CCEA GCSE English Language: complete guide to the units, the skills and the assessment

CCEA GCSE English Language (first teaching 2017) is a linear course set and marked by CCEA in Northern Ireland. It is assessed by two external written exams, one controlled assessment unit, and a separately reported Speaking and Listening endorsement. Every text in the written exams is unseen, so the real subject is transferable reading and writing skill, not memorised content. This page is the index: below is a map of the units, the skill strands, the assessment objectives, and how to study each part.

The CCEA English Language units

The specification is built around four units, three of which count towards the grade.

Unit 1, Writing for Purpose and Audience and Reading to Access Non-Fiction and Media Texts. A 1 hour 45 minute external exam worth 30 percent. One section asks for writing in a chosen form (article, letter, speech, report, leaflet or blog) for a stated purpose and audience; the other asks reading questions on unseen non-fiction and media texts.

Unit 2, Speaking and Listening

Controlled assessment reported as a separate endorsement (Pass, Merit or Distinction). It assesses AO1 across a presentation, a group discussion and a role play, and does not count towards the 9 to 1 grade.

Unit 3, Studying Spoken and Written Language

Controlled assessment worth 30 percent, with two analytical tasks: a study of spoken language and a study of written or media language.

Unit 4, Personal or Creative Writing and Reading Literary and Non-Fiction Texts

A 1 hour 45 minute external exam worth 40 percent. One section asks for personal or creative writing; the other asks reading questions on unseen literary and non-fiction texts.

The skill strands

Because the exam texts are unseen, this site groups the course into transferable skill strands rather than set content.

• Reading non-fiction and media (Unit 1) - explicit and implicit meaning, purpose and audience, presentational devices, language devices and effect, fact, opinion and bias, and comparing texts.
• Writing for purpose and audience (Unit 1) - matching form, purpose and audience, register and tone, structuring a whole text, persuasive and rhetorical craft, and technical accuracy.
• Personal and creative writing (Unit 4) - personal and reflective writing, narrative writing, descriptive writing, reading unseen literary texts, reading unseen non-fiction, and comparing across texts.
• Spoken language (Unit 3) - studying how spoken language varies, the features of real talk, Standard and non-standard English, studying written and media language, and analysing transcripts and multimodal texts.
• Speaking and listening (Unit 2) - the individual presentation, the group discussion, the role play, and listening, responding and using Standard English.

The assessment objectives

Every mark is awarded against the assessment objectives, so mastering them as skills matters more than any single text.

• AO1 - speak clearly and purposefully, adapt talk to audience, listen and respond, and interact with others (Speaking and Listening endorsement only).
• AO2 - read and understand texts, select and compare material, sustain interpretations of writers' ideas, and explain and evaluate how writers use linguistic, grammatical, structural and presentational features to influence the reader.
• AO3 - write to communicate clearly, effectively and imaginatively, adapting form and vocabulary, and organise ideas into coherent, cohesive texts.
• AO4 - use a range of sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect, with accurate punctuation and spelling.

Reading uses AO2; writing uses AO3 and AO4; the Speaking and Listening endorsement uses AO1.

Assessment structure

English Language is assessed by two written exams and one controlled assessment, plus the endorsement.

• Unit 1, Writing for Purpose and Audience and Reading to Access Non-Fiction and Media Texts - 1 hour 45 minutes, 30 percent. Writing (AO3 and AO4) and reading of non-fiction and media texts (AO2).
• Unit 2, Speaking and Listening - controlled assessment, reported as a separate endorsement (AO1). It does not count towards the 9 to 1 grade.
• Unit 3, Studying Spoken and Written Language - controlled assessment, 30 percent. Two analytical tasks on spoken and on written or media language (AO2, AO3 and AO4).
• Unit 4, Personal or Creative Writing and Reading Literary and Non-Fiction Texts - 1 hour 45 minutes, 40 percent. Personal or creative writing (AO3 and AO4) and reading of literary and non-fiction texts (AO2).

How to study English Language

This subject rewards transferable skill over memorised content, because the exam texts are unseen.

1. Build the reading skills in order. Move from locating explicit and implicit meaning to identifying purpose and audience, to analysing presentational and language devices, to separating fact from opinion, to comparing texts.
2. Always link method to effect. Naming a device earns little; explaining its effect on the reader and on meaning is what AO2 rewards.
3. Plan and craft your writing. Plan before you write, match form to purpose and audience, control register, structure the whole text, and craft strong openings and endings, because AO3 rewards control.
4. Protect your accuracy marks. AO4 rewards a range of sentence structures with accurate punctuation and spelling, so leave time to check.
5. Prepare your controlled assessment and talk early. Build the spoken and written language analyses with annotated evidence, and rehearse the Speaking and Listening tasks so they are polished.

The skill strands, dot point by dot point

Each strand has skill-level answer pages with practice questions and cross-links, plus a deep-dive overview guide and a quiz. Browse the full set at /ccea-gcse/english-language/syllabus.

For the official specification

CCEA publishes the full specification, past papers and mark schemes at ccea.org.uk. Always revise from the current CCEA specification and CCEA's own past papers, because question wording and mark schemes are board-specific.