The Component 3 coursework (Investigating and Creating Texts) for Edexcel: the non-exam assessment of original writing plus an analytical commentary, its two assignments, word counts, marks and how AO5 and AO1 to AO4 are assessed and moderated.

What this dot point is asking

Component 3, Investigating and Creating Texts, is the non-exam assessment (coursework), worth 60 marks and 20% of the A-level. It has two assignments: a piece of original writing (assessed for AO5) and an analytical commentary (assessed for AO1 to AO4). Edexcel wants you to understand the structure of the coursework, the word counts and mark allocations, what each assignment assesses, and how it is marked internally and moderated by Pearson. Knowing the shape and demands of the component is the foundation for the craft of the writing and the rigour of the commentary, which the other dot points in this module develop.

The answer

The structure of the coursework

The component is investigating and creating: you investigate published texts (your style models and your wider reading) and you create your own texts informed by them. The two assignments are linked: the commentary analyses the writing, so the writing must be made with the commentary in mind, and the commentary draws on the same integrated method you apply to any text. Together they test whether you can both produce crafted English and analyse the craft, which is the full range of the integrated subject.

The two assignments and their marks

The original writing assignment asks you to produce crafted pieces in chosen genres, each based on a published style model you analyse and emulate. It is judged on how convincingly the writing fits its genre, audience and purpose, and on the quality of its craft: voice, register, structure, precision. The analytical commentary asks you to analyse your own writing as a text, explaining your choices with metalanguage, connecting them to your style models and studied texts, and engaging the relevant context. It is judged on the rigour of the analysis, not on a narrative of the writing process.

How it is assessed and moderated

The coursework is marked internally by your teachers against Pearson's criteria, then a sample is moderated by Pearson to confirm the marking is accurate and consistent across schools. This means the work is judged by the published mark scheme, so understanding the criteria (what AO5 rewards in the writing, what AO1 to AO4 reward in the commentary) lets you target the marks. It also means the work must be your own, properly referenced where it draws on style models and sources, and produced under the supervised conditions the specification requires.

Examples in context

Example 1. Fiction plus creative non-fiction. A common folder pairs a piece of short fiction with a piece of creative non-fiction (memoir, travel writing, feature). Each is modelled on a published style model and crafted for AO5, and the commentary analyses the choices across both, connecting them to the models.

Example 2. The commentary as integrated analysis. The commentary applies the same integrated method used across the course, but to your own writing: a claim about a choice, the named feature, its effect, and its link to the style model. This continuity means the analytical skills you build for the exams directly serve the coursework.

Try this

Q1. What are the two assignments in Component 3, and what does each assess? [3 marks]

• Cue. Original writing (assessed for AO5) and an analytical commentary (assessed for AO1 to AO4).

Q2. How is the coursework marked? [2 marks]

• Cue. Internally by the school against Pearson's criteria, then moderated by Pearson to confirm consistency across centres.

Q3. Why must the original writing be planned with the commentary in mind? [2 marks]

• Cue. The commentary analyses the writing's choices, so making deliberate, justifiable choices in the writing gives the commentary precise material to analyse.