Review of Summer 2019 Eduqas GCSE English Literature assessment
In this blog Julia Harrison, the subject officer for GCSE English Literature, looks at some of the key points made in the principal examiners’ reports this year. The full reports may be found here. They’re well worth a look, particularly if you’re looking for comments on specific texts.
This summer’s exams were generally well received by students and their teachers. Examiners noted a number of aspects which often distinguished better responses, and which therefore it might be worthwhile looking at in class over the coming year.
Tracking
As in the reading section of GCSE English Language, tracking is an important skill. Not only does it often make for a more coherent response, it also allows candidates to show an understanding of structure and narrative direction. In essay responses and the source-based question, closely tracking themes and relationships across the whole text, where required by the question, is vital; similarly, it makes a lot of sense to work through the Shakespeare extract from beginning to end.
Key points and contrasts
Candidates who looked at important turning points and key contrasts and their effects in their essays often did well. It would be a good idea, therefore, to identify such points in the texts as candidates prepare for the exam. It’s important too, though, for them to practise sensible selection of such aspects in response to specific questions. Nor is this a substitute for study of the whole text!
Context
There was much better interweaving of relevant contextual detail this year. It’s important to remember that context covers a range of aspects – literary, social, historical – and consideration of it should always follow from a consideration of the text, not the other way round. In other words, it’s not a bolt-on. Treating it as such not only does not gain marks, it also wastes valuable time.
Using the extract in source-based questions
The extracts were used purposefully when responding to the Component 2 source-based questions, with key details highlighted to provide useful AO2 comments. When answering such questions, the extract should be used to contribute to an answer based on the wider text. It is not necessary – and is in fact unhelpful – to work through the whole piece. Appropriate selection is key.
Key points of comparison were highlighted in the poetry responses
Similarly, in the poetry questions where comparison is required, the candidate needs to select aspects of comparison carefully, ensuring that they are relevant and appropriate.
There were some areas where some candidates’ performance would have been improved by a closer focus:
Read the whole play and refer to it where appropriate
Candidates should ensure they cover the whole Shakespeare play where appropriate. Some seemed to have read only selected scenes, or never to have reached the end. Clearly there are key scenes, but these will vary in appropriateness by question and if candidates do not study the whole play, they will inevitably be disadvantaged.
“Question spotting” rarely works!
Similarly candidates should not try to predict the questions that will come up. This failing was seen mostly in relation to the set poetry anthology. They need to revise the whole anthology thoroughly, and be familiar with all the poems. Otherwise comparison can become forced and extremely unhelpful.
Avoid feature spotting
As we have said many times before, hunting for features is not a good approach. The text must always be a starting point. Literary terminology can be useful, but it should be a means to an end – discussing the text in an informed and succinct way – rather than an end in itself. Similarly over analysis of vocabulary, with candidates getting bogged down in terminology, distracts rather than enhances. There is no need to identify every word class, and terminology that is wrong is particularly unhelpful.
Proof read!
As in English language, setting aside a few minutes to proof read writing is a good idea. Candidates should be aware of the spelling and grammatical features that cause them difficulty and be particularly attentive to ensure that they have used them correctly. They should also know how to spell the names of characters and key concepts related to their chosen texts.
I hope that you have found this blog useful. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch on gcseenglish@eduqas.co.uk .
