GCSE English Literature. Is it too late?

[Yeovalley]

I’m feeling terrible. I’ve only just realised that DD is just not doing well in English literature. She knows the plays but when you ask her to write about them I really don’t think her answers are good enough when you compare them with model answers.
I was wondering about trying to get a tutor a couple of times a week for these last few weeks but I don’t know if it’s too late now to sort it out.
we’ve been watching mr salles on YouTube. He’s brilliant but there’s so much information in his videos it’s overwhelming.
Really don’t know what to do.

Sometimes the work done in the last few weeks can make a big difference. Get a tutor if you can and if your daughter wants to try to improve her answers. If your daughter clicks with the tutor, it could mean the difference in a grade or two. She needs to learn to present structured facts without any waffle. The fact that she knows the material would indicate that her issue is in exam technique.

I literally just posted about this - see here - these cards have honestly really helped my son. They are available at www.flipscocards.com - cheap and arrive very quickly.

At this stage it's probably about honing technique to maximise marks (forget about perfect answers). So a tutor could help with this. Mr Bruff also good to look at on YouTube.

What support are the school providing? It'd expect them to be all over a student who wasn't on track.

I'd also strongly suggest being pragmatic - do they need a particular English Lit grade for whatever they want to do next? This will inform how much it should become a focus versus work in other subjects.

What is her target grade OP? And what sort of grade is she working at?

If she is aiming for a 4 or a 5 then her focus would be somewhat different than if she were hoping for an 8 IYSWIM.

What is she planning to do post-16? Does she need a strong Eng Lit grade for that, or will a pass be enough?

The answers to these questions would direct my suggestions. But yy a tutor should be able to help with exam technique, even for these last few weeks.

She’d really like to get a grade 6. Her target is a 6 but I think she’s probably working at a grade 4.
Im not sure what I’m doing myself but have been looking up model answers and she doesn’t seem near those.

OK, not sure where the model answers you are looking at are, but remember that unless they are examples of actual work by students ("this answer would be marked at 21/30" - that kind of thing) then they may well be examples of a top-quality grade 9/max mark answer. so if her target (and thus her ability?) is a 6 and she is working at a 4, she won't be close to them.

Look at how she can improve - is she making a series of points about the theme and linking them to the text? Is she able to use short quotes to support? Can she include some context?

Look at the possible themes and try to think of what points would be relevant. Which texts is she doing?

If she's working at a solid 4 (i.e. no chance she might drop below on a bad day), then I'd personally consider carefully how much she wants to focus on English Lit, especially if means time taken away for other subjects. Targets are just made up numbers.

(Assuming she doesn't need a 6 for future study/work/whatever).

That's not to say that exam technique work isn't worthwhile, of course!

Thanks @clary that’s a very good point,
I probably have been looking at grade 9 answers.
She’s working on all the points you’ve stated above and trying to include context. She knows what each character symbolises etc.
She’s doing an inspector calls, Macbeth, a Christmas carol and conflict poetry.

Hi - it's difficult as the exams are just around the corner. However, I think a tutor could help just with structuring the answers. Maybe focus on some past papers? My son was on 3's before and we started sessions with an English tutor who worked wonders. He's now looking at two 5´s or 6´s. If you want I can pass you his details? Send me a DM.