English Language

Know and use the key language terminology

To progress, you must confidently identify and comment on:

• Word classes (verbs, adjectives, adverbs, nouns)
• Figurative language (similes, metaphors, hyperbole, personification)
• Descriptive detail (imagery, sensory language)
• Structural features (contrasts, shifts, repetition, focus)

Use the terminology in your responses and explain what the technique does.

Paper 1: Fiction & Imaginative Writing

To secure a Grade 4:

• Identify simple effects of the writer's choices
• Select short, relevant quotations
• Comment on how the language creates mood, atmosphere, or character

Creative writing task:

• Use a handful of figurative language features
• Make your writing clear, imaginative, and purposeful
• Keep to the task (describe OR narrate)

You don't need to “write like an author”, you just need a controlled, engaging piece.

Paper 2: Non-fiction & Transactional Writing

For Grade 4 you should:

• Identify persuasive features (facts, opinions, rhetorical questions, repetition)
• Explain their basic effect on the reader
• Keep a consistent viewpoint when writing your own non-fiction piece

Transactional writing:

• Use persuasive features clearly
• Keep your tone formal
• Structure your ideas logically
• Use paragraphs properly

Use terminology confidently, and analyse the effect

To get a Grade 5, go beyond identifying a technique. You need to explain:

• Why the writer chose a particular word or technique
• What effect it has on the reader
• How it develops theme, character, or tension

Example: the verb “stumbled” suggests clumsiness and fear, making the reader sense the character's vulnerability.

This level of detail moves you firmly into Grade 5 territory.

Paper 1: Fiction Reading & Creative Writing

Strengthen your reading responses by:

• Exploring the connotations of key words
• Commenting on structure (shifts in focus, contrast, withholding information)
• Using short, precise quotations
• Explaining how the writer builds atmosphere, tension, or character

Creative Writing: to secure Grade 5, ensure you:

• Use varied sentence types for effect
• Use ambitious but accurate vocabulary
• Control your paragraph structure
• Bring in figurative language naturally
• Ensure your writing is engaging and purposeful

Accuracy matters: spelling, punctuation and grammar are worth 16 marks.

Paper 2: Non-fiction Reading & Transactional Writing

To move from Grade 4 to 5:

• Compare writers' viewpoints more clearly
• Explain how language creates attitude or tone
• Show how structural choices guide the reader

For transactional writing:

• Plan your ideas so your writing is logical and convincing
• Use a wide range of persuasive features deliberately
• Maintain a consistent, confident tone throughout
• Support your ideas with examples, reasoning, or facts
• Use accurate grammar, varied punctuation, and well-crafted sentences

To reach the top bands, students must:

• Analyse writers' methods in depth (language and structure)
• Make perceptive comments on viewpoint and perspective
• Compare texts confidently in Paper 2
• Use high-level vocabulary accurately
• Write with a strong, deliberate voice in creative and transactional tasks
• Demonstrate precise, controlled punctuation and sophisticated sentence craft
• Plan their extended writing for clarity and impact
• Use short quotations, analysed in detail (“a lot about a little”)
• Strictly follow exam timings