'm afraid. I think her reading material is exceptional - I hope she keeps it up. I taught an exceptional girl recently who got a 9 for Lit and a 6 for Language. Sometimes, outcomes make no sense.

It is also possible her English teacher is a slightly stingy marker and /or the history teachers are very generous!

Yy to @redskyanight's post - I am similar. I was a great reader in my teens, read the Brontes aged 14-15, read Anna Karenina and most Hardy well before I left school. It didn't mean I was at all exceptional - just I liked reading.

I took three language A levels, not English, and maybe that's one reason I still love to read haha. My DD OTOH, while also a big reader, is also amazing at the necessary analysis - did v well at GCSE and then did A level Eng lit and a degree in it too - analysing the meaning of a single word in a text that shows xyz. Blew my mind tbh. It's not the same as reading widely.

I agree tho that reading is a great hobby so do continue to nurture it. Just be wary of the viewpoint that the reading she does makes her very exceptional in some way. You changed your name bc you thought her reading would be so unusual that it would identify her - it really isn't. And that's fine. In fact it's good that so many of our young people are keen readers. Btw I do think that my extensive reading had helped me in my current working role, which is very words-based.

Lots of great advice on here about how to improve her Eng lit grades as well.

I mean this kindly but your daughter isn't owed a 9, whether she's a good reader or not.

My younger son is more naturally academic than his brother and I'd have put money on him getting better grades. In reality, my older son got all 9s because he worked very hard, did extra exam answers which his teacher marked and focused on his exam technique.

His younger brother didn't and got two 8s (one of which was in English as he got 50% on the persuasive writing). Still an excellent score but he was disappointed (he goes to a seriously competitive school). He's full of ideas but some are so random and obscure that they don't hang together, whereas my other son put down obvious points in a structured way.

I helped a bit with his English towards the end - the examiner reports are a really good resource (beyond the mark schemes) and I thought the Mr Bruff YouTube videos were good. The other thing our teachers do is to circulate the exam answers set for homework which were marked as a 9 so they can see what they're aiming for.

But the best advice I can give is to ignore the fact she's a good reader as it's not relevant to performing at the top level for GCSE English. Provided you're an adequate reader, that's enough and the rest is on your writing skills.

My dp is a huge reader and always has been since he was a teenager. Couldn't write an essay if his life depended on it. Has a PhD in Physics.

This

The best way to revise for the tests is to get hold of past papers and the model answers and really try and understand the marking scheme and what they are looking for in their model answers.

absolutely!

My dc was the same. For gcse you have to just write the approved answers and essays. Anything more creative isn't acceptable. If she can do that she will be fine.

I was an avid reader at your daughter's age and had read a wide range of classic texts including similar ones to your DD. I did it primarily for enjoyment and didn't think too deeply about what I'd read.

My 17 year old DD is currently studying English Lang and English Lit A Levels and has applied to university to study English Lit. She is not as widely read as I was at the same age, however her understanding of the texts that she has read is far superior to mine at the same age and she also develops her reading by reading multiple texts from the same author, or from similar authors on related themes. She also reads up on historical contexts relating to what she reads to giver her a broader understanding.

I was a reader; my DD is an English student. They are not the same thing.

(I took maths and science A Levels despite my love of reading - don't force your daughter to do what she doesn't want to do; she should study what she enjoys).

Being a capable reader doesn't able her a capable essay writer. Exam technique is what you're looking for. Yes speak to the teacher

I would suggest looking at past papers and the mark schemes freely available on the Internet

Look at the criteria exactly.

A 7 is an A
Have we lost sight of this?

That said, it is a wonderful, enriching, hobby. One that opens your mind to different worlds and lives and ideas.

I was a bit like this. Have a chat with her English teacher. It could be that she’s not hitting the “basic” stuff and is going straight to degree-level analysis, which is affecting the marks she’s able to be given.

This is what I am trying to (gently) point out. It isn't, it is just a matter of personal taste and hobbies, a generation or two ago, before x box, it was normal, and for all abilities, to read books of this length and weight, if you wanted to and enjoyed it

I think you may be overestimating her abilities, and confusing a hobby (which is lovely) with educational achievement, but it isnt equivalent

She presumably read War and Peace for entertainment, same as so many young primary children read Lord of the Rings, or my generation read Gone with the Wind, or Anna Karenina - its fun, you are not doing work on it.

You can do a lot of work on a batman comic, but reading one and enjoying it does not mean you are capable of answering essay questions on it - same with War and Peace. Which is not particularly weighty in itself, just long. It is similar to Dickins, in that it was written contemporarily, and intended to be accessible and entertaining, not any sort of intelligence test

Being a good reader has nothing to do with exam success. I devoured books and was reading Hardy, Bronte and various other classics etc in my early teens, alongside lighter reading. I even attempted Camus in original language (took me ages!). I wasn’t an “exceptional” reader, just above average for the times, pre the smartphone era.

However I detested English Lit, I hated how it ruined the reading experience for me, every sentence became an analysis instead of immersing myself in the story, which to me is the whole point of reading for pleasure. I suspect it’s the same for a lot of avid readers.

Don’t force your DD to do A level English, her A level choices need to be hers, DC who end up doing their parents’ choices never do as well as they could have done left to their own devices. To get her over the line for English Lit she can have tutoring for exam technique. My DD got an excellent grade despite reading very little, because she clicked on the technique required. Then leave English Lit there and don’t force it beyond GCSE.

I don't know , we were hardly a bunch of child geniuses, just ordinarily bright children who liked reading. I don't think teens shout it from the rooftops but a lot of brighter teens do read decent literature.

But you are right to prioritise nurturing her love of reading above a GCSE grade or two. In the long run it's such a wonderful gift to be well read. I still believe I got as much of my education from reading widely as I did from lessons at school.

I don't know, I read it around then and quite a lot of my peer group at university had also read it at about that age. Uncommon perhaps, but not exceptional

I think your focus on what she is reading is, as many have tried to point out, somewhat of a red herring in terms of exam success.

I think you should just celebrate her reading voraciously and realise that success at English literature GCSE is a different skill set from the skills in enjoying reading literature .

I wouldn't say she was an exceptional reader, at age 15/16 . At age 5/6 then yes.

imho English (both Lang and Lit) seemed to be the most unpredictable in terms of results. DD did GCSEs in the summer and has gone on to do A level lit. It seemed to be all about exam technique and as PP have said the teacher is your best bet. DD had a fabulous teacher and really helped her understand that to achieve higher grades in Lit meant comprehensive analysis. Sadly very little to do with a love of reading.

Sorry, in reference to when I said 'accounts' above I meant TikTok accounts.

Hi OP,

As others have said it's about exam technique. My daughter has barely read a book in her life but got very high marks in Lang and Lit, the highest end of grade 9 in Lit and a distinction in Lang.

She was forensic in understanding how to hit the higher marks and very thorough in her revision. Your DDs teacher is your first port of call for exam technique. After GCSEs last year quite a few Eng Lit / Lang students who got high marks explained on their accounts how they did it, so broke down how to analyse a quote etc - it may be helpful? Mr Salles on YouTube was a must for revision and he also taught my daughter a number of things she hadn't covered in class.

Maybe she loves reading but doesn’t enjoy dissecting texts?