Summary
Highlights
English Paper 1 is 2 hours and 50 minutes, totaling 170 minutes. This time needs to be divided among three tasks, with the composing task being the most significant, accounting for 25% of the overall grade.
Allocate 70 minutes for the composing task. This should be sufficient time to plan and write a high-quality essay of around 1200 words. Choose your topic carefully from the seven options, whether it's a personal essay, short story, speech, or discursive essay, and then plan and write deliberately, rereading your work.
After the composing task, 100 minutes remain for Question A and Question B. Question A requires about 60 minutes. It involves responding to three questions, usually requiring 10 separate paragraphs (one paragraph for every five marks). It's crucial to select the text that best suits you, which might take about 10 minutes at the start.
Question B should take approximately 30 minutes. Unlike Question A, there's no pre-reading required for Question B. You'll typically write up to five or six paragraphs, aiming for one paragraph per 10 marks available. The task usually presents three distinct points that need to be addressed in separate paragraphs, followed by a brief conclusion.
The recommended time breakdown is 70 minutes for composing, 60 minutes for Question A, and 30 minutes for Question B, leaving 10 minutes of buffer time. This buffer time can be used at the beginning of the exam to carefully review the paper and choose questions. The suggested order for tackling the paper is Question A first, then the composing task, and finally Question B, as Question A can help settle nerves due to its structured and often simpler initial questions.