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Grade 9 GCSE english language and literature advice

I did my GCSE this year (new spec) and got a grade 9 in both english gcses so was hoping to share my advice and tips on how I went from a grade 2 in yr 10 to grade 9 as its not a very straight forward subject to revise for.

I'm happy to answer any questions and share any documents I used to your email as I can't seem to upload them here:smile:
(edited 5 years ago)

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Original post by bhavyab02
I did my GCSE this year (new spec) and got a grade 9 in both english gcses so was hoping to share my advice and tips on how I went from a grade 2 in yr 10 to grade 9 as its not a very straight forward subject to revise for.

I'm happy to answer any questions and share any documents I used:smile:


hello! i have poetry mock in a couple of weeks and was wondering how you structured your paragraphs to compare the series of poems ?
Reply 2
Original post by bhavyab02
I did my GCSE this year (new spec) and got a grade 9 in both english gcses so was hoping to share my advice and tips on how I went from a grade 2 in yr 10 to grade 9 as its not a very straight forward subject to revise for.

I'm happy to answer any questions and share any documents I used:smile:

Hey im currently working at a grade 5/6 and i would really like to achieve a grade 9 for the actual thing. IVe tried a lot of things including mr bruff ut it just doent work and a lot of people that r good at english seem like they r naturally good so they cant give advice. however if u truly jumped than big of a gap from a 2 to a 9 first off congrats and econd of all can u jest tell me EVERYTHING u did. i know it seems like a big ask but anything is appreciated really in particular exam technique for answeering questions. id be grateful for any recources u may wanna dm or post here. oh and im doing aqa btw
Reply 3
Original post by bhavyab02
I did my GCSE this year (new spec) and got a grade 9 in both english gcses so was hoping to share my advice and tips on how I went from a grade 2 in yr 10 to grade 9 as its not a very straight forward subject to revise for.

I'm happy to answer any questions and share any documents I used:smile:


Hey im currently working at a grade 5/6 and i would really like to achieve a grade 9 for the actual thing. IVe tried a lot of things including mr bruff ut it just doent work and a lot of people that r good at english seem like they r naturally good so they cant give advice. however if u truly jumped than big of a gap from a 2 to a 9 first off congrats and econd of all can u jest tell me EVERYTHING u did. i know it seems like a big ask but anything is appreciated really in particular exam technique for answeering questions. id be grateful for any recources u may wanna dm or post here. oh and im doing aqa btw
Reply 4
Original post by samisikander
hello! i have poetry mock in a couple of weeks and was wondering how you structured your paragraphs to compare the series of poems ?

I did AQA so hope that helps.
Have you got detailed notes on each of the poems?
if not use mr bruff's poem videoes and the bicester school poetry guide to get enough for each line/word (unique ones) and structure (this is very important. Include points you got from class disscussions too. Also don't limit yourself to just one point per line or word make multiple ones by saying 'alternatively it could also be' or 'however other may see this as'.


I used an acronym from school called MITSL: meaning,imagery,tone,structure,language
so from the notes made on each poem shortlist the points so that you pick the best 3 ideas that fits for each of the mitsl topics. Then as you practise more poetry essays later on you can just memorise these points so new ones need to be made on the spot.
Original post by samisikander
hello! i have poetry mock in a couple of weeks and was wondering how you structured your paragraphs to compare the series of poems ?
Please tag me with your responses
Original post by bhavyab02
I did AQA so hope that helps.
Have you got detailed notes on each of the poems?
if not use mr bruff's poem videoes and the bicester school poetry guide to get enough for each line/word (unique ones) and structure (this is very important. Include points you got from class disscussions too. Also don't limit yourself to just one point per line or word make multiple ones by saying 'alternatively it could also be' or 'however other may see this as'.


I used an acronym from school called MITSL: meaning,imagery,tone,structure,language
so from the notes made on each poem shortlist the points so that you pick the best 3 ideas that fits for each of the mitsl topics. Then as you practise more poetry essays later on you can just memorise these points so new ones need to be made on the spot.


oh yes my teacher made our class some mitsl sheet things to help us! im in top set so want to come out with at least a 6 in lit and a 7 in lang as i want to take it on as an a level
Original post by Tomshaw89
Please tag me with your responses


hi im new to this so im not sure what you mean
Original post by samisikander
hi im new to this so im not sure what you mean


You just did it then haha
Reply 9
Original post by samisikander
oh yes my teacher made our class some mitsl sheet things to help us! im in top set so want to come out with at least a 6 in lit and a 7 in lang as i want to take it on as an a level

dm if you need resources
What are your methods for revising English Language because last June for our year 10 mocks I got a grade 3
I have my mocks tommorrow and am struggling in English do you have any advice x
Reply 12
Original post by Tanzil Rahman
What are your methods for revising English Language because last June for our year 10 mocks I got aone

one of the main things was to find as many fiction and non fiction sources from lessons,teachers and loads online. Then I would just do all the questions you're asked depending on the source cos te questions are obv always the same. make sure to do all of the questions under timed conditions all the time. I also found sample papers made by teachers onbline so I hadn't done them before. I can email you these if you want.

For question 5 AQA, finding a variety of pictures from google and writing a description or story although mine were mostly a mix of both. remember that you won't alwsys get a setting as a picture, for my real thing I had a close up of an old man.
Reply 13
Original post by Lucymj02
I have my mocks tommorrow and am struggling in English do you have any advice x

work out your timings and stick to them. if your doing aqa then around 2 mins for q1,10 mins for q2 and q3, 20 mins for q4 and 50 mins - 1hr for q5. to boost your q5, I had a whole list of words and descriptive phrases that i learnt for both paper 1 and 2 which i could use in any scenario so I didin't waste time tryoing to come up with them then. You can do this by looking at examplar answers, a friend's answer and your own answers from the past that got you credit.
Nice. I would just like to know about your experience. What were your prescribed texts for literature, and did you get any of your raw marks for the two subjects? Thanks in advance.
Reply 15
I don’t know how to write :/ I can’t analyse or make points at all cannot get above 6 marks in a 30 mark literature question and I’m lucky to get a grade 3 in language. pleaseeeee help I’d love to see a 6 next summer
Hi. I'm working at a grade 7/8 but I don't know how to push myself that bit further and get a 9? Do you have any advice?
Hi can you pm with structures for both English lit especially and just advise I was working at a 4 in Lang and got a 6+ in mock we just did I want a 7/8 now I just don’t know how and In lit I would like a 7 please help !
Hi ,Could you pls send any documents that you used to get a grade 9?WELL DONE for getting a GRADE 9 from a grade 2 That is so impressive!!!
Hi I’m in year 10. My target is a grade 7 but I consistently end up with grade 5s in my exams for english literature. I could really use your help.

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