Tutor Hunt Questions

Hi Daljit

Firstly, having taught all exam board specifications in English Language and English Literature (both GCSE and IGCSE), it is clear that the skills and knowledge required to get top grades in English are exactly the same - whatever board you are with. Each exam board just has a slightly different structure and approach to task setting. Therefore, the best way you can prepare for your English exams is as follows:

1. In order to prepare for answering unseen non- fiction texts, practise reading lots of good quality non-fiction. Exam boards quite often use articles in quality magazines that can be found in the Sunday editions of newspapers such as The Times, The Telegraph, The Independent etc. Also, extracts from autobiographies and travel writing books are popular non-fiction texts. Lively and entertaining writers such as Bill Bryson and Jeremy Clarkson are what chief examiners like for testing students` ability to understand non-fiction.

2. Questions for reading non-fiction texts fall into four main categories: information retrieval, inference and deduction, understanding how language devices are used for particular effects and the ability to compare texts. Thus, you need to be able to identify each type of question and practise answering them.

My suggestion is to get the relevant IGCSE study guide and workbook, either by Cambridge or Edexcel which is Pearsons.
Then work through the workbook to help you to gain the grammatical structures, the range of sentence complexity and vocabulary, that is needed for the exam.
As the exam tests skills, then working through these workbooks by practicing every day, for at least an hour, is really useful.
In a month you will have improved immensely, good luck

Hello Daljit,

You need to immerse yourself in high quality English by reading daily -newspapers, fiction and non fiction. Secondly, writing for 10-20 minutes- e.g. a daily journal. In addition, speaking and hearing high quality English -news and documentaries. Finally, practise, practise, practise! You can`t do enough practice papers. Break it down into manageable chunks -a question every other day and a full exam paper at the end of the week.

Best of luck!
Caren.

Continued answer

For the writing element, you need to do the following:

1. Revise the different writing purposes and make sure you know what language to use for each one e.g. Persuade, Argue, Advise, Describe, Inform, Explain etc.

2. Revise the different writing formats e.g. informal and formal letters, articles, speeches, reviews etc. and practise writing in these formats

3. You will be marked for your content and organisation, as well as your spelling, grammar and punctuation. Therefore, you need to make sure that you can spell common words correctly, be able to structure sentences for effect and know how to use basic punctuation - as well as more advanced punctuation marks such as semi colons and colons. Lynne Truss`s book `Eat Shoots and Leaves` is the best one I`ve found for revising punctuation

4. Make your revision as active as possible. Websites such as BBC Bitesize have revision and test sections where you can revise and then test your skills

5. Go on your exam board`s website and download and print off past papers that you can practise answering

6. Make sure you know the structure of your exam/ exams and how long to spend on each question. Timing is key to doing well in your exams

7. BELIEVE IN YOURSELF: YOU CAN DO IT!

Good luck!

It will help if you develop a clear idea what you are aiming for. The Edexcel IGCSE website has examples of student essays, marked by examiners, which you can download. The text book, published by Pearson, is also a valuable resource. Finally, I would take the time to read through mark schemes and examiner reports to get a sense of the range of expectations in place.
Best of luck and please don`t hesitate to get in touch if you have any further questions.
Rachel

Hi Daljit,

In the first instance, you need to ask your child`s English teacher what examination board the school is following. Secondly, ask the teacher if it`s possible to get a copy of the syllabus. If not, you can go direct to the examination board`s website and purchase a copy. At this stage, I would recommend purchasing a few exam papers. Your child (and you) needs to get a feel of the way the questions are structured and what kinds of questions come up. Also, if you look carefully, you will begin to see the same questions coming up year on year, but they will be carefully written in a different way. Finally, sit down with your child and see what needs to be done.
This can be very successful - I did this with history and politics O`levels many years ago.

Good luck. Jayne

Considering a GCSE retake typically requires 4 hours per week over 36 weeks, you will need to commit to a minimum of 18 hours per week over two months to pass this exam.