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KS3 · iLowerSecondary English · Practice papers · Paper 5: Change
A complete original achievement test modelled exactly on the format of LEH11/01. Theme: change. All three source texts are original works written by The English Hub - they are not taken from any past paper. Work through the paper first, then open the mark scheme to check your answers.
Total marks
70
Time allowed
1 hour 45 minutes
Section A: Reading
40 marks · 22 questions
Section B: Writing
30 marks · 1 task
Instructions
Read all three texts before you begin Section A. Paragraphs are numbered so you can refer to them in your answers.
Text 1 - non-fiction (magazine article (explanatory))
An explanatory article written for The English Hub · Purpose: inform / explain
Few changes in nature are as complete, or as strange, as the one a butterfly makes. The creature that ends the process can fly, drink nectar and travel for miles, yet it begins life as a soft, wingless caterpillar that does little but eat. The journey between these two bodies is called metamorphosis, and it is one of the most dramatic transformations any animal performs.
It starts with hunger. A newly hatched caterpillar is, in effect, an eating machine. It chews through leaf after leaf, growing so quickly that its skin soon becomes too tight. Because that skin cannot stretch forever, the caterpillar moults: it splits the old covering and crawls out wearing a larger one underneath. A single caterpillar may moult several times before it is ready for the next stage.
When it has eaten enough, the caterpillar stops feeding and finds a sheltered spot. There it forms a hard case called a chrysalis, sometimes known as a pupa. From the outside the chrysalis looks still, even lifeless. Inside, however, the most remarkable part of the change is taking place.
Hidden in that quiet case, much of the caterpillar’s body breaks down into a kind of living soup. Out of this, small groups of cells that were there all along begin to build something entirely new: wings, long legs, and a coiled tongue for feeding. The animal is not simply growing up. It is, in a very real sense, being rebuilt.
After a period that may last a week or many months, the case splits open and an adult butterfly climbs out. Its wings are crumpled and damp at first, so it must rest while it pumps fluid into them and lets them harden. Only then can it open them, lift off, and begin the part of its life everyone recognises.
A butterfly does not abandon its old life so much as transform it. The same animal that crawled and chewed now flies and sips, carrying pollen between flowers as it goes. Change, in this case, is not an ending. It is the whole point.
Text 2 - non-fiction (newspaper opinion column (persuasive))
An opinion column about the (fictional) town of Marrowfield · Purpose: persuade / argue
Next month the people of Marrowfield will be asked a simple question: should the old, fenced-off stretch of riverbank be turned into a public walking and cycling path? I have lived in this town for thirty years, and I believe the answer should be a confident yes.
I understand why some neighbours are nervous. Change is uncomfortable, and the riverbank has looked the same for as long as most of us can remember. But "the same" is not the same as "good". That fence has kept families away from the water for a generation. It has kept children indoors when they could have been outdoors. Is that really the Marrowfield we want to protect?
Picture the path on a Saturday morning. Picture older residents walking safely beside the river instead of along a narrow road. Picture children learning to ride a bicycle somewhere green rather than grey. Picture neighbours who have never spoken stopping to talk. None of that is happening behind a locked fence.
The objections we hear most often do not survive a closer look. Some say the path will cost too much; in fact the council has set the money aside and no household will pay a penny more. Others worry about noise and litter, yet every town that has opened a riverside path has reported the opposite - cleaner banks, because people finally care for a place they are allowed to use.
Towns that refuse to change do not stay the same; they slowly fade. Marrowfield has a chance to choose the braver path - quite literally. When the vote comes, please choose it. Our river has waited long enough, and so have we.
Text 3 - fiction (realistic narrative (third person))
An original short story written for The English Hub · Purpose: entertain / describe
The last box was the smallest, and Priya carried it down the stairs as if it might break. The house was empty now in a way it had never been before - no carpet to soften her footsteps, no pictures to tell her which wall was which. Her voice, when she tested it with a quiet "hello", came back to her as a stranger.
