Edexcel A Level English Language Tutors Online

Edexcel A Level English Language is code 9EN0, and its full title is the Pearson Edexcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in English Language. First teaching was September 2015 and first certification was 2017. This page works from Issue 6, dated August 2024.

The qualification consists of three externally examined components and one non-examination assessment component, and students must complete all assessment in May and June in any single year.

Component 1 is Language Variation, code 9EN0/01, worth 35% of the total qualification. It is a written examination lasting 2 hours 15 minutes with a total of 60 marks available, 30 marks per section. There are two sections and students answer the question in Section A and the question in Section B. Section A is Individual Variation: one question on two unseen 21st century linked texts or data, where students produce an extended comparative response. Section B is Variation over Time: one question on two thematically linked unseen texts or data from two different periods, also producing an extended comparative response. Both sections assess AO1, AO2, AO3 and AO4.

The content behind Component 1 is how language varies depending on mode, field, function and audience, how language choices can create personal identities, and language variation in English from c1550, the beginnings of Early Modern English, to the present day.

Component 2 is Child Language, code 9EN0/02, worth 20%. It is a written examination lasting 1 hour 15 minutes with a total of 45 marks available. There is one question, based on a set of unseen data which may be either spoken or written, and students produce an extended response. This component assesses AO1, AO2 and AO3, with no AO4.

The content covers spoken language acquisition and how children learn to write between the ages of 0 and 8, the relationship between spoken language acquisition and the literacy skills children are taught including the beginnings of reading, and appropriate theories of children's language development.

Component 3 is Investigating Language, code 9EN0/03, worth 25%. It is a written examination lasting 1 hour 45 minutes with a total of 45 marks available. There are two sections and students answer one question from each. Section A is worth 15 marks and Section B is worth 30 marks. Section A is one question on unseen data, which students must answer on the subtopic they have researched, and it assesses AO1, AO2 and AO3. Section B is one evaluative question, which students must answer on the subtopic they have researched and must make connections with data from their own investigation, producing an extended response, and it assesses AO1, AO2, AO3 and AO4.

Component 3 is the part of the qualification with the earliest deadline. Students select a research focus from five topic areas and undertake a focused investigation, and a subtopic is pre-released on the 1 December before the examination. The pre-released subtopic provides a steer for the research and investigation so that students can prepare for the external assessment.

The fourth part is the non-examination assessment, Crafting Language, code 9EN0/04, worth 20%. It is internally assessed and externally moderated, with first moderation in 2017. Students research a selected genre, demonstrate their skills as writers within that genre by crafting texts for different audiences or purposes, and reflect on their research and writing in an accompanying commentary.

Two assignments make up the coursework. Assignment 1 is two pieces of original writing from the same genre, differentiated by function or audience, and it is the only place where AO5 is assessed. Assignment 2 is one commentary reflecting on the two pieces of original writing and making connections with the research undertaken, and it assesses AO1, AO2, AO3 and AO4. The advisory total word count is 2500 to 3000 words, with Assignment 1 at 1500 to 2000 words and Assignment 2 at 1000 words. There are 50 marks available, with Assignment 1 worth 30 marks and Assignment 2 worth 20 marks.

The assessment objectives are five, and the pattern is unusual. AO1, apply appropriate methods of language analysis, using associated terminology and coherent written expression, is 24.4%. AO2, demonstrate critical understanding of concepts and issues relevant to language use, is 24.4%. AO3, analyse and evaluate how contextual factors and language features are associated with the construction of meaning, is 24.4%. AO4, explore connections across texts, informed by linguistic concepts and methods, is 15%. AO5, demonstrate expertise and creativity in the use of English to communicate in different ways, is 12%. The specification notes that the total has been rounded down.

AO5 also comes with a condition. The specification states that this assessment objective must be targeted with at least one of AO2, AO3 or AO4, either in the same task or in two or more linked tasks. Creative writing is therefore never assessed on its own.

The breakdown shows where each objective actually lives. Component 1 is 8.8% on each of AO1, AO2, AO3 and AO4, and zero on AO5. Component 2 is 6.6% on each of AO1, AO2 and AO3, with zero on AO4 and AO5. Component 3 is 7% on each of AO1, AO2 and AO3, 4% on AO4, and zero on AO5. The non-examination assessment is 2% on each of AO1, AO2, AO3 and AO4, and 12% on AO5.

Two things follow from that table. AO5, the only creative writing objective, is assessed entirely in the coursework: every written examination is zero on it. And AO4, exploring connections across texts, is not assessed on Component 2 at all, which is the one paper built around a single set of data rather than a comparison.

The qualification is graded and certificated on a six grade scale from A* to E using the total subject mark, and individual components are not graded. The first certification opportunity was 2017, and students whose level of achievement is below the minimum judged by Pearson to be of sufficient standard receive an unclassified U result.

On codes: the qualification number is 601/5009/9 and the subject code is GCE 9EN0. The component codes are 9EN0/01, 9EN0/02, 9EN0/03 and 9EN0/04. No discount code number is printed in this specification. Appendix 3 states only that discount codes are published by DfE and points to the GOV.UK website.