New · Free · AQA GCSE English

English Language Paper 1: a free revision guide, built from AQA’s own papers

Written for AQA GCSE English Language (8700), Paper 1. Four original extracts, every reading question answered and marked by level exactly as AQA marks it, a full response marked at the strong and the weak end side by side, and a practice source with its own Section A and Section B to finish. Print it as a class set and use it from tomorrow.

44 pages · free to every school

Or look inside first: read the first eight pages

Cover of the English Language revision guide: a story-arc graph rising to a marked turning point, beside a mini extract page and a mini picture, on a navy page below the title

Look inside before you download

The first eight pages, free to read here with no watermark. Click a page to read it larger.

Download the whole guide, free

A guide that asks pupils to do something

1

Learn it

Every topic opens with sixty seconds of the skill, then the facts to know. Each fact has a circle to colour: know it, shaky, missed. The key words sit beside them with a box to tick, and a Spot it question on a sticky note tests one idea.

2

Use it

Then the page turns to the extract that skill needs, a real-tariff question answered and marked by level (a few points don’t reach the top band, so pupils see why), how it could be asked, and a box to write the answer from memory.

3

Test it

All 72 key words in one glossary, a full response marked twice over — once at the top of AQA’s levels, once at a weaker, mid-range standard, side by side — and a page of what AQA’s examiners saw students get wrong. Then a practice source with its own exam, marked answers, and a tracker.

Every topic, and the skills

Finding and listing details
Reading between the lines
Word choice and connotation
Figurative language and sound
Sentence forms for effect
How writers structure a whole extract
Evaluating a writer's methods and effects
Planning a description or a story
Openings that do real work
Structuring a whole response
Imagery that earns its place
Sentence variety and punctuation for effect
Spelling, grammar and proofreading

That is Paper 1 in full: reading an unseen fiction extract (topics 1 to 7), then writing a description or a story (topics 8 to 13). Paper 2 (non-fiction reading and transactional writing) is not in this guide.

Built from AQA’s own documents

The structure, marks and assessment objectives follow AQA’s GCSE English Language specification (8700).
The exam technique comes from AQA’s own Paper 1 papers, mark schemes and examiners’ reports (November 2020 to June 2023).
No AQA question, extract or mark scheme wording is reproduced. Every extract, question and sample answer was written for this guide.
It is an independent resource, not produced or endorsed by AQA.

This is the first edition, and a serving English teacher has not read it through yet. If you teach GCSE English and spot anything that should change, tell us at info@empowereducators.co.uk and we will fix it.

Why it is free

We write exam board books for heads of department, and we sell them. This guide is one we give away. It shows how we work: the structure follows the exam board’s own specification, the exam technique comes from its own papers, and nothing is there to pad the page count.

If it helps your pupils, the rest of the English shelf is below. If it does not, you have lost nothing.

For the teacher printing it

Print it double-sided. Black and white works, though the cover is navy. Use it as a class set, or put it on your school’s own system. The contents page has a four-week plan, and the tracker at the back lets a pupil see what they have revisited.

Please do not pass it to other schools or put it on public websites.

Questions teachers ask

Is it really free?: Yes. We ask for a name and an email address, and one question: would you like to hear about new resources? Yes or no, you get the guide either way.
Which course does it cover?: AQA GCSE English Language (8700), Paper 1 in full: reading an unseen fiction extract and writing a description or a story. Paper 2 (non-fiction reading and transactional writing) is not in it.
Is it for English Literature too?: No, this guide is for Language only. The skills overlap (especially analysing language and structure), but Literature’s set texts and its own papers are not covered here.
Is it written by AQA?: No. It is independent and is not produced or endorsed by AQA.

The rest of the English shelf

See all the English resources →