She had not wanted any of this. Her parents had used careful words - "a fresh start", "a wonderful opportunity", "you will love it once you settle in" - but careful words, Priya had learned, were the ones adults used when they already knew you would not like the answer. Three hundred miles. A new school. A bedroom she had not chosen.
In the doorway of what used to be her room she stopped. The walls still held faint pale rectangles where her posters had been, like the shadows of things rather than the things themselves. She pressed her palm flat against the cool plaster and, for a moment, refused to take it away.
Her father called from the van, not unkindly, that it was time. Priya did not answer at once. She was looking at the small mark by the window where, years ago, she had stood against the wall while her grandmother drew a pencil line above her head and wrote the date beside it. The line was higher now than she remembered. She had grown into this house, and she was leaving it anyway.
She closed the door softly, the way you close a door on someone who is sleeping. Outside, the morning was bright and ordinary and did not care that anything had ended. Priya climbed into the van, set the small box on her lap, and looked straight ahead - not because she was ready, but because the road only went one way, and she had decided she would rather meet it than be dragged.
All texts above are original works written by The English Hub for this practice paper. Factual content in Text 1 is well-known biology; the town in Text 2 (Marrowfield) is fictional.
Answer ALL questions. Read the three texts in the Source Booklet first. The texts are linked by the theme of change. Total for this section: 40 marks. Recommended time: 1 hour 10 minutes.
In Text 1, paragraph 1, the writer uses the word “dramatic”. Circle ONE word below that is closest in meaning to “dramatic” as it is used here.
Indicative answer: striking
Mark notes: Award 1 mark for “striking” only. Do not credit more than one circled word.
From Text 1, give ONE reason why a caterpillar moults its skin.
Indicative answer: Because it grows so quickly that its skin becomes too tight and cannot stretch any further. Accept any clear reference to the skin being / becoming too tight as it grows.
Mark notes: 1 mark for a precise reason. Do not credit a vague gist such as “to change”.
From Text 1, give TWO new body parts that are built while the caterpillar is inside the chrysalis.
Indicative answer: Any two of: wings; long legs; a coiled tongue (for feeding).
Mark notes: 1 mark for each correct part, up to 2 marks.
In Text 1 the writer describes the inside of the chrysalis as “a kind of living soup”. Put a cross in ONE box to show what this comparison suggests.
Indicative answer: B - much of the body has broken down into a fluid state
Mark notes: 1 mark for B only.
In Text 1, why does the writer say the chrysalis “looks still, even lifeless”, when it is not?
Indicative answer: To create a contrast / surprise: the outside seems calm and inactive, but the most dramatic change is actually happening inside. Accept any answer showing the appearance is misleading.
Mark notes: 1 mark for a clear inference.
In this sentence from Text 1, underline the VERB: “The case splits open and an adult butterfly climbs out.” (Underline the verb in the first part of the sentence: “The case splits open”.)
Indicative answer: “splits”
Mark notes: 1 mark for clearly identifying “splits”. Any clear positive indication (underline, circle) is accepted.
In the final paragraph of Text 1 the writer says: “Change, in this case, is not an ending. It is the whole point.” What did the writer mean by this, and what is its effect on the reader?
Indicative answer: Meaning: for the butterfly, the transformation is not a loss of its old life but the very purpose of its existence - it was always heading towards this. Effect: ends the article on a thoughtful, reassuring note; reframes change as something positive and intended, leaving the reader with a wider message about change itself.
Mark notes: 1 mark for explaining the meaning; 1 mark for the effect on the reader. Do not credit an unexplained lift of the quotation.
From Text 2, what question will the people of Marrowfield be asked next month?
Indicative answer: Whether the old, fenced-off stretch of riverbank should be turned into a public walking and cycling path.
Mark notes: 1 mark for the precise detail.
In Text 2 the writer says “‘the same’ is not the same as ‘good’”. Why has the writer included this idea?
