GCSE English Part Time

Course information:
GCSE English Part Time

Course content:
GCSE English covers reading, writing, speaking and listening. It aims to develop understanding and application of language in use in a wide variety of different circumstances.
There are three elements of language in use assessed through the coursework and/or exam:

Speaking and listening
You will be given many opportunities to develop your speaking and listening skills. For your coursework, you will need to show you have taken part in a group discussion and a drama-based activity and made an extended individual response, either as part of a group discussion or during a short talk about a subject agreed with your lecturer. Your oral skills form an important part of your coursework portfolio.

Reading
You will need to show you can read and respond to a wide variety of texts. Your coursework will show responses to prose by a well-known writer and drama in the form of a play by Shakespeare. This response may be two written pieces or a written piece and an oral piece in which you discuss one of the texts. For the exam, you will be expected to respond to previously unseen non-fiction writing and poetry, as well as to pre-released writing, including media texts and poems from different cultures.

Writing
For coursework, you will need to write pieces - one showing you can explore, imagine and entertain and the other showing you can inform, explain and describe. In the exams, you must show you can argue, persuade and advise in relation to issues raised by the media texts. You†ll also be expected to analyse, review and comment on previously unseen poetry from other cultures.
If you are taking GCSE in a full-time class, you can work towards Key Skills Communication Level 2. Like GCSE, this requires a written test and a portfolio of work showing skills in speaking and listening, reading and summarising and writing for different purposes. Work produced for GCSE can also be used for the Keys Skills portfolio, provided it reaches the right standard. Key Skills are valued by employers and carry points towards university entrance.

Assessment procedure:
The course is assessed through written examinations and a coursework file. There are two exams - one on pre-released media texts and prose (1 hour, 40 minutes) and the other on pre-released and unseen poetry from other cultures (1½ hours). Together, the exam papers will make up 60% of your final mark.
The coursework file will be made up of three oral activities, two responses to reading and two pieces of personal writing. Together, they will make up 40% of your final mark.

Qualifications achieved:
GCSE English Syllabus B awarded by AQA

Free study and financial support:
Many part-time students at South Tyneside College do not have to pay for their course. We may also be able to help you with some of the extra costs associated with college, eg travel, childcare, equipment, books etc. In addition, depending on the course and the number of hours a week you study, you may be eligible for an Adult Learners†Grant. Please ask us about free study and financial support when you apply.