As the exam dates creep closer, we enter mock exam season. I found that as the exam is still quite new it was difficult to find a wide range of practice papers to use which the students hadn’t already sat. Therefore I have created a full mock of paper 2, with reading and writing sections, based around the topic child labour which is a topic which may crop up in the live exam. This resource comes with a full powerpoint which can be used as an informal mock or altered into something more formal looking if desired. I like to make my mock exams as friendly as possible as many of my students do not enjoy mocks or have anxiety regarding exams. Having the mock on powerpoint helps to put my students at ease whilst also building their confidence in exam conditions. Another benefit to having my mocks on powerpoints is so I can break down the questions to my weaker/ more challenging students or run bite sized mocks, whilst for my higher achieving students I can use the powerpoint to help students practice their timings for exam questions. I’m also required to run workshops and hold drop in sessions outside of regular class time for which these mock paper powerpoints are very useful. The texts featured in this resource are a speech to parliament in 1840’s regarding the conditions of child labour and a 2018 article from The Guardian about human trafficked children. Please be aware that the TES preview can at times distort the look of a resource and this is not a true reflection which is why I have included screenshots of the powerpoint to help you get an idea of what it contains. Hope it helps.

This resource is designed especially for seminar sessions or revision workshops around the exam period. It can be altered as an entire lesson if needs be. I like to spend the last half hour of my lessons as “quickie workshops” where I focus on one question from the exam at a time or set these tasks as homework. This quickie workshop looks at the older text about the working conditions on children in the mines. You can run this as individual or group session depending on the needs of your learners. Please be aware that TES previews can distort the look of a resource and this is not a true reflection. Hope it helps

This resource is designed for revision workshops and focuses on structural features to be used for question 3 of the AQA GCSE English exam, however it can be altered to suit an alternative exam board. As the exam draws closer I find spending a half hour at the end of each session as a “quickie workshop” very useful and have developed these short, sharp revision activities. To teach structural features I use the mnemonic “ROW OF CLONES” ( available in the powerpoint) to help with some of the more common structural features used. This quickie workshop uses an extract from Chocolat in order to practice identifying structural features, this can be a individual or group activity depending on the needs of your class. It can also be used as homework. Please note that TES previews distort the look of the resource and this is not a true reflection. Hope it helps.

This is what I call a “Quickie Workshop”. It is specific to identifying inference and GCSE English Exam answer format (PEE - You may adapt to suit whatever answer format you use with your students". Inference is something students, particularly second language learners, struggle with and it is always worth a re-fresh as much of the GCSE exam does require this skill. This lesson starts simply with everyday phrases and works it’s way up to a book extract and a whole article based around Cheryl Cole’s divorce. It has a supporting grid scaffold to help put the PEE structure together and wraps up with a quick self assessment. This is ideal for half term workshops or tutorials but just as easily can be used as an introduction to inference or fattened out to be a whole lesson with example exam questions. Please be aware that TES previews can distort the look of the resource and this is not a true reflection. Hope it helps.

This is a fun gossip blog writing task which focuses on celebrity scandal for Functional English. It is differentiated for E3 / L1 and L1 / L2. The lower levels encourage students to use correct English and low level language features whilst the higher level encourage more biased writing involving higher level language features and inference. Please be aware that TES previews can distort the look of the resource and this is not a true reflection. Hope it helps.

This is a 39 page booklet designed to help students independently revise for their exams. I also found these booklets very helpful in getting low attending students back up to speed, Ofsted loved them and my students said they found them more helpful than mock exams for revising certain questions they were less confident with. This booklet covers the underpinning skills and exam practice for paper 1 question 3. It underpins ROW of CLONES - a mnemonic for structural features and exam answer structures. It also uses mini extracts from various books by Graham Green, Stephen King and and extract from Harry Potter. It breaks down and explains each question, gives examples and mini tasks before allowing students to try an example exam question. It is encouraging, colourful and I hope you find it as useful as I have. Be advised that TES previews often distort the look of the resources and this is not a true reflection of how it looks. Hope it helps.

This is a 50 page booklet designed to help students independently revise for their exams. I also found these booklets very helpful in getting low attending students back up to speed, Ofsted loved them and my students said they found them more helpful than mock exams for revising certain questions they were less confident with. This booklet covers the underpinning skills and exam practice for paper 1 question 2, Paper 2 question 3 and paper 2 question 4. They have been grouped in this way as the skills which are being tested are the same or similar which is great for target revision. This booklet underpins inference, bias, language and exam answer structures. It also uses mini extracts from books such as War Horse and Harry potter and texts in which to compare writers views. It breaks down and explains each question, gives examples and mini tasks before allowing students to try an example exam question. It is encouraging, colourful and I hope you find it as useful as I have. Be advised that TES previews often distort the look of the resources and this is not a true reflection of how it looks. Hope it helps.

This mini mock is targeting question 1 - 3 of paper 1 of the WJEC exam board. The extract is taken from Animal farm. As you hit revision season and start to assess students weak areas, I find mini mocks such as these quite useful. Please keep in mind that the TES preview can distort the resource and this is not a true reflection. Hope it helps

This is a full informal mock of paper 1 for the AQA GCSE English Language exam based on an extract from The Hobbit. It comes with a full powerpoint with warm ups and starters. This powerpoint can be printed off or converted to a more formal paper version of a mock if you wish to use it in that way. The starters include a group task, a look at the trailer and a look at a short you tube video called Thug Notes which break down the plot and some of the main themes. Be advised that Thug Notes does contain some adult themes and low level adult language. As I teach 16 + this is fine as a resource but if this is not the case for your class you can stick to the trailer or use an alternative. Hope it helps

This is a simple A4 sheet which shows a break down of each question of the AQA exam (both papers). Students can keep in a folder or fold up and keep in their pockets and use for revision. It is very useful as it reminds student of the main elements of each question, times, marks and skills the question is testing and how they need to structure their answers. This helps students to gain in confidence, promotes independent learning and active revision. Hope it helps.

