Edexcel IGCSE English Language A Tutors Online

Edexcel IGCSE English Language A is code 4EA1, written for first teaching from September 2016 with the first examination in June 2018. This page works from Issue 7, the current issue, and first certification was in 2018. The qualification is linear, so all components are taken at the end of the course of study.

The structure is one mandatory component plus a choice. Every student sits Component 1, which is 60% of the qualification. They then take either Component 2 or Component 3, which is the remaining 40%. The choice is not a choice for the student to make alone, because it is a decision about how a school enters its candidates, and it is worth understanding before a course begins rather than after.

Component 1 is Non-fiction Texts and Transactional Writing, code 4EA1/01. It is externally assessed, worth 60% of the total International GCSE, and is a written examination of 2 hours 15 minutes carrying 90 marks. It is available in June and November, and it can be sat paper-based or onscreen.

Component 1 splits exactly in half. Section A is Reading, worth 45 marks, and Section B is Transactional Writing, also worth 45 marks. Section A asks a mixture of short-answer and long-answer questions about a non-fiction text from Part 1 of the Pearson Edexcel International GCSE English Anthology and one previously unseen extract, and students answer all questions. Section B asks for one writing task from a choice of two prompts, involving a given audience, form or purpose. The specification advises 1 hour 30 minutes including reading time for Section A and 45 minutes for Section B. Candidates are given the anthology text in the examination.

Component 2 and Component 3 carry the same title, Poetry and Prose Texts and Imaginative Writing, and the same 40% and the same 60 marks. What differs is how they are assessed. Component 2, code 4EA1/02, is a written examination of 1 hour 30 minutes, externally assessed and available paper-based or onscreen. Component 3, code 4EA1/03, is non-examined assessment, internally assessed and externally moderated. Both are available in June and November.

The internal shape is close but not identical. Component 2 has a 30-mark essay question on a poetry or prose text from Part 2 of the Anthology, then one 30-mark imaginative writing task from a choice of three. Component 3 has one 30-mark essay based on any three poetry or prose texts from Part 2, where at least one poetry text and one prose text must be discussed, then one 30-mark imaginative writing task. So the examined route fixes the text, while the coursework route lets the student choose three.

The texts themselves are set rather than open. The Anthology has two parts of ten texts each. Part 1 holds the non-fiction, and it is used in Component 1. Part 2 holds the poetry and prose, and it is used in Component 2 and in Component 3. Twenty texts in total is a short enough list to know well, and because both the examined route and the coursework route draw on the same ten poetry and prose texts, the reading load is the same either way.

Component 1 Section B names the text types students will be asked to write. They are an article for a magazine or newspaper, a speech, a letter, a guide, a review, and the text of a leaflet. The questions may refer to a digital location for the texts, such as a website.

The assessment objectives are six, and one of them does not count towards the grade. AO1 reading and understanding, AO2 analysing how writers use linguistic and structural devices, and AO3 exploring links and connections are all reading. AO4 communicating effectively and imaginatively, and AO5 writing clearly with accurate spelling, grammar and punctuation, are writing. AO6 covers speaking and listening skills, and it is marked not applicable in the International GCSE table. It belongs to the optional spoken language endorsement, which appears on a certificate as a separately reported grade.

The weighting is 15 per cent for AO1, 20 per cent for AO2, 15 per cent for AO3, 30 per cent for AO4 and 20 per cent for AO5. Reading therefore carries half the qualification and writing carries the other half, and the single largest objective is AO4 at 30 per cent, which is about communicating effectively and imaginatively and adapting form, tone and register.

One structural detail is easy to miss and worth stating plainly. AO3 is worth 15 per cent of the qualification, and all of it sits inside Component 1. Component 2 and Component 3 carry no AO3 at all. So exploring links and connections between writers is examined in the compulsory paper only, and the whole of the 40% route is reading set texts closely and writing imaginatively.

The spoken language endorsement is optional and is code 4EA1/E. It is internally assessed under controlled conditions and endorsed separately, takes the form of an oral examination of maximum 10 minutes, is available in June and November, and is graded Not Classified, Pass, Merit or Distinction. The presentation may be a speech or talk followed by questions from the audience, or a formal debate or dialogue.

The qualification is graded on a nine-grade scale from 9 to 1, and individual components are not graded. The total raw marks for the qualification are 150, with 90 on Component 1 and 60 on the second component. Students below the minimum standard receive an unclassified U result.