GCSE English Short Course for Adults

Course code

ADGCENGSC

*Please note that this course cannot be offered to 16-19 learners on a full-time programme.

Why study this course?

GCSE English Grade 4 or 5 is required for most forms of employment and higher education courses.  The qualification will give you the skills necessary to progress onto and study most level 3 qualifications.

Course content

The course is a challenging but rewarding examination of English Language.

You will develop and improve your reading skills which will include looking at both fiction and non-fiction texts and developing your understanding of the effects of language, structure, evaluation and comparison of how writers convey their ideas and perspectives.

You will also develop your writing skills and use of language by producing a creative text, narrative or descriptive and writing a text for a specified audience, purpose or form, i.e.  a letter, article, speech, essay…

The course will be taught via a 2.5 hour session per week.

You will be required to complete regular assessments in order for us to track your progress.

The AQA course will be assessed through 100% examination which will be graded 9-1.

You will sit two exam papers in November which will consist of two, 1 hour 45-minute exams (100% of your GCSE):

  • Paper 1: Explorations in creative reading and writing (one unseen fiction text)
    • Section A: reading (4 questions)
    • Section B: writing (1 question from a choice of 2)
  • Paper 2: Writers’ viewpoints and perspectives (two unseen non-fiction texts –

                one from the 19th Century and one from either the 20th or 21st Century)

    • Section A: reading (4 questions)
  • Section B: writing (1 question)

Exams will take place on (provisional dates):

             Tuesday 7th November 2023 (Paper 1)

             Thursday 9th November 2023 (Paper 2)

The course also includes a separate endorsement for Spoken Language.

You will be required to complete a spoken presentation to your classmates.

This is marked as a Pass, Merit or Distinction and does not affect the overall GCSE grade.

It is assumed that students will need to carry out a minimum of 2 hours independent study each week to embed the content covered in lessons.

Entry requirements

Due to the intensity of the course, you are required to hold a previous GCSE at grade D or 3 (within a few marks of a grade 4), have extenuating circumstances or excel on the assessment given.

Materials

Writing materials, paper and a folder.

Any GCSE Skills revision guide will support this course, but purchase of textbooks is not necessary as we will provide all necessary resources.

Day, time and duration

Wednesday

6.00pm – 8.30pm

Start date

w/c 4th September 2023

Fees

This course is free for any adult who does not yet hold a grade 4 (grade C) English qualification.

Funding your course

For more information about funding your course, click here


Our accreditation and awards

AWARDS