Edexcel A-Level Urdu: Translation into Urdu and Written Response to Works (9UR0)

This guide covers Paper 2: Translation into Urdu and Written Response to Works, the second of three papers in Pearson Edexcel GCE A-Level Urdu (9UR0). Where Paper 1 tests translation into English alongside independent research, Paper 2 reverses the translation direction and adds the qualification’s literature and film component – knowledge of the prescribed works is assessed here and nowhere else in the qualification.

Where this fits in 9UR0

Paper 2 is worth 30% of the A-level, but carries the highest raw mark total of the three papers: 110 marks over 2 hours 40 minutes, compared with 80 marks for Paper 1 and 60 for Paper 3. This reflects the weighting of two substantial extended-response essays sitting alongside the translation section. For the qualification’s structure as a whole and Paper 1 detail, see the Paper 1 study guide.

Syllabus coverage

PEARSON EDEXCEL A-LEVEL URDU (9UR0) — PAPER 2 (2 HOURS 40 MINUTES, 110 MARKS, 30% OF A-LEVEL)

• Section A: Translation into Urdu (20 marks, recommended 30 minutes) – candidates translate one unseen passage from English into Urdu. As in Paper 1’s translation section, marking is points-based: the passage is divided into 20 “chunks”, each worth one mark, with non-grammatical misspellings tolerated as long as they do not create ambiguity or belong to a different word. Verb and adjective endings, however, must be correct and are not treated as tolerable spelling variation.

• Section B: Written response to works — literary texts (45 marks, recommended 1 hour 5 minutes per response) – candidates write an extended response to one or two of the prescribed literary texts, from a choice of two questions per text.

• Section C: Written response to works — films (45 marks, recommended 1 hour 5 minutes) – candidates who answered only one literary-text question in Section B write a second extended response on one of the prescribed films, from a choice of two questions.

In total, every candidate produces two extended responses to works: either two literary-text essays (completing Section B twice and skipping Section C), or one literary-text essay plus one film essay. The prescribed list, set by Pearson Edexcel, currently comprises three literary texts – including a well-known essay collection by the Urdu humorist Ahmad Shah Bukhari (“Patras”), alongside a novel and a play – and three films. Candidates study either one literary text and one film, or two literary texts.

Sections B and C are each marked against three levels-based criteria: critical and analytical response to the work (AO4), range of grammatical structures and vocabulary (AO3), and accuracy of language (AO3). Across the whole paper, the assessment objective weighting is AO3 (accuracy and range, 20%) and AO4 (critical/cultural response, 10%) – Paper 2 carries no AO1 or AO2 marks at all, unlike Papers 1 and 3.

How to approach it

Because Section A is marked chunk by chunk, the same discipline that helps Paper 1’s translation applies here in reverse: work through the passage systematically, and prioritise getting verb and adjective endings grammatically correct, since these are explicitly excluded from the tolerance given to ordinary misspellings. For the extended responses in Sections B and C, prepare each of your two chosen works (whether two literary texts, or one literary text and one film) against the same five angles Pearson’s guidance for teachers highlights: form and technique, key themes and issues, characterisation, plot structure, and social and cultural setting. Because AO4 (critical and cultural response) is assessed here just as it is in Paper 1’s research question, revise your works with an eye to their connection to the qualification’s four broader social and cultural themes, not just plot recall – examiners reward responses that place a text or film within its wider social or historical context, not only ones that summarise what happens in it.

Worked example: structuring a works response

A strong Section B or C response does not move through a work chronologically retelling events; it argues a position in response to the set question and supports that position with specific, well-chosen material. For example, if a question asks how a prescribed play presents changing attitudes towards a social institution, an effective answer would open with a brief statement of the writer’s overall stance, then work through two or three specific scenes or exchanges that best evidence that stance, referring to particular lines or moments rather than paraphrasing whole scenes, and close by connecting the writer’s treatment of the issue to the wider social theme it belongs to within the specification’s four themes. This structure – position, evidence, cultural connection – rewards both AO3 (through precise, accurate language while discussing the text) and AO4 (through the explicit link to social and cultural context), rather than treating the two objectives as separate paragraphs bolted together.

Common mistakes

Attempting three extended responses (or a literary-text response and a film response when the specification only requires two works in total) instead of the correct combination of two. Treating verb and adjective endings as ordinary spelling in the Section A translation, when the mark scheme explicitly excludes them from that tolerance. Writing about a prescribed work’s plot in isolation without connecting it to the qualification’s cultural and social themes, which weakens the AO4 component of the mark. Confusing Section A’s translation direction with Paper 1’s – Paper 1 translates into English, Paper 2 translates into Urdu.

Quick revision checklist

• Confirm with your teacher which two works you are studying: either two literary texts, or one literary text and one film.
• Practise chunk-by-chunk translation into Urdu, with particular care over verb and adjective endings.
• Prepare each studied work against form/technique, themes, characters, plot and social/cultural setting.
• Connect each work’s content to the qualification’s broader social and cultural themes for stronger AO4 marks.
• Know the paper’s timing allocation (30 minutes for translation, roughly 1 hour 5 minutes per extended response) and rehearse it under timed conditions.

Official syllabus

Pearson Edexcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in Urdu (9UR0), Getting Started Guide, sections 2.3 and 5 — qualifications.pearson.com, fetched and verified 2026-09-02.