SPEC 8700 • EXAM FOUNDATIONS
AQA 8700: Overview & Exam Structure
Before we touch a past paper or analyse a single quotation — what's tested, where, how marks are distributed, and how to spend your time in the exam room.
You Sit Two Written Papers
Two papers. No coursework counts toward the grade. The Spoken Language endorsement is reported separately and contributes nothing to your final letter grade — for exam preparation, ignore it.
Paper 1
Explorations in Creative Reading and Writing
Time: 1h 45min
Marks: 80
Weighting: 50% of GCSE
Paper 2
Writers' Viewpoints and Perspectives
Time: 1h 45min
Marks: 80
Weighting: 50% of GCSE
Identical Architecture
Same length, same total marks, same weighting. The papers test different skills on different source types — but they're built to the same scaffold.
Two Papers, Two Worlds
The papers share an architecture, but the texts they put in front of you are completely different. This shapes everything else.
Paper 1 — Fiction
One unseen prose fiction extract.
From either the 20th or 21st century. You then write your own piece of fiction — a description or a narrative — in response to a written prompt or image.
Paper 2 — Non-fiction
One non-fiction text + one literary non-fiction text, linked by theme.
One is always from the 19th century; the other from whichever century isn't used in Paper 1 that series. Genres can include articles, journalism, essays, travel writing, letters, diaries, autobiography. You then write a piece arguing your point of view on a related issue.
Why It Matters
Paper 2 puts a 19th-century text in front of you every time. Get comfortable reading older registers — Dickens, Brontë, period journalism — well before the exam. That single habit raises your Paper 2 ceiling more than any other.
The 40/40 Split
Both papers split their 80 marks exactly in half. This balance matters more than students realise — and we'll come back to it on the next slide.
40
Reading (Section A)
40
Writing (Section B)
Implication for Time
You'll spend roughly equal time on each section in each paper. We'll set out exact timings on slide 11.
The Six Assessment Objectives
The exam tests six AOs, weighted unequally. Each one is tested in specific places — knowing where each AO lives is the foundation of every revision plan in this course.
AOWhat It TestsWhere Tested% of GCSE
AO1Identifying, interpreting & synthesising informationP1 Q1, P2 Q1, P2 Q210%
AO2Analysing language & structure for effectP1 Q2, P1 Q3, P2 Q317.5%
AO3Comparing writers' ideas & perspectivesP2 Q4 only10%
AO4Evaluating texts critically with evidenceP1 Q4 only12.5%
AO5Communicating clearly; adapting style for purpose & audienceP1 Q5, P2 Q530%
AO6Vocabulary, sentence structures, spelling, punctuationP1 Q5, P2 Q520%
The Fact Most Students Miss
Add up the two writing AOs (AO5 and AO6) and you get the size of the elephant standing in the room.
30%
AO5 (Writing)
+ 20%
AO6 (Technical)
50%
Total = Writing
The Trap
Half your grade comes from your two pieces of extended writing on Q5 of each paper. Most students underweight writing and over-prepare reading — partly because reading feels more like a school subject, and partly because there are simply more reading questions to practise. Don't fall into that trap. The two Q5s are where half the marks live.
AO6 Alone Is 20%
Of every individual AO, AO6 is the second-heaviest. And here's the thing about that 20% weighting:
Mandated by Ofqual
The 20% weighting on technical accuracy isn't an AQA choice — it's mandated by Ofqual for every English Language GCSE in England, regardless of exam board. It can't be reduced, ignored, or compensated for.
What This Means In Practice
A student who writes brilliantly imaginative content but with persistent SPaG errors will lose substantial marks regardless of how creative they are. Sentence variety, vocabulary range, accurate spelling and accurate punctuation are not "polish" — they are 20% of your final grade.
Paper 1 — Question by Question
Five questions. The marks are not evenly distributed — Q5 alone matches the entire reading section. Memorise these tariffs.
Proportional view — bar width = share of marks
Q1·4
Q2·8
Q3·8
Q4·20
Q5·40
List four things
Language
Structure
Evaluation
Description / Narrative
Reading Side
Q1 = 4 marks (list four things). Q2 = 8 (language). Q3 = 8 (structure). Q4 = 20 (evaluation in response to a student's statement, on the second part of the source).
Writing Side
Q5 = 40 marks, internally split as 24 marks for content & organisation (AO5) + 16 marks for technical accuracy (AO6). This split is printed at Q5 on every paper. You choose between writing a description or writing a narrative.
