Paper Structure and Timing
You've got 1 hour and 45 minutes to tackle two completely different sections. Section A gives you a 20th-century literature extract (60-100 lines) with 5 questions worth 40 marks - spend exactly 1 hour here. Section B asks for creative writing (a story or narrative) that's 2-3 pages long, also worth 40 marks in just 45 minutes.
The key assessment objectives you'll be marked on include AO1 (finding explicit and implicit information), AO2 (analysing language and structure), and AO4 (evaluating texts critically). For creative writing, AO5 focuses on your tone and style, whilst AO6 looks at your vocabulary, sentence structures, and technical accuracy.
Time management is absolutely crucial - stick to your allocated times religiously. Having a pre-planned story ready for Section B will save you precious minutes that you can spend on actually writing rather than thinking up ideas.
Top Tip: Question 1 always asks you to list things from the extract - write complete sentences, not single words, as this shows you understand the context properly.
