English GCSE struggle

Yes! A thicker ink flow than a biro is often more comfortable to write with and they tend to be nicer to hold.
Added bonus for many of mine is it makes handwriting look less spidery too.
For right handers I'm a big fan of fountain pens. Used to use them for my lectures at uni!

My daughter also struggled with English GCSE. She found these podcasts (link below) incredibly helpful - it’s two teachers and in each episode they pick a likely essay question and go through how to structure it, what points you could make, how you could reuse these points for other questions etc. It’s not at all dry - we listened to them together in the car which helped as I could then discuss it with her. The teachers on the podcast are really passionate. I even listened to some of the ones on Macbeth just for fun (she did Romeo and Juliet!).

Also have a look at the examiners reports, as they give you a good insight into what they’re looking for, e.g. they’re not expecting students to memorise lots of quotes.

My daughter went from a low 5 in the mock to a 8 (v close to a 9), mainly thanks to the podcast. Here’s the link:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/227488/subscribe

I don't have a source but I thought it was because certain gel pens are heat erasable. With such huge implications if the heat of scanner deletes the writing, they can't take any risk no matter how remote.

Those friction deletable inks are bizarrely effective.

Hi OP. Obviously it might not be the case for your daughter, but my Yr 11 son used to be in lots of pain from writing and your story reminded me of exactly how he used to be. It turned out he's hypermobile, and just holding a pen was so much harder for him than other people. It's very common. He now uses a laptop in lessons and exams and his grades have improved drastically as a result. Just thought I'd mention it incase your daughter is the same as it often goes undetected at school.

All papers are scanned. Some inks scan really badly

Thank you, I was completely unaware of that! I photocopy gel pen frequently, so I'm not sure why it wouldn't scan. Odd.

@Zucchero I think the issue is the gel ink doesn't cope well with being scanned or something (?)

@Zucchero it's in the JCQ information for candidates

www.jcq.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/IFC-Written_Examinations_2023_FINAL.pdf

Do you have a source for this? I've not heard before. Thanks.

Hi OP,
Taking DD to the GP is a good start. If she has tendonitis or some other issue, you can approach the school/SEN department about alternatives like using a laptop to type her longer answers or, if her issue is too severe for that, having a scribe to write her answers as she dictates them. In order to use any of these options in an exam, she'll need to have used them frequently in school so that they become her 'normal way of working'. The SEN department should be able to navigate the process to make this happen. You might need to be VERY proactive. I didn't see if she's yr10 or yr11 - if yr11, you'll really need to get your skates on.
Also, it might be worth a few tutoring sessions. We used Spires when DD was in yr11 and it brought up her mark very effectively. At a minimum it's guided revision so should be effective. As others have said, it's mainly what you write not how much - you do need to answer the question directly and concisely

My DD with dyspraxia uses Uniball Air pens. They seem to flow really nicely.

Bookmarking this thread for tips as my DD is the same. Complains that her hand hurts and her teacher says she doesn't write enough for English. She's in year 10 but it's been an issue for a while now. Don't know what level she's at currently but at the end of year 9 she was working quite a bit below average against the cohort.
Her brother is in year 11 and predicted an 8 in Eng Lit. He likes the content and set texts and he loves reading which his teacher said was a big positive and he can tell when kids are readers. DD on the other hand doesn't like fiction, so she's not that into analysing these set texts and finds it a chore.

On the pen thing - just don't get her onto gel pens. They can't be used in the actual GCSEs

Absolutely!!
so many students writing so hard you can feel it through the page - pens should glide across.
the lit2 exam is the longest gcse though at 2 1/4 hours, and does require some stamina from
students who aren’t used to writing for more than 15-20 minutes. Like any muscle!
if this is genuine and not an expression of masked perfectionism, then some hand warm ups and exercise; squeezing a stress ball type
stuff as well as building writing stamina

I have said this before, Ds went from a 4 in November mocks to an 8 for Lit in the actual GCSEs.

What changed? We bought Mr Salles books for Lit specifically the books he was studying. He learned the books/play so he could literally walk through, if they asked about masculinity in Romeo and Juliet, Ds could mentally walk through the book to find examples. These books and the youtube channel contain different examples of grade answers including grade 9s. The books are great but it depends how much time she has to dedicate to lit. Ds hated lit but was basically 8s/9s across the board for everything except English lit and lang so we could concentrate on those at home and he had a really good attitude to working at it. I helped a lot with guidance from his amazing year 11 teacher. Ds was a grade 9 in History so we knew he could format a structured argument.

He knew what he was going to write before he went into the exam for the poems, again all learned from Mr Salles youtube about which quotes to use and why. Opening, ending, structure, form, language. Ds had prepared openers at a level 6. He also practised reading new poems and applying the same guide. The best thing to understand for your DD is that everything she is reading is fiction, deliberately crafted, specifically chosen words to make the audience feel a certain way. She needs to reference that.

For yourself, I am assuming the exam board is AQA, look at a past paper and the corresponding mark scheme, all available online. They have to hit Assessment Objectives (AOs) listed in the mark scheme and your DD will know about these because they should have done them to death in school. Then it is about levels, the top being level 6. The mark scheme literally lists out a guide telling you what they are looking for. Look into that so you can assist your DD.

Can you afford a few sessions with a tutor? If it is exam technique more than knowledge/ability that might sort it?

In the Private school where I worked several kids were allowed to use a laptop in exams for exactly this reason. I didn’t know how they wangled it.

This was my DD last year. She managed to get a 6 in the end but she’d be put off the subject so much. She hated her teacher and she didn’t revise for it until the day before. She never finished a paper. She had 8/9 in everything else. I wouldn’t worry about it. Some subjects don’t gel with children and I think it’s best to focus on their strengths.

Has she tried a different pen? I give my students more inky pens (and many of them find they get on well with fountain pens)

English lit these days is a tedious memory test. I have been teaching it for 25 years and it has become frustrating for teachers as we just have to teach to the test as there is so much content. English is not usually given enough time to complete both GCSEs

I'd ask school if she could try (or re-try) a paper at home, but type it, and get it marked.
Do it under exam conditions - ie timed, and no phone. See if it's a hand thing, or an exam technique thing.

English lit has nothing to do with liking reading.

You need to learn the play/books/poetry selection you have been given and be able to analyse it.

Higher grades come from more complex analysis not writing more.

Compared to English language it's easy to game - there are only a few common essay topics for each book/play and you need to memorise quotes that help you write those essays.

I’m on a GCSE thread on Reddit and students that got 9’s highly recommended Mr Salles teaches English.

he has a channel on You Tube and also has published books with model answers.

maybe she can have a look at those if the school isn’t helping.