How to Get a Grade 9 in GCSE English Literature

Aiming for a grade 9 in GCSE English Literature? You’ll find a range of simple but highly effective tips to develop your exam technique, along with revision strategies to maximise your efforts so you can get the highest grade.

Build your Exam Skills  

If you want to move from a grade 6 or 7 to a grade 8 or 9, try these targeted tips to maximise the number of marks you get for each question, whichever specification you are studying. 

Answer the Question 

In GCSE English Literature, you only have 2-4 questions to answer on each paper, so you need to make sure that each answer is as focused and targeted as possible.

All the exam boards helpfully tell you what words you should use to structure your argument.

These are the command words and topic words of the question, which you should use in your introduction and conclusion and repeat in every paragraph.  

Start by highlighting the command words and topic words of the question. Here are some examples:  

• How does the writer present Scrooge as an outsider in society? (AQA past exam question)  
• Explore the importance of the younger generation in ‘An Inspector Calls’. (Edexcel past exam question) 
• Write about some of the ways Lady Macbeth changes and how Shakespeare presents this. (WJEC Eduqas past exam question) 
• How does Stevenson present the importance of reputation in this extract and elsewhere in The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde? (OCR past exam question) 

Use these command words and topic words in each topic sentence — this is the first sentence of each paragraph, where you outline your argument. Try to also use these words throughout your essay to make sure you are consistently answering the question.

Create Quick Essay Plans With Topic Sentences 

Now that you know how to focus on command words and topic words, you can start to improve your grade. 

One of the best revision strategies for GCSE English Literature is to write timed essay plans in just ten minutes, focusing on past paper questions.

Plan three paragraphs for each past paper question, with a topic sentence and four bullet points of evidence for each paragraph. Here’s an example of a paragraph plan — with key quotes — for an AQA ‘An Inspector Calls’ question from 2019: 

Example Paragraph Plan 1

How does Priestley present Sheila as a character who learns important lessons about herself and society? 

Topic sentence:

From the start of the play, Priestley presents Sheila as a character who learns important lessons about herself and society, as she symbolises a younger generation open to change and embodies the playwright’s message of the importance of social responsibility in society.

• Initially presented as naïve, immature and materialistic: “…very pleased with life and rather excited”
• But her capacity to learn and change is presented when she challenges her father's capitalist view; acknowledges the humanity of the working classes and shows concern at society’s class prejudices using emotive language and juxtaposition: “But these girls aren’t cheap labour – they’re people”
• Shows regret and real remorse for her actions towards Eva Smith, expressing heartfelt guilt through the authentic-sounding, colloquial language she uses as she reveals an important lesson learned: "I felt rotten about it at the time and now I feel a lot worse"
• Presented as challenging class barriers in society by using the powerful metaphor of a “wall”

When writing your essay plans, start by using your class notes and your copy of the text to help you. As you get closer to the exam and feel more confident with essay planning, stop using your notes and just recall what you can remember.

This ten-minute strategy helps you to practise working under timed conditions in the exam and you can revise from these essay plans in the run-up to the exams too.

Write Timed Paragraphs

If you want to pass a driving test, you know you need to practise driving. The same rule applies to exams. The fastest way to improve your grade is by actively practising writing exam answers.

The most time-effective way to do this is by writing timed paragraphs for past essay questions - ideally in exam conditions. Doing this helps you commit the information to long-term memory and prepares you for thinking and writing under time pressure.

Using an essay plan you’ve already written and a timer set to ten minutes, write a paragraph, including quotes and the question’s command words and topic words in the topic sentence. If your question includes extra marks for SPaG, proofread your paragraph, checking for spelling, punctuation and grammar mistakes at the end.

When you’ve finished three paragraphs under timed conditions and completed a whole past paper question, ask your teacher or GCSE English Literature tutor for feedback. What do you need to do next to improve? Using their expert guidance, write another paragraph. Keep practising and asking for their feedback until the exam! 

Other online platforms, such as Tilf, Save My Exams,and MarkMe, also have AI marking tools you can use to check your grade and get instant feedback - but I might be biased in saying humans understand how humans mark exams better (for now, at least!).

Maximise Your Mini-quotes 

In GCSE English Literature, you need to use textual references and quotations for Assessment Objective 1. 

Students spend a lot of time worrying about memorising quotes but you only need to revise a few short, key word quotes for each character and theme — 3-4 is enough.

Focus on learning memorable quotations that show off your analytical skills and your understanding of language, structure and form (AO2) or context (AO3), if this is assessed. 

For example, here is a quote from the Inspector’s final speech in Act 5 which can be used for the theme of social responsibility and class, poverty, and women in the play, as well as a question on the character of Eva Smith or the Inspector.  

“...there are millions and millions and millions of Eva Smiths”

By remembering this quote, you can also remember that the playwright uses a tricolon and syndetic listing to emphasise the suffering of the character; to reinforce the scale of social inequality; to add impact to the Inspector’s message of social responsibility with this memorable rhetorical strategy; to add pathos, reflecting Priestley’s post-war socialist purpose in writing the play and the Inspector’s symbolic role as a mouthpiece for the playwright etc.

Use Your Exam Board’s Mark Scheme 

Mark schemes aren’t just for teachers and examiners — they can help students too! They can be a bit tricky to understand, so best to ask your GCSE English Literature tutor or teacher to help explain how they are used to give you marks. To get a grade 9, you need to know in advance that you’re hitting all the right criteria.

If you are looking for a top grade, create an essay plan and then look at the mark scheme to see what examiners are told to look for. Mark schemes are easy to find online by simply searching the name and year of the exam paper. 

Mark schemes are particularly helpful for extract questions as they include lists of bullet points you could have included in your essay plan. So you can mark your own work!   

Looking at the mark scheme will also help you to understand the differences between the top levels (levels 4 and 5 for Eduqas / Edexcel or levels 5 and 6 for AQA / OCR). You need to get into the top level for a grade 8 or 9. 

Practice Makes Progress (Not Perfect!)

Don’t forget that to get a top grade in GCSE English Literature, the best approach is timed essay planning and paragraph practice. 

The more you write essay plans and timed paragraphs, the easier it becomes and the more confident you’ll feel!