What the exam looks like & how to manage it

The single paper

There is just one paper to sit: LEH11/01. It is one externally-set achievement test (externally assessed), lasts 1 hour 45 minutes, and is marked out of 70. It is split into two sections that you answer in the same booklet.

The two recommended times add up to less than the full paper length, which leaves you reading and checking time built in - use it.

The Source Booklet

Section A is answered against a separate Source Booklet. It contains three unseen texts you will not have seen before: two non-fiction texts and one fiction text. All three are linked by a common theme. That shared theme matters - it is what lets the paper ask you to compare across texts, and the Section B writing task is related to the same theme. So the reading you do in Section A also feeds the ideas you will need for your writing.

Timing strategy

Section A: Reading is worth 40 marks; aim to spend about 1 hour 10 minutes on it. Section B: Writing is worth 30 marks; aim for about 35 minutes. Within Section A:

1. 1.Read the Source Booklet

   Read one text at a time, in the order it is set. Read each text right through before you look at the questions on it. This is the approach Pearson itself recommends - it stops you skim-reading and missing the writer’s purpose.

2. 2.Answer Section A in order

   Work through the questions on each text before moving to the next. The marks in brackets are a time guide: a 1-mark item should take far less time than a 6-mark item.

3. 3.Leave the comparison time

   The extended comparison question carries the most marks in Section A. Keep enough time for a developed, explicit comparison rather than a rushed implicit comment.

Answering conventions

• ·For closed questions, put a clear cross in the box. Make it unambiguous - one box only.
• ·If you change your mind, put a line through the box you no longer want and mark your new answer with a cross.
• ·When you are asked to underline or circle, do it clearly. A single, obvious mark is what the examiner credits.
• ·Treat the marks in brackets as a time guide: a 1-mark answer is short; a 6-mark answer needs development.
• ·No dictionaries are allowed in the exam - spelling and vocabulary are assessed in Section B.

The question journey

Section A moves from quick, closed retrieval and vocabulary items towards longer, higher-tariff analysis and comparison; Section B is one extended writing task. Here is the typical run of question types you will meet, with what each one is testing and how to answer it.

Marks and formats above are typical of the question types - the exact wording, order and number of items can vary between papers.

Exam-day checklist

• ☐Bring black or blue pen - and a spare pen.
• ☐Know that there is one paper, one Source Booklet, and that you answer every question in Section A.
• ☐Check you have the Source Booklet as well as the question paper before you start.
• ☐No dictionaries - do not plan to look words up.
• ☐Write your answers in the spaces provided; if you need more room, use the continuation pages and label clearly.
• ☐Keep an eye on the clock against the recommended split between the two sections.

Common mistakes to avoid

• ×Skim-reading the Source Booklet and missing the writer’s purpose, then having to re-read mid-question.
• ×Lifting words straight from the text without explaining them - unexplained lifts are not credited on impact questions.
• ×Ticking or crossing more than one box on a closed question, so no mark can be given.
• ×Spending too long on 1-mark items and running out of time for the high-tariff comparison and the writing task.
• ×Writing a vague, implicit comparison instead of an explicit, developed one.
• ×Leaving no time to plan and check Section B, where grammar, punctuation and spelling are assessed.