Indicative answer: To challenge people who want to keep things as they are; it suggests that something staying unchanged does not mean it is right or worth keeping, persuading the reader to support change.
Mark notes: 1 mark for a clear inference about the persuasive intention.
In Text 2, paragraph 3, the writer repeats the word “Picture” at the start of four sentences: “Picture the path on a Saturday morning. Picture older residents… Picture children… Picture neighbours…”. Explain the effect of this repetition.
Indicative answer: Effect: the repeated command makes the reader actively imagine the benefits one by one, building a vivid, attractive picture of the future. Linked explanation: stacking the images creates a rhythm and momentum that makes the change feel desirable and almost inevitable, pushing the reader to vote yes.
Mark notes: 1 mark for naming the effect of the repetition (e.g. it builds emphasis / makes the reader imagine the scene). 1 mark for an explanation linked to the text content.
In Text 2 the writer states: “Towns that refuse to change do not stay the same; they slowly fade.” What is the writer’s purpose here, and how does this affect the reader?
Indicative answer: Purpose: to warn the reader that refusing change is not a safe, neutral choice but a harmful one - standing still actually means decline. Effect: creates a sense of risk and urgency, making the reader more willing to vote for the path to avoid the town “fading”.
Mark notes: 1 mark for the writer’s purpose; 1 mark for the effect on the reader.
In this sentence from Text 2, underline the IMPERATIVE verb: “When the vote comes, please choose it.”
Indicative answer: “choose”
Mark notes: 1 mark for identifying “choose”. Any clear positive indication is accepted.
Tick ONE box in each row to show which text uses each feature. (Text 1 is the butterfly article; Text 2 is the Marrowfield opinion column.)
| Feature | Text 1 | Text 2 | Neither |
|---|---|---|---|
| A first-person writer giving a personal opinion | |||
| Step-by-step explanation of a natural process | |||
| A rhetorical question aimed directly at the reader | |||
| Numbered paragraphs replaced by bullet-point lists |
Indicative answer: Row 1 - Text 2; Row 2 - Text 1; Row 3 - Text 2; Row 4 - Neither.
Mark notes: 2 marks for all four rows correct; 1 mark for two or three rows correct; 0 marks for one or none correct.
How does the writer of Text 2 use language to persuade the people of Marrowfield to vote for the path? Make TWO developed points, each supported with evidence from the text.
Indicative answer: Indicative content (any two developed points): (1) the inclusive first person and direct address - “I have lived in this town for thirty years”, “the Marrowfield we want to protect” - builds trust and a shared sense of community; (2) the anaphora of “Picture…” paints an appealing, concrete future that makes change feel desirable; (3) the structured rebuttal of objections - “The objections we hear most often do not survive a closer look” - makes the argument seem fair and reasonable; (4) the warning metaphor “they slowly fade” presents refusing change as a real danger, creating urgency.
Mark notes: Up to 2 marks per developed point: 1 mark for an appropriate point with evidence, 1 mark for explaining the effect on the reader. Maximum 4 marks.
Compare how the writer of Text 1 uses the quotation “Change, in this case, is not an ending. It is the whole point.” and how the writer of Text 2 uses the quotation “Towns that refuse to change do not stay the same; they slowly fade.” to reflect each writer’s purpose. In your answer you should comment on the writers’ use of language and the effect on the reader.
Indicative answer: Indicative comparison: Text 1’s writer uses the calm, balanced contrast of “ending” and “the whole point” to imply that change is natural, positive and purposeful; the word “point” suggests change is the very reason for life, reflecting an explanatory, reassuring purpose that leaves the reader admiring the process. By contrast, Text 2’s writer uses the verb “fade” and the blunt contrast with “stay the same” to imply that refusing change causes loss and decline; this reflects a persuasive purpose designed to make the reader feel anxious about inaction and vote for change. Where Text 1 positions the reader as a calm observer of a wonder of nature, Text 2 positions them as a voter whose decision has consequences.
