New series: Creative writing & exam technique — clear, practical help for GCSE students

A new series that aims t guide students to achieve success in their GCSE English exams

I’m launching a weekly/fortnightly strand on Substack (subscribe to **Lises bookcase or [The exam shelf](https://theexamshelf.substack.com/)* on Substack) that gives plain-spoken, classroom-tried advice to secondary students who want to improve the creative writing and* language & literature exam skills that examiners keep flagging.

As an examiner, I hope this series is effective in supporting students of all levels.

As a teacher, I will introduce my tried and tested approach which has helped numerous students improve their writing and reading skills — sometimes rapidly.

Why this series?

Over recent exam cycles, the boards and principal examiners have been explicit about where students repeatedly lose marks: basic sentence and punctuation errors, weak paragraphing, superficial quotation and explanation in literature answers, muddled structure in narratives and in answers about structure, and responses that describe rather than analyse. I’ll be using real exam papers and examiner reports (primarily AQA and Pearson/Edexcel past papers and reports) to show what examiners expect — and to give students easy, repeatable strategies to improve.

What I’ll focus on (and why)

Below are the recurring problem areas that both examiners and classroom teachers consistently report. Each post will pick one area, give short examples from real past papers, and offer drills and model answers students can adapt.

1. Sentence-level accuracy and punctuation. Examiner reports repeatedly list missing capitals, comma splices, incorrect apostrophes and mis-spelt basic vocabulary as common errors that reduce clarity and marks. Tight sentence craft isn’t just “nice to have” — it’s the foundation of higher-level marks.
2. Paragraphing and structural clarity. Examiners note that poorly signposted paragraphs and unclear structural choices limit the effectiveness of communication in both creative (usually GCSE Paper 1) and transactional writing (usually GCSE Paper 2). We’ll practice paragraph “signposts” and structural maps you can use under timed conditions.
3. Quotation selection and close analysis (Literature). In literature papers, many candidates either embed tiny, unsupported quotations or drop in long quotations without analysing them. Examiners favour focused, well-explained evidence that’s explicitly linked to Assessment Objectives. Posts will show how to choose a short, powerful quotation and how to unpack it sentence-by-sentence (some teachers refer to this as “exploding the quote”.
4. Answering structure questions (how to write about structure in extracts). Students often describe what happens instead of explaining how structural features (shifts in perspective, sentence length, paragraph breaks, repetition) create meaning. I’ll give a small “structure toolkit” students can use to label and explain effects fast during an exam. (We’ll use past exam extracts for practice.)
5. Writing coherently under time constraints (creative & transactional). Many students produce engaging ideas but lose marks through poor planning, rushed endings, or inconsistent tone. We’ll practise quick planning templates that preserve creativity while meeting the mark scheme. Examiner feedback shows planning and organisation are decisive.
6. Balancing vocabulary and control. Examiners sometimes flag “over-ambitious” vocabulary used inaccurately — words shouldn’t be showy if their use weakens clarity. You’ll see model revisions that keep strong vocabulary but remove uncertain phrasing.
7. Exam-board focus — why AQA and Pearson/Edexcel (and how this helps you)

Most of the GCSE English Language and Literature exams in England use AQA or Pearson/Edexcel specifications, and both publish examiner reports and mark schemes that explain common candidate errors and what examiners reward. I’ll use AQA past papers and mark schemes for the practical worked examples (because they’re widely used and accessible), but the techniques are directly adaptable to Edexcel, WJEC/Eduqas, and others. Where a board’s wording or assessment objective differs materially, I’ll note that explicitly.

Evidence — a quick tour of the data that shaped this series

• Pearson’s examiners’ reports highlight frequent basic punctuation and spelling errors, weak paragraphing, and limitations in sentence structure among lower-performing candidates — recurring issues that reduce clarity and communication marks. These real, board-produced reports are an anchor for the series.
• Literature examiners’ reports from major boards flag that many answers rely on description or brief, unsupported quotations rather than explicit, AO-focused analysis of language/structure/meaning. That’s why I’ll model concise, AO-linked analysis.
• Sector commentary and regulator reporting (Ofqual and impartial commentary in the press) also underline that marking reliability and exam design are under scrutiny — making it more important than ever that students write clearly, answer precisely, and show the reasoning examiners are trained to reward. I’ll point to the relevant examiners’ language so you can see exactly what gets rewarded.

How the series will be organised (what to expect — expect a few tweeks or changes as the series progresses)

Each post will be bite-size and practical:

• Week 1 — Quick wins: five edits you can make to any paragraph to get an instant clarity boost (one-page checklist + model before/after).
• Week 2 — Paragraph mapping: how to structure a narrative or extract answer in 6 minutes using a simple box diagram.
• Week 3 — Quotation clinic: choose, embed, and analyse a quotation in 60 seconds. (Includes AQA Paper 1 extract practice.)
• Week 4 — Punctuation drills: comma splice fixes, apostrophes, and sentence variety practice.
• Week 5 — Tone & audience: transforming a bland paragraph into a targeted piece for a magazine/audience question.
• Then: timed mock walkthroughs, mark-scheme commentary, and annotated exemplar answers pulled from past papers.

Each post will include:

• A short explanation of the relevant Assessment Objectives (AOs) and how marks are allocated.
• Real past-paper extracts (we’ll primarily use AQA papers) and examiner-report snippets so you can see examiner language.
• A clear “how to practise” plan for classroom or independent work (5–15 minute activities).
• A downloadable checklist / quick rubric students can use before handing in an answer.

A short example: the paragraph checklist (use this now)

Before you hand in a creative piece or an exam response, run this 6-point check:

1. Topic sentence? (Does the paragraph have a clear controlling idea?)
2. Evidence/effect? (Have you used a quotation or specific example and explained its effect?)
3. AO link? (Have you stated which AO you are addressing, even briefly — e.g. ‘shows character through…’?)
4. Sentence variety? (No repeated short, choppy sentences unless it’s deliberate.)
5. Punctuation & capitals? (Scan for comma splices, missing capitals for ‘I’ and sentence starts, apostrophes, and the correct uses of the em dash ( — ), the hyphen (-), and the en dash (–) ).
6. Mini-conclusion/*segue? (Does it end with a line that links to the next paragraph?) *segue: moving from scene to scene without interruption

I’ll expand this into printable checklists and quick self-mark rubrics.

What teachers and parents can expect

• For teachers: ready-to-use mini-lessons and homework prompts based on recent examiner reports. These are classroom-tested (I’m a teacher myself) and designed to slot into 10–30 minute starter/plenary activities.
• For parents: short explanations you can use when you help at home — “what the examiner is looking for” in language you can use across boards.
• For students: clear, bite-size routines you can repeat — and model answers that show the difference between “describing” and “analysing”. I’ll also show you how to improve your grade from a grade 4 to 5, grade 5 to 6, and so on.

About evidence and fairness

I will quote and link to examiners’ reports, mark schemes and regulator commentary so you can see the primary sources for the advice. Where possible I’ll reference the most recent examiner reports and summer series commentary from the awarding organisations and Ofqual so the guidance reflects how examiners have been marking in the last series. (I’ll note dates for every report.)

Quick note on marking debates

You might have read coverage about marking reliability or re-marks in the press. Those debates make it more important that student writing is precise and clearly linked to the AOs — because when answers are unclear, marking variation can have a bigger impact. I’ll explain how to make answers robust to different markers by using clear, AO-driven phrasing.