Anyone's kids doing GCSE English/English lit AQA 'A'

[princessparty]

I'm getting really annoyed with DS whose GCSEs start in about 3 weeks and had done NO revision.
He doesn't know what he is supposed to be doing in his English exams.looking through revision guides it seems as though English is Poems from different cultures and Eng lit
poems pre 1914 and by Duffy et al.Is this right? nad is there a novel/play tested as well, he had been doing Lord of the Flies and merchant of venice, but I don't know whether that is course work only?

Look at AQA'a website. Make sure you get the right tier.
Can his classmates clarify?

DS is studying ISBN 978 0 19 831881 1, if that helps. He is doing LotF and Romeo & Juliet though.

DS is doing English lit & lang, AQA. Just asked what he's supposed to be covering and it's

Of Mice and Men

An Inspector Calls

various poetry in a book called "Best Words".

Hope this helps. If it's any consolation, he hasn't done any lit revision either.

Mumblechum, it sounds like your son is doing AQA spec B, not A.

Coursework should all be done by now and I'd guess you'd have had some letters/calls from the school if he hadn't completed it, so it is just the exam stuff he needs to concentrate on. The first paper is on May 16th, it has two sections, Media and Non-fiction - they get 2 or 3 unseen texts and have to answer questions on the use of language & presentational features (there's loads of stuff on that on Bitesize) and then writing to persuade/argue/advise - he gets to pick one from at least three questions.

Paper 2 is two days later, that's the one with the Poetry from Other Cultures, he'll have to write an analytical essay comparing two of the poems - one of then is named in the question, the other he gets to pick. Then writing again, describe/inform/explain.

Lit is just one paper, with a comparison question this time of 4 poems, pre 1914 plus one of the pairs of writers, so either Heaney/Clarke or Duffy/Armitage, not both - and second section is the novel, that'll be Lord of the Flies if he has been studying it, there are other choices but they are made on a class level.

HTH and best of luck!

coastgirl, what's the difference between Spec A and Spec B?

DS is at grammar and so far all english coursework has been marked A or A*. does that make any difference?

If you don't mind me answering, Mumblechum Spec A and Spec B have nothing to do with grades (unlike Foundation and Higher, which do) it is simply which version of the GCSE the school does. Like using a different exam board, the different options can offer different texts, slightly different exam routes etc. I'm assuming coastgirl is saying that based on your mention of 'Best Words'.

And if you think this is complicated, you should see the new specifications!

Is your son in my all-boys' group, princessparty?! They are so laid back they're horizontal but if it is any reassurance, actually perform really well...

Thankyou very much Balia spot on!
Emilie -I'm just hoping his coursework will prevent him failing.He's got the CGP study/revision books which seem to me pretty good, but of course he does have to open them .........

You can download past papers.
If he doesn't know what he's supposed to be doing then I think he needs to check with his teacher asap.
He really needs to get his head round the whole thing. He can't just rely on the coursework to carry him through.
If he seems confident in the other subjects then I'm afraid you need to get in touch with his English teacher to get clarification. Don't leave it too late. This is important.

I mark AQA spec B Higher tier-that is what your ds is doing-he cant get a decent grade on just coursework believe me.