Mark notes: Mark using the levelled comparison grid (COMPARISON_LEVELS). Top level: a clear explanation of the contrast that infers beyond the literal words, comments on language at word level, and identifies each writer’s purpose and effect on the reader.
Levelled grid
| Level 1 | 1-2 | Response is a simple comment with implicit contrast, referring to either one or two of: deducing, inferring or interpreting information, events or ideas; the use of language at word level; writers’ purpose and viewpoint / overall effect on the reader. |
| Level 2 | 3-4 | Response is an explanation with explicit reference to the contrast, focused on two of: deducing, inferring or interpreting information, events or ideas; the use of language at word level; writers’ purpose and viewpoint / overall effect on the reader. |
| Level 3 | 5-6 | Response is a clear explanation of the contrast, focusing on: deducing, inferring or interpreting information, events or ideas; the use of language at word level; writers’ purpose and viewpoint / overall effect on the reader. |
Which of the two non-fiction texts (Text 1 or Text 2) do you find more appealing to read, and why? Support your answer with evidence from the text you choose.
Indicative answer: Accept either text. Reward a reasonable explanation of preference (e.g. Text 1 is appealing because it reveals a surprising fact such as the body becoming “a kind of living soup”; Text 2 is appealing because its repeated “Picture…” and direct questions make the reader feel involved in the decision).
Mark notes: 1 mark for a reasonable explanation of preference; 1 mark for appropriate supporting evidence from the chosen text.
In Text 3, paragraph 1, the writer says Priya’s voice “came back to her as a stranger”. Circle ONE word below that is closest in meaning to “stranger” as it is used here.
Indicative answer: something unfamiliar
Mark notes: 1 mark for “something unfamiliar” only.
From Text 3, give ONE thing that is changing in Priya’s life because of the move.
Indicative answer: Any one of: she is moving three hundred miles away; she is starting a new school; she will have a bedroom she did not choose; she is leaving the house she grew up in.
Mark notes: 1 mark for any one precise detail.
In Text 3, why does Priya think that “careful words… were the ones adults used when they already knew you would not like the answer”?
Indicative answer: Because she has noticed that adults use gentle, positive phrases to soften bad news; this shows she does not trust the cheerful description and knows the move is something she will dislike.
Mark notes: 1 mark for a clear inference.
In Text 3 the writer says the morning “was bright and ordinary and did not care that anything had ended.” What is the effect of describing the morning as not caring?
Indicative answer: It contrasts the indifferent, unchanged world with Priya’s strong feelings, emphasising how big the change is for her but how small it is to everything else. Effect: makes the reader feel her loneliness and sadness more sharply, and shows that life simply moves on.
Mark notes: 1 mark for explaining the meaning of the indifferent morning; 1 mark for the effect on the reader.
How does the writer of Text 3 use language and structure to show that Priya is upset by the change but is starting to accept it? Make TWO developed points, each supported with evidence.
Indicative answer: Indicative content (any two developed points): (1) the simile of the pale rectangles “like the shadows of things rather than the things themselves” shows her sense of loss as the home empties; (2) the pencil growth line she “had grown into this house, and she was leaving it anyway” uses a small concrete detail to convey a large emotional change; (3) the structural turn in the final paragraph - closing the door “the way you close a door on someone who is sleeping” - marks a quiet, gentle acceptance; (4) the ending “not because she was ready… but because the road only went one way” shows determination replacing resistance.
Mark notes: Up to 2 marks per developed point: 1 mark for a point with appropriate evidence, 1 mark for explaining the effect. Maximum 4 marks.
In Text 3, the writer ends by saying Priya “had decided she would rather meet it than be dragged.” What does this suggest about how Priya is dealing with the change?
Indicative answer: That she has chosen to face the change with some courage and control rather than resisting it; she is beginning to accept it on her own terms instead of being forced.
