Can I Get Grade 9 if I Dread English?
This comes from Jinit Bafna. He is an inspiration.
Dear Mr Salles,
I hope you had a great summer! I am sorry that I am slightly late but I’d like to express my warm appreciation for all your help with my GCSEs! Thanks to you and my English teacher, I received double 9s in the subject. In literature paper 2, I even received 96/96 with an overall score of 153!
I’d like to attach my exam paper to this email so that you can have a read as well!
Thank you again and I don’t mind you sharing it with other pupils! I don’t mind being named.
My top tips would be:
A lot of practice
I was predicted a 7 at the end of year 9 in both English language and literature. I, then, attempted numerous past papers - even predicted papers, probably tried every single essay question possible for the literature texts which I even asked my teachers to mark and give me some feedback.
I improved on these feedbacks which made me much better at a subject that I used to seriously dread! Have the right mindset and no one can stop from having the double 9s at the end!
Learn the mark schemes
This way you can confidently deliver what the examiner wants. You must structure your answers according to the assessment objectives and be sure to be aware of the weightings, otherwise it might cost you marks!
Terminology and vocabulary
Ensure that you use top band terminology and vocabulary. For example, the examiner is likely to give better marks to a pupil that analyses the language technique ‘anaphora’ very well, than another student that has only analysed similes even if both have analysed at the same standard.
Being able to accurately identify nuanced techniques will illuminate your answers and make you stand out.
Timing
This is often a problem during English exams. Pupils aren't aware of how much time to spend on each question and thus often run out of time.
Personally, I followed your recommended time slots and order of questions for the language examinations and it worked perfectly for me. I ensured not to go over that time limit leading me nicely towards the end of the paper with plenty of time to double check!
Most importantly, the students need to listen to your advice.
You were a life saver during my examinations and I am sure this is the same for thousands of other pupils. Whatever advice you’ve given us works and my results are a strong evidence to back this up!
Hope this was helpful!
Thank you!
Jinit Bafna
My Thoughts
This is an interesting attitude to grade 9, isn’t it? Imagine not enjoying English, and then telling yourself that didn’t matter, you were going to write loads of practice essays till you nailed it. What drive!
To compensate for the pain, you will clearly improve with every couple of essays, in fact, probably every essay. This improvement is motivational.
Put it another way – it is pretty much a 100% guarantee that you would get grade 9 if you practised the past papers like this.
At the end of that you will have learned some interesting things about yourself:
You know how to guarantee success – practising the right things.
You know you are able to succeed in even subjects you don’t enjoy.
You will be in a position to decide if the reward was worth the effort.
These lessons will serve you for life. It’s so much more than a GCSE, when you look at it this way.
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