How To Revise For An English Exam

The Standard Grade, Intermediate and Higher exams are coming up, and the Easter holidays are about to start. Fun fun fun! As a tutor I get quite a lot of calls in this period. Some pupils and parents want a bit of extra help just to make sure they get an English pass, and some are genuinely struggling.

English tutors

You will probably find that most tutors are too busy to take on new pupils at the moment, but you can also check at your local schools and colleges for supported study, especially during the Easter holidays.

Revise for close reading

Some say you can't revise for English, but this isn't true. Make sure you own a copy of the past papers for the exam you are about to take. You will cover most of them in class, but it's worth doing any which are left over. If you have missed any marks, go back and check the answers to find out what you did wrong.

If you've run out of past papers to do, invest in a book. Waterstones and Borders both have some good books including 'Close Reading' by Mary Firth and 'Higher English Revision Notes' by Larry Flanaghan.

Revise for your Standard Grade writing paper

If you're sitting Standard Grade, take a look at the past papers. The most common exam essays will ask you to write one of the following -

• a short story
• an essay on an important issue, such as abortion or capital punishment
• an essay on your favourite hobby or sport, or an ambition you have
• a special memory, including a holiday

The first two options are the hardest. Short stories need to have a twist at the end and are marked very strictly. For the essay on an important issue, you can't be sure that they will ask you a question on capital punishment. You might be asked an unusual essay question such as, is the internet harmful for young people? It's not easy to come up with an essay idea and write it in 1 hour 15 minutes, so it's better to write about yourself and your personal experiences.

The last two types of essay are easier. You can practice writing an essay on a personal experience, a sport or a hobby. When you have written a few examples, show them to your class teacher or email them to me and I can let you know what I think. I'm always nosey about what people are planning to write for their English exam.

Revise for your Higher or Intermediate essay paper

Go over the questions for previous years and see what they have asked. By now you will have completed a couple of essays in class. Now see if you can use your notes and quotes to answer a different exam question. If you have written an essay about the character of Romeo, try writing a question about the theme of love and violence, or an essay about a key scene.

Again, email me and I can give you some advice on the essay you're planning to write in your exam.

Revise online

Visit the Scottish Qualifications Authority site to download past papers:

http://www.sqa.org.uk

BBC Bitesize will give you practice questions and answers with detailed help and advice:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education/bitesize/standard/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/learning/bitesize/higher/

National Qualifications online has many free resources for exams:

http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/nq/

Look for a tutor at:

http://www.aplustutors.co.uk/

Standard Grade English - An Introduction

Standard Grade is due to be replaced in the next couple of years, but this page gives a basic overview of how it is at present.

Standard Grade English is an exam sat by the great majority of Scottish school pupils in S4, when they are around 15 years old. Most pupils study Standard Grade courses over two years.

Some schools offer Intermediate exams instead - this is a level between Standard Grade and the more demanding Higher level. Some schools also run the Standard Grade exams in S3, when pupils are around 14 years old.

The final grade

The pupil is awarded a final grade of between 1 to 7, with 1 being the highest. They levels are divided into Credit (1 and 2), General (3 and 4) and Foundation (5 and 6), with Credit being the most difficult. Grade 7 is for pupils who fail to make the Foundation level.

The Standard Grade Folio

Pupils complete a folio of work which is given a grade by their teacher. It is completed over two years and contains essays and creative writing. This is sent in to the Scottish Qualifications Authority around March, before they sit their exam. The folio counts for one third of their final grade.

The Standard Grade exam

All pupils sit the same writing paper. They are given a choice of essays to write over a time limit. These can be short stories, personal or opinion essays. These are graded from 1 to 7, with 1 being the highest.

Pupils sit different reading papers, depending on their abilities. More able pupils sit the Credit and the General paper. Less able pupils sit the General and the Foundation paper.

Higher English - An Introduction

High Schools usually give this information out on a nice A4 sheet to fifth year pupils. In case you need a general guide to Higher, this covers the main points.

Overview

Higher English is important for many University courses and gives people an excellent start in life - it shows you can read and write to a high standard.

Scottish school pupils sit Highers in S5 after their Standard grades but many people sit Highers later in life. There are two levels of Intermediate English to help pupils reach Higher level.

The rule of thumb is, if you received a grade 4 at Standard Grade, you should sit Intermediate 1; grade 3, Intermediate 2; and credit grade 1 or 2, Higher.

Coursework

Candidates have to pass three units before they get to sit the final exam. These are graded by your teacher or lecturer and given either a pass or fail, although they might give you an actual mark as they would with the final exam, to show how well you got on.