Paper 2 — Question by Question
Five questions again, but the reading-side tariffs shift: Q1 stays at 4, but Q3 climbs to 12 and Q4 to 16. Memorise the differences.
Proportional view — bar width = share of marks
Q1·4
Q2·8
Q3·12
Q4·16
Q5·40
True statements
Summary
Language
Compare perspectives
Argue your viewpoint
Reading Side
Q1 = 4 (multiple choice — shade four true statements). Q2 = 8 (summarise differences across both texts). Q3 = 12 (language analysis on a single source). Q4 = 16 (compare how the two writers convey their perspectives).
Writing Side
Q5 = 40 marks, internally split as 24 marks for content & organisation (AO5) + 16 marks for technical accuracy (AO6) — same split as P1 Q5. You argue your point of view on a contemporary issue, in a specified form (article, speech, or letter) for a specified audience. No choice.
One Question = Half The Paper
Look at the maths once more. On either paper, Question 5 is worth 40 marks. The entire reading section (Q1 through Q4) is worth 40 marks.
Q1–Q4
All Four Reading Questions
= 40 marks
One Writing Question
= 40 marks
The Single Biggest Risk
A weak Q5 answer is the single biggest single-question loss available to a student in either paper. You cannot grind out enough reading marks to cover a 15-mark Q5 disaster. Treat Q5 as the centre of gravity of each paper, not the afterthought.
Inside that 40 marks
Each Q5 is split 24 (content & organisation, AO5) + 16 (technical accuracy, AO6). That's 32 SPaG marks total across both papers — and it's exactly why AO6 weighs 20% of the qualification (32 ÷ 160 = 20%). The maths is built into the paper.
Timing Plan: Both Papers
The papers print their own timing advice. Here's exactly what every paper says — and the structure that follows from it.
"You are advised to spend about 15 minutes reading through the sources and all five questions you have to answer." · "You are advised to spend about 45 minutes on this section." (printed at both Section A and Section B) — Printed on every paper
15 min
Read & Mark Up
Highlight phrases. P2: identify each writer's position.
45 min
Section A (Reading)
P1: 3 / 10 / 10 / 22 · P2: 3 / 8 / 12 / 22
45 min
Section B (Writing)
5 plan + 35 write + 5 check SPaG
Total = 105 minutes
Fifteen reading. Forty-five Section A. Forty-five Section B. The five-minute SPaG check at the end recovers AO6 marks faster than any other use of those five minutes.
The Highest-Value Five Minutes
The question paper itself contains a quiet but binding instruction. It appears next to Question 5 on every paper, every series:
"You are advised to plan your answer to Question 5 before you start to write." — Printed on every Q5, AQA 8700
Treat It As Binding
The five-minute plan at the start of Question 5 is the highest-value time in the entire exam. Skipping it costs four to eight marks every time — every series, every cohort, every examiner report. Plan first, write second. Always.
What Isn't In The Exam
A few things are sometimes mistakenly expected. Strike them off your worry list:
✗ No calculator
✗ No formula sheet
✗ No required practicals — this isn't a science
✗ No compulsory texts to study in advance — every text is unseen
✗ No tier choice (no Foundation / Higher split)
✗ No paper choice — you sit both
What You Bring
Pen, ruler and pencil. That's it.
Six Facts To Memorise Now
Six facts you should be able to state without thinking by the end of this course. Memorise them today — every other lesson assumes them.
2
Papers
105
Minutes per paper
80
Marks per paper
50%
Each paper of grade
50%
Writing of qualification
20%
AO6 alone
Self-Test
Cover this slide. Recite the six numbers. If any of them feel shaky, rewatch from slide 5. Every other lesson in this course assumes you can produce these without checking.
Checkpoint
Before moving to Lesson 2 (Paper 1, Question 1: List four things), you should now be able to:
State Without Checking
How many papers there are, how long each one is, and what each is worth.
What each paper covers — Paper 1 fiction; Paper 2 one non-fiction text + one literary non-fiction text (one always 19th century).
The AO weightings — at least roughly — and which AO is tested where.
Why writing matters more than most students assume (50% of the qualification).
An outline timing plan for either paper — 15 / 45 / 45.
What's Next
Lesson 2 — Paper 1 Question 1: the easiest four marks in either paper, and the three rules that decide whether you score 4/4 or lose them through carelessness.
Before You Move On
If any of the bullets above feel shaky, rewind. Everything in the rest of this course assumes them — and Lesson 2 starts at Paper 1 Question 1, with no further recap.
Next: You Sit Two Written Papers