AQA A-Level English Language: Section-by-Section Exam Preparation

AQA A-Level English Language 7702 is a linear, untiered qualification with three components. Paper 1 (Language, the Individual and Society) runs 2 hours 30 minutes for 100 marks and 40%: Section A is analysis of two linked texts plus a comparison, worth 70 marks across three questions, and Section B is a discursive essay on children’s language development, worth 30 marks. Paper 2 (Language Diversity and Change) is also 2 hours 30 minutes, 100 marks and 40%: Section A is an evaluative essay on diversity or change (30 marks); Section B is analysis of two texts (40 marks) plus a directed writing task (30 marks). The non-exam assessment, Language in Action, is a 2,000-word language investigation plus a 1,500-word original writing piece with commentary – 3,500 words in total, 100 marks and 20%, teacher-assessed and AQA-moderated. These notes complement the site’s guides to Language, the Individual and Society and Language Diversity and Change.

Paper 1’s marks are 70/30, so its time should be too

Section A carries more than twice Section B’s marks, yet the children’s language development essay is often the part candidates revise most, because it is the most content-heavy. Exam-preparation priority: allocate roughly 105 of Paper 1’s 150 minutes to Section A and 45 to Section B, and rehearse to that split. Textual analysis improves with repeated timed practice on unseen material in a way that essay content does not; the section carrying 70 marks deserves the larger share of both exam time and revision time.

Paper 2’s Section B is two tasks, not one

Section B of Paper 2 asks for both text analysis (40 marks) and a directed writing task (30 marks). That is 70 of the paper’s 100 marks in one section, split across two quite different kinds of writing. Exam-preparation priority: practise them as a pair under a single clock, since the risk is spending too long on the analysis and leaving the directed writing task – a full 30 marks – rushed or unfinished.

The directed writing task is assessed as writing, not as an essay

The directed writing task asks for a piece written for a specified audience, purpose and form: an article, a blog, a script for a talk. It is marked on how well it does that job, not on how much linguistics it contains. Exam-preparation priority: practise producing genuinely different registers, and rehearse the opening two sentences of each form until they are automatic – an article that opens like an essay signals the wrong register before any content is judged.

Language change and diversity essays need named examples, not general claims

Section A of Paper 2 is evaluative, and evaluation without evidence reads as opinion. Exam- preparation priority: build a bank of specific, citable items – named studies, named varieties, particular attested changes, specific data – and rehearse deploying two or three per essay. General claims about how language “is changing” score consistently below claims anchored to a specific, nameable case.

The NEA’s word counts are part of the task

Language in Action is 3,500 words split 2,000 (investigation) and 1,500 (original writing plus commentary). Those limits shape what is possible: an investigation with an over-ambitious research question cannot be properly analysed in 2,000 words. Exam-preparation priority: choose a narrow, answerable investigation question early. A precisely framed small question analysed thoroughly is worth far more than a broad one surveyed.

Worked routine: planning a directed writing task

The routine below is an original model written for this resource, not a reproduction of any official past paper or mark scheme.

Step 1 - extract the three constraints from the question:
AUDIENCE (who reads it), PURPOSE (what it should do to them),
FORM (article / blog / speech / leaflet). Write them down.

Step 2 - decide the register before the content:
Formality, person, sentence length, whether questions or direct
address are appropriate. The register decision drives everything.

Step 3 - plan three content points, each with a source:
Take the substance from the paper's own material and from your
studied knowledge, so the piece is informed rather than opinionated.

Step 4 - write an opening that announces the form:
The first sentence should be impossible to mistake for a different
genre.

Step 5 - reserve three minutes to check register consistency:
Not spelling -- register. A piece that starts as a blog and drifts
into an essay loses marks that proofreading will not recover.

Step 5 catches the most common failure in this task: candidates who are strong analytical writers tend to drift back into analytical register under time pressure.

Before/during exam checklist

• Before the exams: give Paper 1 Section A the larger share of revision, matching its 70 marks; practise Paper 2 Section B’s two tasks together under one clock; build a bank of named, citable examples for diversity and change; choose a narrow NEA investigation question early.
• During Paper 1: about 105 minutes on Section A, 45 on Section B.
• During Paper 2: protect time for the 30-mark directed writing task before starting the 40-mark analysis.
• In the directed writing task: fix audience, purpose and form first, decide register second, and check register consistency at the end.

Self-test

1. How should Paper 1’s 150 minutes be split, and why?
2. What two tasks make up Paper 2’s Section B, and what is the risk?
3. What is the directed writing task actually assessed on?
4. Why does the NEA word count affect the choice of investigation question?

Answers: 1. Roughly 105 minutes on Section A and 45 on Section B, matching the 70/30 mark split – the analysis section carries more than twice the marks and responds better to timed practice. 2. Analysis of two texts (40 marks) and a directed writing task (30 marks) – 70 marks in one section; the risk is overrunning on the analysis and leaving the 30-mark writing task rushed. 3. On how well it serves the specified audience, purpose and form – register and effectiveness – rather than on how much linguistic terminology it contains. 4. Because 2,000 words cannot support a broad research question; a narrow, answerable question analysed thoroughly is the only shape that fits the limit.

Written against the AQA A-Level English Language 7702 specification-at-a-glance (official AQA specification page, verified 2026-08-28). The directed writing routine above is an original model written for this resource, not a reproduction of any official past paper or mark scheme. Always check the current specification for your examination year at aqa.org.uk.