You're assessed on:

• Class essay – personal, argumentative or imaginative. Your teacher will set a question for you to answer.
• Personal Study Unit – formerly known as the RPR. You choose a novel, play, short story(s) or poem(s) and write about it in some depth.
• Close reading – read the passage, answer the questions; same as your final exam for Standard Grade but more challenging.
• Textual analysis – close reading with a different emphasis. These tests ask you to look at aspects of language in more detail. They have fewer questions worth more marks and often cover drama or a piece of poetry.

The Close Reading and Textual Analysis come from a National Assessment Bank of test papers. They are usually called NABs.

If you are unable to pass the NABs at your level you will not be able to sit the final exam – if this happens, your teacher might recommend you drop down to Intermediate 2.

The final exam

One paper of Close Reading. Two passages, with questions worth fifty marks.

One essay paper. You write two essays in 90 minutes, on the texts studied during the year. These can be on drama, poetry, prose or media.

Your final mark is based on your performance at the exam.

Getting your child to read

This deserves its own section. There are many claims on a young person's time these days. There is also a bit of a gap between Harry Potter and adult novels. So, as a parent or guardian, you might have to be a bit sneaky to get them into good reading habits.

Give your child fun things to read. Get them a subscription for a computer games, cars, fashion, music or hobbies magazine – ask at your local newsagent for the popular titles.

Let them use the internet, although they might spend more time on MSN than a website with content that they actually read.

Leave newspapers lying around, especially the sports section.

Take them to the library. Buy them graphic novels (comic books) – beware of adult content in some of them. Try Judge Dredd, Hellboy, Batman or the Sandman series.

Teenagers lose interest in sports, mobile phones and computer games at least some of the time, so get them something to read for that long train journey. Many schools give up one English period per week for reading so find out what books they are checking out from the school library. Perhaps offer them an alternative if they are allowed to bring their own books in.

Lastly, here is a list of entertaining and not-too-demanding novelists. Beware of adult content in these -

Phillip Pullman
Darren Shan
Douglas Hill
Sue Townsend
Helen Fielding
Nick Hornby
S E Hinton
Terry Pratchett
J R R Tolkein
James Herbert
Stephen King
Dan Brown
Iain Banks
Irvine Welsh

FAQs from parents about English tutors

No-one actually asks me these questions, but, well, they probably should. This is a guide for parents and pupils.

What should I look for in an English tutor?

The tutor should be punctual and reliable; they should be able to relate to the pupil; and they should know their subject well.

They should keep you informed of how they have spent each session; let you know if the pupil isn’t applying themselves; and be able to provide homework.

With tutoring, the pupil should show an improvement over time; if not, the tutor should be able to suggest what is going wrong.

A decent tutor will be able to predict whether your child will pass and, roughly, what grade they should expect.


Where can I find tutors?

You will usually find that full-time working teachers are booked up by October week of the school year. Retired teachers, English graduates or graduates of a teaching college may be available out there in cyberspace (I hold a teaching qualification but I’m not a registered teacher).

Parents usually contact tutors for Higher pupils:

• the day after the exam results come out in August
• around the October break, when some pupils fail their first class test
• after the prelim results come out in January

I get all my work from word of mouth, and the website aplustutors.


Why should I screen candidates?

Most websites do not have any form of screening process for people who put themselves forward as tutors. You might want to ask for photographic id before you leave a strange adult alone with your child.

If they claim to have a teaching qualification you can ask to see proof. It will either be a teaching degree or a Post-Graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) if they trained in Scotland.

Use your own judgement and that of your child.

Most children in Primary 6 and older will be able to tell you if:

a) the tutor is no use

b) the tutor behaves in a way that seems wrong to them

After the visit, ask your child how it went.


Why do most parents/guardians look for English tutors?

Many pupils will be more interested in maths, sciences, languages or practical subjects rather than reading and writing; yet a lot of college and university courses require a pass in English.

On the other hand, many people look for English tutors if their children have somehow turned out to be either less academic or less ambitious than they themselves are. Note that I don’t use the words ‘intelligent’ or ‘talented’ here.

Some pupils have a special learning needs, including dyslexia, dyspraxia, or impaired vision or hearing.


When will an English tutor not last?

It may be a waste of time looking for a tutor for pupils who are not yet in Standard Grade / Intermediate / Higher.

Children who have not acquired an interest in English need to have a goal in sight. A tutor is less likely to inspire your child to start liking English than, say, the sports section of your newspaper or a good book.

A tutor will nearly always help; but they can't always make a difference between a pass or a fail. For me personally, I tend to get the best results from pupils who are capable of passing but have something holding them back - either from a lack of confidence, bad organisation or poor motivation.