AQA 9-1 English Language Paper 1 Thread - Tuesday 6th June 2017

I'm personally fairly nervous- despite not doing too badly in my exams. Out of the mocks I have done, my scores were as follows:

First Mocks:
Paper 1: 66 marks
Paper 2: 67 marks
Total: 133 marks

Second Mocks:
Paper 1: 63 marks
Paper 2: 70 marks
Total: 133 marks

Third Mocks:
Paper 1: 77 marks
Paper 2: 71 marks
Total: 148 marks

I think I'll be looking at 7 - 8 in my grades...

If you could do similar to the third mock, I would say you'd be getting an 8.

Hopefully! I'm definitely looking for 70+ on both. For the record, Mock 1 was in December 2016; Mock 2 was in March 2017; and Mock 3 was in May 2017.

Does anyone have access to the Paper 1 Mock 2 papers? The highest I have gotten for the Paper 1's is 34 so I'm really worried.

Do you know specifically where you're losing marks - Section A or B? Or is there anything, in particular, you're needing help on?

Before sitting the exam, here's my estimates;

1 - 13
2 - 24
3 - 39
4 - 66
5 - 82
6 - 102
7 - 121
8 - 139
9 - 148

Thoughts?

I struggle with both Section A and B, but I feel like Section B is my weakest cause my teacher says my answers lack subject terminology and the writer's purpose for the certain effect. For Section B my teacher says I should plan my answers but I already struggle with timings and barely had enough time to finish my answers let alone plan.

I got 63 and 65 in my mocks and I got a 6 soo

I got 63 and 65 in my mocks and I got a 6 soo

Is that 65 on paper 2? I would have thought that would have been a 7

plus, my teacher said she thinks that the grade boundaries were low so we probably would have gotten lower grades than what we were given

Blimey - do you know where those boundaries came from?

On the old spec, 71% was an A grade, therefore I can't see how 78% is a 6(B), seeing as new spec is meant to be harder.

I'd say Section B is the easier place to pick up more marks. You should leave 45 minutes and around about for Section B. Do you usually choose the narrative or descriptive option?

For narrative, it doesn't have to be of huge length. I got 30/40 in a mock doing just 2 pages. For the narrative, it can be useful to have ideas prepared that you can adapt around a question.

i.e. question about scary experience - airport, confined spaces etc for example

your predictions seem quite high tbh i'm thinking 132 for an 8?

They're just my best estimates at the current stage. Just seen very similar boundaries here which would suggest you would need 136 for a grade 8.
9 - 150
8 - 136
7 - 118
6 - 100
5- 86

Very similar to my predictions, although some schools are predicting them miles higher. Just have to wait and see...

I usually choose the descriptive option as I find it difficult to come up with ideas under pressure for a narrative story. Do you think I should start from the back of the exam paper from Question 5 then Question 1-4 for timing? I feel like I overdo Section A and then neglect Section B due to lack of time. Do you mean 2 pages as in 2 whole pages or 2 sides? I feel like I would take up a whole hour writing 2 pages of solid description.

You just need to know:
>Timings for each questions, which AO's you should use, how many points, what the question asks of you... etc (I can share my notes but you can just watch Mr Bruff on youtube)

Also I dont really recommend starting from the back, they've been put in that order for a reason and section b will be related to section a. However if thats what works for you go ahead.

I got a 7 in my mock.