Quick guides for parents and carers
Plain guides for parents and carers: how GCSE English works, what the grades mean and how to help at home.
GCSE English explained for parents and carers
With AQA, English is two separate GCSEs, each graded from 9 to 1 and each decided by two exams at the end of Year 11. This is what the four papers ask and how the answers are marked.
What GCSE grades 4, 5 and 7 mean
GCSE grades run from 9 down to 1. This is what the grades you hear most about mean, how the marks needed for each are decided, and what happens if your child leaves Year 11 without a 4 in English.
The set texts your child is studying
AQA gives schools a list of texts for each part of the Literature exams, and the school picks one from each. The full list for 2027, what to buy, and where to read and listen for free.
Helping with English revision when it isn’t your subject
You do not need to have read Macbeth to help with Macbeth revision. These are the jobs a parent or carer can do well, and a few to leave alone.
Reading for pleasure at 14 to 16
Only about a third of 14 to 16-year-olds enjoy reading in their free time, although the figure rose in 2026. Choice, audiobooks and a fixed time of day all help, and the English Language exams are built on texts your child has never seen.
What mock exam results tell you
A mock grade tells you where your child’s work stood on one day, months before the real exams. This is how to read it, what to ask the teacher and what to do next.
GCSE English exam dates for 2027
All four of AQA’s GCSE English exams in 2027 are in the morning, between Wednesday 12 May and Tuesday 8 June. These are the dates, checked against AQA’s final timetable and JCQ’s calendar for the year.
Extra time and other access arrangements
Extra time, rest breaks, a computer reader or a word processor are decided by your child’s school, under rules set by JCQ. This is how the decision works and why it pays to raise a need early.
Results day, and asking for a review of marking
GCSE results for 2027 come out on Thursday 19 August. If an English grade looks wrong, only the school can ask AQA to check it, and the grade can go down as well as up.
If your child does not get a grade 4 in English
A student who starts a sixth-form or college course without a grade 4 in English carries on studying English alongside it. The rules for 2026 to 2027, the resit dates and what you can do.
The spoken language endorsement, explained
Alongside the GCSE English Language exams, your child gives a short formal presentation and answers questions on it. It gets its own grade, separate from the 9 to 1 grade. How it works and how to help.
Helping with exam worries
Nerves before exams are normal. What helps at home, what to say before and after each paper, when to talk to the school, and where to turn when worry is more than nerves.
What a grade 4, 6 and 8 answer looks like
The same moment in an essay, written at three grades. These are our own model answers, written for the AQA specification, with notes on what each one does and what the next one adds.
Questions to ask before choosing an English tutor
No law requires checks on a private tutor, so the checks fall to you. Questions to ask about the teaching, about safety and about how you will know it is working.
Talking about the set texts at home
You do not need to have read the books to ask good questions about them. Questions that get a teenager talking, versions to listen to or watch together, and how to keep it short.
English in Years 7 to 9
Years 7 to 9 are Key Stage 3. What the national curriculum asks schools to teach in English, in plain English, with questions for the school and what is due to change.
Support for dyslexia in GCSE English
Dyslexia mainly affects reading and writing, which is most of what the English exams ask for. What the school can do, which exam arrangements may apply, and the tools and habits that help.
Free GCSE English revision resources worth using
AQA’s past papers and mark schemes, the set texts themselves, recordings and filmed productions, and our own free sheets. Everything on this page is free and legal.