Cambridge A Level English Language 9093: Paper 2 — Revision Notes

Condensed for the final weeks. For the full explanation, use the Paper 2 Writing study guide.

Where Paper 2 sits

Paper	Title	Time	Marks	Weighting
1	Reading	2 h 15	50	50% of AS · 25% of A Level
2	Writing	2 h	50	50% of AS · 25% of A Level
3	Language Analysis	2 h 15	50	25% of A Level
4	Language Topics	2 h 15	50	25% of A Level

Papers 1 and 2 are the AS content; 3 and 4 complete the A Level. No dictionaries allowed.

Section A — Shorter writing and reflective commentary (25 marks, compulsory)

• Part (a): shorter piece, max 400 words, to a specified form/audience/purpose (e.g. leaflet, letter, speech). 15 marks.
• Part (b): reflective commentary, explaining how your linguistic choices in (a) fulfil the brief. 10 marks. The syllabus sets no specific word limit for the commentary.
• Commentary structure: identify → quote (from your own text) → explain the effect in relation to audience and purpose — the same pattern used to analyse someone else’s text in Paper 1.

Section B — Extended writing (25 marks, choice of one from three)

• 600–900 words.
• Every series offers one question from each of three fixed categories: imaginative/descriptive, discursive/argumentative (article/letter debating an issue), and review/critical. Only the specific topic within each category changes between series.
• Imaginative/descriptive: sensory detail, controlled voice, a small number of developed images.
• Discursive/argumentative: genuinely balanced — weigh more than one side before a considered conclusion.
• Review/critical: consistent evaluative voice, specific concrete detail (not vague praise/criticism).

What links Paper 2 to Paper 1

Paper 2 shares its knowledge and understanding content directly with Paper 1 — the same awareness of textual forms, linguistic features and audience that Paper 1 asks you to analyse, Paper 2 asks you to apply in your own writing. Revising the two together, rather than as unconnected papers, reinforces both.

Planning discipline

Because both sections have tight word limits (400 for 1(a), 600–900 for Section B), planning before writing is not optional — a plan for 1(a) should fix the structure (opening, 2–3 developed points, closing) before a single sentence is drafted, and the same applies to Section B regardless of which option is chosen. Writing without a plan is the single most common reason a response drifts off the word range or loses control of structure partway through.

Worked example: a compressed Section A plan

Brief: a leaflet for new employees on managing their first week at work. A compressed plan under time pressure might be:

Opening: reassuring, direct address ("you")
Point 1: practical (where things are, who to ask)
Point 2: social (introducing yourself, team culture)
Closing: a specific next step (a named contact or resource)

Even a plan this brief, jotted in under a minute, prevents the piece from drifting and gives part (b) concrete choices to reflect on — three or four headed points beat one continuous, unstructured block every time under this word limit.

Building commentary sentences quickly

Under time pressure, a reliable commentary sentence template is: “I used [specific choice], quoted here as ‘[short quotation from your own text]’, because [effect on audience/purpose].” Repeating this template three or four times, each time naming a different choice (register, sentence type, direct address, structural device such as headings), reliably produces a commentary that analyses rather than narrates — which is the single biggest differentiator between weak and strong responses on part (b).

Building Section B fluency across all three categories

Because the three categories are fixed but the specific topic within each one changes every series, resist the temptation to prepare only for one register (only descriptive, say) and hope it comes up. Instead, practise the planning step — not necessarily the full write-up — across all three registers on a rotating basis: this week plan a descriptive/imaginative piece from a one-line prompt, next week a discursive/argumentative piece, the week after a review/critical piece. This spreads revision time evenly across the skill the paper actually tests (sustained, controlled writing to a chosen register), since all three categories are guaranteed to appear – what is unpredictable is only the topic, not the category.

Exam traps

• Writing the reflective commentary as a second essay about the topic, not analysis of the writing.
• Ignoring form/audience/purpose conventions in part (a) — a leaflet written like an essay.
• Choosing a Section B option for its apparent impressiveness rather than one that can genuinely be sustained and controlled.
• Assuming the three categories vary from series to series – they do not; only the topic within each fixed category changes.
• Running well outside either word range.
• A “balanced” discursive piece that is secretly one-sided.

Self-test

1. How long is Paper 2 and how many marks is it worth?
2. What are the two parts of Section A, and their word limits and marks?
3. What three fixed categories does Section B always offer a choice between?
4. What is the word range for Section B?
5. What three-part structure should every sentence of the reflective commentary follow?

Answers: 1. 2 hours, 50 marks. 2. (a) shorter writing, max 400 words, 15 marks; (b) reflective commentary, no set word limit, 10 marks. 3. Imaginative/descriptive, discursive/argumentative, review/critical – fixed every series, with only the topic within each category varying. 4. 600–900 words. 5. Identify the choice, quote it from your own text, explain its effect in relation to audience and purpose.

Official syllabus

Cambridge International AS & A Level English Language (9093) syllabus for 2024, 2025 and 2026 — cambridgeinternational.org.