Mark notes: 1 mark for a clear inference about acceptance / facing change with courage.
Answer the ONE question in this section. You should spend about 35 minutes on it. Total for this section: 30 marks.
The texts in Section A all explore the theme of change - a creature being completely rebuilt, a town deciding whether to change, and one person facing a change she did not choose.
Write the opening of a story in which a character experiences a big change in their life and slowly comes to accept it.
WAO1 indicative content (18 marks): Reward (against the WAO1 grid, 18 marks): a strong narrative form with an engaging hook; a vivid, controlled sense of place; a character whose response to change engages the reader; deliberate structural choices (e.g. a shift from resistance to acceptance, a turning point, a controlled ending); writing fully appropriate to the audience and purpose (entertain). Higher marks for sophisticated audience awareness and stylistic features that fully support purpose.
WAO2 indicative content (12 marks): Reward (against the WAO2 grid, 12 marks): a range of sentence structures and openings used for effect; accurate and increasingly sophisticated punctuation (including commas, dashes, speech marks where used); largely accurate spelling with ambitious vocabulary choices used appropriately and confidently. Penalise frequent errors that impede meaning.
WAO1 - Form, communication and purpose (18 marks)
| S1 | 1-4 |
|
| S2 | 5-9 |
|
| S3 | 10-14 |
|
| S4 | 15-18 |
|
WAO2 - Grammar, punctuation and spelling (12 marks)
| S1 | 1-3 |
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| S2 | 4-6 |
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| S3 | 7-9 |
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| S4 | 10-12 |
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This paper mirrors the real spread of question types. Use this table to see what each one demands.
| Question type | AO | How to answer |
|---|---|---|
| Circle / select the synonym | RAO4 | Read the word in context. Choose the option that could replace it without changing the meaning. Only one answer; do not circle more than one. |
| Short retrieval / "Why…?" | RAO1 | Locate the exact place in the text. Answer in your own words or with a precise short quotation. Mark schemes reward a clear, specific reference, not a vague gist. |
| Multiple choice (A/B/C/D) | RAO2/RAO4 | Re-read the quoted phrase, then test each option against the meaning in context. If you change your mind, put a line through the box and mark the new answer with a cross. |
| Effect of a punctuation mark | RAO3 | One mark for naming the effect of the mark (e.g. an exclamation mark adds emphasis / surprise / excitement). One mark for an explanation linked to the text content. |
| "What did the writer mean…?" / explain the impact | RAO5 | Explain the deeper meaning and the effect on the reader. Avoid lifting the words directly from the text without explanation - the mark scheme does not credit unexplained lifts. |
| Underline the word / verb class | RAO3/RAO4 | Apply grammatical terminology precisely (e.g. imperative, modal, auxiliary, irregular). Any clear positive indication is accepted. |
| Tick which text uses a feature | RAO3 | Scan each text for the named features (e.g. question marks, apostrophes for possession, dashes, brackets). Partial credit is usually available for most rows correct. |
| Compare how two quotations reflect each writer’s purpose | RAO2 + RAO4 + RAO5 | Make an explicit, developed comparison. Move beyond an implicit comment: explain the contrast, comment on language at word level, and state each writer’s purpose and the effect on the reader. |
| Which text is more appealing - with evidence | RAO4 + RAO5 | One mark for a reasonable explanation of preference and one mark for appropriate textual evidence that supports it. |
| Inference ("Why…?") | RAO2 | Read beyond the literal. State the implied reason clearly; a single accurate inference earns the mark. |
| How does the writer show…? (language / structure) | RAO4 + RAO5 | Make two developed points, each with appropriate evidence from the text and an explanation of the effect. Two marks per developed point with evidence. |
| Section B extended writing task | WAO1 + WAO2 | Plan briefly. Match form, audience and purpose. Organise with controlled paragraphs and linked sections. Vary sentences and openings; use accurate grammar, punctuation and spelling. Marked on WAO1 (18) + WAO2 (12). |