3 Grade 9 responses to the 2023 Language Paper 2 Question 5 question which involved writing a speech in which students had to give their opinion on a statement related to cars. Speech 1: Written in the powerful and emotional style with environmental concerns at the forefront Speech 2 Written in a slightly humorous/satirical style Speech 3: Begins and ends with an anecdote. All 3 speeches should achieve grade 9 due to the sustained use of ambitious vocabulary, a full range of punctuation and sentence structures used for effect alongside the use of cohesive devices to assist whole text structure and organisation.

High level model answers for questions 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the 2023 AQA Language Paper 2 paper on trains which was, by all accounts, a challenging pair of extracts. Also includes some notes for helping to answer the reading questions.

Here are my model answers to questions 1 to 5 of the AQA Language Paper 1 exam where the exam was based on an extract from Life of Pi. They may be useful for students who want to know how they could have improved on their mock. The extract and questions are available on the AQA website. Each answer has been written to try and aim for the top band of the mark scheme. For Q5, I chose to do the story rather than the description. For model responses to the November 2022 paper on The Old Man and the Sea use this link: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12934137 Model responses for June 2022 on The Pearl can be found here: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/-13031986

Perhaps due to the recent coronation, many experts are predicted kingship would be the theme for the exam in 2023. They were wrong. Maybe 2024 will be the year for this key theme to be on the exam. Therefore I have created a 20 slide PowerPoint that guides students through how to plan and respond to a question on kingship in Macbeth. Students go on to write their own response and then compare it to the model response. I believe the model response is full marks and would easily achieve grade 9; however, there will always be some teachers who claim nothing short of postgraduate level writing will receive the much coveted 9 so I am reluctant to make the claim that it would definitely achieve a 9.

Model answers for questions 1-5 of the English Language Paper 1 June 2024 paper when the extract was from The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing. The resource contains both a mid-level answer and a high-level model for questions 2-5 designed to meet the criteria for the top band of the markscheme for each question. There are model responses for both the description and the narrative for question 5. Please note: This pack only contains model answers. I have not included the extract from The Grass is Singing or the questions themselves because I don’t have copyright permission to share either of these. The insert and question paper are available to download from the AQA website.

The drop, shift, zoom, leave method is an increasingly popular method for approaching Paper 1 Question 5 because it allows a student to show the examiner they can effectively structure a narrative deliberately for effect. This resource contains several 500 word stories written in the drop, shift, zoom, leave style. Students should read the examples. They then attempt to plan and write a drop, shift, zoom, leave narrative of their own.

High Level Model Answers for questions 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the AQA Language Paper 2 June 2024 paper which involved two non-fiction texts on the topic of medical care. For each answer I have included two advanced model responses. Students read each response and make notes at the bottom of each sheet explaining what they notice about the differences between the responses and debate which would achieve higher marks. I have not included the extracts or the questions themselves for copyright reasons. To obtain these you would need to go on the AQA website.

A bank of 200 ambitious adjectives to support students with creative writing on one printable sheet.

An exam-style grade 9 response that would comfortable fit into band 6 that explores how Shakespeare presents Macbeth as an evil/violent character. I have not included the 2019 question or extract but it is available on the AQA website under assessment materials. There is perceptive debate with judicious use of quotations and assured analysis of methods and wider ideas. Also contains a differentiated adaptive writing frame to help lower ability students achieve a grade 4.

50 multiple choice questions on An Inspector Calls designed to fit snugly onto one A3 sheet. Ideal for testing students’ direct knowledge of the text. Includes the answer sheet on page 2.

I advise my students to start their response to Paper 2 Question 5 with an engaging personal anecdote. This resource contains 6 examples of anecdotal lead paragraphs to familiar Paper 2 Question 5-style topics covering travel, school uniform, homework, climate change, social media and animals in captivity. I ask my students study the style of these modelled examples before attempting to write their own anecdotal lead paragraphs.

A 42 page revision booklet containing detailed question and answer revision sheets covering all 15 poems. Also includes knowledge organisers focused on big ideas, context and structure in all 15 poems. Finally, there are 7 model exam-style comparative responses covering a range of familiar themes: war, conflict, powerful images, anger, tension.

A context sheet for Macbeth. It explores the contextual knowledge relevant to the study of Macbeth at GCSE. It covers James I, witchcraft, divine right of kings, chain of being, gunpowder plot and the role of women in the Jacobean era.

A free student workbook version of my 15 page power and conflict revision booklet. There are spaces underneath all of the key quotations from each poem so that students can write down their ideas about each quotation. The full resource with detailed analysis of key quotations from each poem is available here: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12886246

This 11 page booklet contains detailed model answers for questions 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the summer 2022 AQA Paper 1 English language exam which featured an extract from The Pearl by John Steinbeck. I go through each question in detail providing a range of possible ways of approaching the question to meet the marking criteria. For question 5 there are 4 different high level responses based on a life-saving rescue to compare.

5 context information sheets to help students to understand factors that influenced The Handmaid’s Tale. Margaret Atwood 4 waves of feminism The New Conservative Right Literary Influences What The Handmaid’s Tale teaches us about the human condition Also includes a 10 question knowledge quiz with detailed answer sheet. How I teach it: Flipped learning: Get students to research the context to the novel. Test the quality of the research through the knowledge test. Go over the answer sheet and get students to highlight points they missed.

A handy A3 context sheet aimed at helping students understand how the Elizabethan context enriches our understanding of the play. Ideal as a starting point for helping students move outside of the text to address A03. Also contains a revision resource about what Romeo and Juliet teaches us about the human condition which is another way of meeting the criteria for A03.

A 20 question multiple choice quiz on Othello with answers. Ideal as a spaced learning revision task.