I have always used cheat sheets as a form of revision for my students sitting GCSE. It is essentially an extended version of an exam plan but not quite a mock exam, it’s some where in the middle. I love to use these because it promotes a sense of confidence for the students and it it a condensed version of EVERYTHING they need to know about each question of the exam. I explain it to them as an “exam blueprint”. This session is what I call a “meat and potato” type of lesson. No frills just does what it says on the tin and gives the students what they need. The session puts students into teams and takes them through a breakdown of each exam question and they copy these “cheats” onto a past exam paper. Along the way they try their hand at some of the questions, get examples of what makes a good answer and they have some independent study questions in their cheat sheet to try at home. They get to keep their “cheat sheet” for revision purposes. This has always worked and I have found that students have always got on board with this idea because they instantly see the benefit of it and it helps them feel more secure about sitting their exam. This session comes with a full powerpoint for paper 2 and student handouts with source material. Please keep in mind that TES preview can distort the look of resources but this is not a true reflection. Hope it helps

I have always used cheat sheets as a form of revision for my students sitting GCSE. It is essentially an extended version of an exam plan but not quite a mock exam, it’s some where in the middle. I love to use these because it promotes a sense of confidence for the students and it it a condensed version of EVERYTHING they need to know about each question of the exam. I explain it to them as an “exam blueprint”. This session is what I call a “meat and potato” type of lesson. No frills just does what it says on the tin and gives the students what they need. The session puts students into teams and takes them through a breakdown of each exam question and they copy these “cheats” onto a past exam paper. Along the way they try their hand at some of the questions, get examples of what makes a good answer and they have some independent study questions in their cheat sheet to try at home. They get to keep their “cheat sheet” for revision purposes. This has always worked and I have found that students have always got on board with this idea because they instantly see the benefit of it and it helps them feel more secure about sitting their exam. This session comes with a full powerpoint for paper 1 and student handouts with source material. Please keep in mind that TES preview can distort the look of resources but this is not a true reflection. Hope it helps

This is a E3 resource for functional English. This activity has 3 parts to it which include creating a list, researching activity and a writing activity. This activity has been created in order to be flexible with your teaching style and can be used as an extension, homework or form the main part of your session. It can also be amended underpin a specific topic. Please keep in mind that TES previews can distort the look of the resource and this is not a true reflection. Hope it helps

This is a L1 activity based around the idea of a bucket list. This activity has 3 parts to it which include creating a list, researching activity and a writing activity. This activity has been created in order to be flexible with your teaching style and can be used as an extension, homework or form the main part of your session. It can also be amended underpin a specific topic. Please keep in mind that TES previews can distort the look of the resource and this is not a true reflection. Hope it helps

This is a L2 activity based around the idea of a bucket list. This activity has 3 parts to it which include creating a list, researching activity and a writing activity. This activity has been created in order to be flexible with your teaching style and can be used as an extension, homework or form the main part of your session. It can also be amended underpin a specific topic. Please keep in mind that TES previews can distort the look of the resource and this is not a true reflection. Hope it helps

This 31 page booklet is an excellent tool to have in your classroom. The idea came about to create a full booklet of each of the skills needed for the exam to support prolific absentees, late enrollers, to use in booster sessions and revision workshops and for students to use in their independent study and revision. This booklet looks at the skills needed for question 5 from both the AQA papers, creative and persuasive writing. The booklet walks students through tasks and activities needed for these particular questions and gives them a chance to practice their writing skills. Please be advised that the TES preview can distort the view of the resource and this is not always a true reflection. Hope it helps

This is short and fun lesson based around the theme of music festivals. The aim of this lesson is to introduce students to the idea of writing to persuade and the mnemonic DAFOREST for writing techniques. Students have activities such as reading for information, writing to persuade and the chance to design their own music festival. TES previews often distorts the look of the resource and this is not a true reflection. Hope it helps

This is a simple and fun lesson to introduce persuasive writing techniques. This session looks into the methods and techniques used by advertisers to persuade people to buy their products, it introduces writing techniques such as alliteration and rhetorical questions. The final task is a fun team activity in which each team is given a product in an envelope and they must create a advert, using the methods discussed, to sell this product. This session can be altered to include speaking and listening task or can be elaborated upon. Be advised that TES previews can distort the look of the resources and this is not a true reflection. Hope it helps

This work pack is designed for Functional skills and covers areas such as reading for information, summary writing and speaking & listening. The lesson is designed around the murder of Sophie Lancaster, who was killed for the way she dressed. This lesson touches upon issues such as equality, prejudice and British Values . Feel free to tinker with to suit the needs of your students. Please be aware that TES previews can at times distort the look of the resource and this is not true reflection. Hope it helps

This is a simple activity which can be used to encourage students to proofread. It can be used with students of all levels, GCSE or Functional Skills, as it can be used as a starter, plenary, homework or as an extension activity. Please be advised that TES previews can often distort the look of the resource and this is not a true reflection. Hope it helps