english

how do pass

This is very vague but here is a comment I found on r/GCSE by u/GUS-DA-BUS :
Link: https://www.reddit.com/r/GCSE/comments/kc6thj/how_to_pass_english/

"Time management:

My teachers advised that you have to a strict as possible managing time with each question. This one was the most comfortable for me but heneral rule of thumb is to interpret the marks per question into minutes and rounding it up to the nearest 5:

Give yourself 5 minutes to read the extract

So, 5 minutes for Q1, 10 minutes for Q2, 15 minutes for Q3 (because this is discussion of structure and an analytical skill specific to Paper 1) 25 minutes for Q4.

If you think you can even knock off 5 minutes from Q3 or 4 then it allows you to preserve a following five for annotation as you answer each question/some breathing space as you work through the paper. Basically just spare time you can mess around with/distribute throughout the first 4 questions.

Writing Fast:

Use light weight pen, smooth rollerball one if possible (avoid attaching cap at the end)

Train your fingers and hand muscles by exercise (basically practise practise practise). You could do this using random plot generator or word vomit: write whatever comes to your head regardless if it makes sense or not. You could even combine the two lol.

Get a good grip with a sensible amount pf pressure, avoid tensing up since you don't want to waste your energy for a 1hr 45 exam. Not relaxing your hand from the start of the paper slows you down eventually and makes your handwriting become sucky towards the end of the paper; keeping your hand loose and relaxed helps maintain stamina and preserves handwriting quality

Increase the size of your handwriting if necessary. In the case of this exam, quality = quantity since the examiner will make an impression on you depending on how many paragraphs you write per question. As long as it’s legible, they don’t care, they just scan the whole paper for keywords, they’ve got thousands of papers to mark lol.

Be concise - this is actually on the mark scheme and it means to write efficiently and fluently. For instead of writing “The quote is utilises imagery. The imagery makes the reader visualise a black dog barking loudly at the sun. This suggest that the dog is excited. It’s their natural instinct to bark” You should write “The writer uses imagery in lines 1-3 to make us as readers visualise a dog barking due to its excitement and natural instinct”.

I’m in the exact situation as you as I completely dropped Q3 in my mock and had no experience with Q5. I used to write slow in my english exams but using these tips, I saw improvement. As for Q5, the only piece of advise I can give is to always have plan and work of it, use a flash back and a variety of writing techniques (the same types that we analyse). Hope these helped in some way!"