Inference and deduction: reading between the lines to work out implied meanings, attitudes and feelings, and supporting each inference with evidence from the text (AO2).

What this dot point is asking

Beyond simple retrieval, the WJEC reading sections ask you to infer: to work out implied meanings, attitudes and feelings that the text does not state outright. To score, you make valid inferences and support each one with precise evidence from the unseen text, developing what the evidence implies. The skill is part of AO2 reading.

What inference means

Inference is the leap from what the text says to what it implies.

Make the inference, then prove it

A bare inference and a bare quotation both fall short; the marks live in the link between them.

Build several inferences

A 10-mark impressions or attitude question rewards range. One inference, however good, cannot reach the top alone.

Aim for three or four evidenced inferences, ideally tracking a consistent picture (the writer's growing unease, or a steady disapproval) across the text. Range plus consistency reads as genuine understanding.

Keep it valid

An inference must be supportable from the text. Wild over-reading loses credit as surely as retelling. There is a band of valid readings the text allows, and your inference must fall inside it. "The writer is uneasy" is supportable from a "groaning" door; "the writer is planning a crime" is not, because nothing in the text licenses it. The test is simple: could you point to the words that make your inference reasonable? If you can, the inference is anchored; if you are filling gaps with imagination, you have drifted into guessing, which markers do not reward.

How inference questions appear on the paper

WJEC inference tasks are usually phrased as "what impressions do you get" or "what can you infer about the writer's feelings or attitude", and they carry a higher tariff than retrieval, often around ten marks. The higher tariff signals that range and development matter: the marker wants several evidenced inferences, each explained, building a coherent picture rather than one good point repeated. Because the texts are unseen, the only way to prepare is to practise the move on fresh passages until making and proving an inference becomes automatic. The reward is that inference underpins the analysis and evaluation questions too, so the skill pays off across the whole reading section.

Try this

Q1. What three parts make a complete inference answer? [3 marks]

• Cue. The inference, the evidence, and an explanation of what the evidence implies.

Q2. Why does a retell of events stay in the lowest band? [2 marks]

• Cue. It states what happens without working out any implied meaning, so it shows no inference for AO2 to reward.