English language gcse

[Hairyfairy01]

Ds is in year 11 and is on the borderline for a c/d grade for English language. He did English literature last year and got a d (4 marks off a c). I can't afford a tutor and they don't really exist in this part of the UK anyway. Does anyone have any good resources that they can recommend? Revision books, apps, anything really.

Sorry- can I check whether he's at a private school and studying IGCSE? Or do you mean the 3/4 boundary?

Because.....why on earth did he do a GCSE early if he only got a D in it? That's really weird, against OfSted advice, utterly pointless, and won't benefit him?

Which exam board and specification?

There are some websites. I will ask my dd who went on to do English language a-level. What’s the exam board?

Sorry OP you've confused me, what score did he get as it's numbers not letters 'these days'

Is this Wales? What exam board? Educas?

I think Wales is A-E.

I think everyone here is assuming you are in Wales as they have letter grades, England has number grades.

Free materials - lots of videos on YouTube from teachers, so you need to know what exam board they are using to find one tailored to it. Also, if he has sat any past papers and you can access them bring up the mark scheme for that paper, lots of past papers are online as well as the corresponding mark scheme. Go through each question, he works out the answer and then compare that to the mark scheme to see what they are looking for. Once he can see what they want it should be easier for him.

I am assuming he will be sitting the GCSE English Lit this summer to bring it up to a pass. So the same applies to that, YouTube and past papers and mark schemes. Also examiner's reports, again, should be online.

If he has to write a narrative for English lang he can prepare them in advance, well, enough of a generic story line that can be adapted to fit the titles. That way he already has good vocabulary choices and correct spelling. The bare bones for character descriptions or locations, weather etc.

Sorry, never realised there was such a difference. Yes, in wales, WJEC exam board I believe. Everyone in his state school does English lit at the end of year 10 and English language at the end of year 11.

CGP does good revision guides.

Thank you dorestatua, that all really useful.

DS is also in year 11 Wales and his school did it the other way round - language in year 10 and lit year 11. We are currently looking at an English tutor for our other DS in year 8 and it's been suggested that some of the teachers in his school offer private tutoring -might that be an option?
If tutoring not an option I don't know of any online resources - DS practised with past papers, but I would say get him to practise his speech for the oral with you - knowing it off pat really helped DS. His friend resat the English lang last week - was that not an option for your DS with lit?

@Hairyfairy01 right so the vast majority of English exams for England are AQA, my children sat Educas (a part of WJEC) but different and there is far less available however, these links should be helpful. WJEC has a completely different format to other exam boards.

The first is all the past papers, each one has a corresponding mark scheme and are divided down into series ie the year they were sat. Start with 2017 and the summer ones, as there are both summer and autumn ones. As I said, open one up the paper and on another tab or laptop have the mark scheme ready to look at. It becomes fairly apparent as to what they are looking for. For me I would work through the first paper with him, guide him through it, then see how well he does with the next paper. It was as much a learning curve for me as it was for Ds.

www.wjec.co.uk/qualifications/english-language-gcse/#tab_pastpapers

The second is by BPC English, we used them for the Educas exams, this set here is for your WJEC. Ploughing through work books can be soul destroying, they are incredibly helpful but watching videos of someone pointing out exactly what examiners are looking for is easier to digest. This is the playlist for all component parts of the exam. Good luck, post back on MN for any other advice or help.

User name change, not sure why it worked now but not for the above post. But I am JoJo as well as Dorestatua.

Mr Brough you tube videos are great.
they need to go through the list of ‘devices’ required by that exam board and write a few out. They are things like similes, metaphors, personifications etc.

As a previous poster advised, have a look at past papers and see what they need to include for your board and get him to learn some.