CCEA GCSE English Language (490) Past Papers 2026

Writing for Purpose and Audience and Reading to Access Non-fiction and Media Texts

Duration: 1h 45m

Speaking and Listening (Controlled Assessment)

Duration: 20-minute moderated discussion

Studying Spoken and Written Language (Controlled Assessment)

Duration: 60 minutes per task under controlled conditions

Personal or Creative Writing and Reading Literary and Non-fiction Texts

Duration: 1h 45m

Analysis and evaluation of writer's craft — consistent gap across all reading tasks

Every report across all three years explicitly states that analysis and evaluation of the writer's craft are where candidates fall short, particularly in Units 1 and 4 Task 2 and Task 4. The 2025 overview noted that 'some scripts contained no reference to writer's intentions nor writer's craft'. Identification without analysis is the most widespread performance gap in the qualification.

Unit 1, Unit 4

Task 5 — presentational device analysis: vague or self-limiting choices

Examiners repeated the same warning in 2023, 2024 and 2025: candidates must name a specific presentational feature and explain its effect on the reader, not simply write 'colour' or 'image'. In 2025, candidates who chose obscure details (e.g. the Eiffel Tower in the background) were unable to generate meaningful analysis. Confusing 'intended effect on the audience' with 'audience appeal' was also flagged in 2025.

Unit 1, Unit 4

Unit 3 Task 1 — delivery techniques overlooked relative to linguistic techniques

Across all three years the Unit 3 Moderation Team flagged that delivery techniques had been 'marginalised or overlooked by some candidates'. In 2025, candidates using phrases such as 'the speaker effectively' or 'the speaker successfully' were not awarded Competence Level 5 because these phrases do not constitute evaluation of delivery or linguistic impact.

Unit 3

Unit 4 Task 2 comparison — making genuine comparative points rather than juxtaposing observations

The 2024 and 2025 Unit 4 reports both flagged that comparative connectives do not guarantee a comparative answer. In 2025, candidates who identified a technique in Text A then an unrelated technique in Text B could not earn marks for comparative analysis. Some candidates failed to make any comparative points at all, limiting their attainment in the first assessment strand.

Unit 4

Unit 2 Speaking and Listening — reaching Levels 4 and 5: challenge, interrogation and initiation

Disparities between teacher and moderator marks consistently occur at the Level 3/4 boundary and the Level 4/5 boundary. The 2025 report noted that candidates can be 'fluent and present complex ideas with confidence, but then fail to question, interrogate or initiate debate with others'. Level 5 requires challenge and interrogation, not polite agreement. The 2023 report found some centres awarding Level 5 where 'there was no evidence in moderation of an assured and confident use of language'.

Unit 2

Task 3 — bringing in personal knowledge or prior opinions instead of staying within the text

In 2023, candidates were reminded that Task 3(c) fared less well because candidates brought 'their own prior knowledge about happiness'. In 2025, 'a significant minority of candidates used the text as a springboard to talk about their own views on Artificial Intelligence rather than dealing with the material that had been presented within the article'. All answers must be grounded exclusively in the text provided.

Unit 1, Unit 4

Writing Task 1 — SPaG: paragraphing and accurate punctuation, especially in word-processed responses

Paragraphing was identified as 'a significant area of weakness in a high number of scripts' in 2025. Random semi-colons, exclamation marks mid-sentence, and absent capitalisation for proper nouns recurred across 2024 and 2025. The 2023 report described 'entire pages with no punctuation' in word-processed scripts. American spellings increased in 2025.

Unit 1, Unit 4

Social media 'advice' undermining examination performance

The 2024 and 2025 Subject Overviews both explicitly warned that unregulated advice from social media platforms 'seems to be having a negative impact on examination performance' (2024) and 'an adverse impact on examination performance' (2025). The 2025 report also cited candidates absorbing misinformation (e.g. a fictional Italian educator inventing homework in 1905) from unverified online sources.

Unit 1, Unit 4