AQA English Language Paper 1 Question 1 (2025 only)

Summary

In a detailed exploration of the AQA English Language Paper 1, Question 1, Mr. Bruff provides three vital tips to help students achieve full marks. Despite being an easy opener, thousands struggle due to simple errors. The question requires listing four points about a topic from a given text segment, assessing AO1—identifying and interpreting explicit and implicit information. Key to success is simplicity and precision in extracting information without misinterpretation or overanalysis. Mr. Bruff emphasizes the importance of selecting explicit points, using question wording, and marking relevant text sections to ensure clarity and accuracy.

Highlights

• More than 50,000 students miss full marks on this 'easy' opener. 🎓
• Question asks for four things about a topic from the text. 📝
• Simple mistakes often come from writing about the wrong section. ❌
• Use question wording and text boxing to avoid errors. 📚

Key Takeaways

• Keep it simple for top marks in Question 1! 🎯
• Avoid misinterpretations—stick to explicit points. 📌
• Use question wording to guide your answers. 📝
• Don't forget to box the text section for clarity! 📚

Overview

Mr. Bruff delves into the AQA English Language Paper 1, Question 1, exploring why this seemingly straightforward question trips up many students. With over 50,000 unable to score full marks last summer, he provides a lifeline in the form of three straightforward tips designed to conquer the pitfalls of this exam segment.

At its core, Question 1 is about listing four explicit points about a topic from a specific text portion. The difficulty lies not in the complexity but in students' tendencies to stray from the text lines or misinterpret what they read. Mr. Bruff advises clarity and suggests practical strategies: marking off the text portion you're focusing on and relying on the wording of the question to keep responses relevant and straightforward.

The focus is on simplicity. Don't infer—state explicit information. Whether identifying Brightly's physical state or desires, students should take textual evidence at face value. By understanding and applying these techniques, students can enhance their performance and secure their marks effectively in exams.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction and Overview The chapter titled 'Introduction and Overview' provides insight into the high failure rate of students achieving full marks in a seemingly simple question on the AQA English-language Paper 1 Question 1. The speaker promises to offer three tips to help students score top marks in this part of the exam. Viewers are encouraged to download a free sample paper from the website mrbroth.com to follow along with the video series. The chapter sets the stage for an instructional guide aimed at improving exam performance.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Understanding Question 1 Chapter titled 'Understanding Question 1' discusses an exam question focusing on listing four key elements about a specified topic from the opening lines of a text. This segment, being 5 to 9 lines long, may involve discussions on characters or setting. The question serves to evaluate students' ability to identify and interpret both explicit and implicit information and ideas, aligning with the objectives of a specific assessment section.
• 01:00 - 01:30: Typical Question Analysis The chapter 'Typical Question Analysis' delves into the common pitfall students face when answering questions that require information from specific parts of a source text. It uses an example instruction where students must list four things about 'brightly' from lines 1 to 7 of the source text. A key point emphasized is that students often lose marks by selecting information from outside the specified lines. The chapter highlights the significance of paying close attention to such instructions, as overlooking them, even if seemingly simple, can easily occur under exam pressure. The advice given is to remain focused and carefully adhere to the guidelines provided to avoid unnecessary mistakes.
• 01:30 - 02:00: Tips for Success This chapter provides tips for successfully navigating exams, particularly focusing on a practical technique for answering questions. A key suggestion is to draw a box around text sections pertinent to the query to help focus answers. It cautions against obscuring the text, as it may be needed for reference in later questions. The advice emphasizes simplicity by advising students to find four straightforward points for their answers.
• 02:00 - 02:30: Example Analysis The chapter 'Example Analysis' provides a guide on how to effectively respond to questions by either using direct quotations or carefully selected words from the text. It emphasizes the importance of clearly indicating that the question is being addressed, and suggests using the terms of the question itself to maintain focus and avoid tangential discussions. The chapter offers a strategy of beginning responses with keywords related to the subject, such as 'brightly' or 'he,' illustrated through an example passage. The example involves a character named Tavi appearing cheerfully up the road to St. Mary, carrying a basket despite his fatigue.
• 02:30 - 03:30: Common Mistakes In the chapter titled 'Common Mistakes,' the narrative focuses on the protagonist's daily struggle with exhaustion and hunger. Despite these challenges being familiar to him, it's clear that his physical state is deteriorating as he imagines the taste of simple pleasures like bread, cheese, and cider. His health condition is emphasized by a severe, nagging cough that forces him to pause, reflect on his frailty, and offers a stark glimpse into the harshness of his daily life.
• 03:30 - 04:30: Conclusion and Further Resources In the closing chapter titled 'Conclusion and Further Resources', the emphasis is placed on the simplicity and clarity needed when analyzing texts and characters. Using an example centered around a character named Brightly, the chapter illustrates how to distill essential information efficiently for exams. It underscores that students often struggle with simplicity, even though official examiners' reports highlight this skill as crucial.

AQA English Language Paper 1 Question 1 (2025 only) Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 a QA english-language paper one question one is supposed to be the example it's easy opener and yet last summer more than 50,000 students failed to achieve full marks in this opening question in this video I'll give you three simple tips for hitting top marks in paper 1 question 1 and you can download the free sample paper that we look at in this series of videos at mr. broth calm we're starting off with AQA english-language paper 1 question 1 which is a simple question intended to ease students into
• 00:30 - 01:00 the exam question one asks you to list four things about a certain topic from a certain part of the source so far this has been the opening for 5 or 9 lines of the source so a relatively short section of the text and questions might revolve around character or perhaps setting this question assess is the first part of a o1 to identify and interpret explicit and implicit information and ideas let's
• 01:00 - 01:30 look at a typical question read again the first part of the source from lines 1 to 7 list 4 things about brightly from this part of the source for Mars so the first thing to say is that students often lose marks for writing about the wrong part of the text in other words not choosing their answers from within in this case lines 1 to 7 and this might seem like a simple mistake but do not underestimate the pressure you can feel
• 01:30 - 02:00 particularly at the start of the exam so a simple tip here is to draw a box around the part of the text you're being asked to take your answers from just make sure you do that carefully and don't strike through any actual lines of text in the source because you're going to need to look back at this opening part of the text when you're working on question 3 and you don't want to find that you can't read some of the words the main thing for this question is to keep it simple you should find four simple points for your answer you can write in your own
• 02:00 - 02:30 words or take a direct quotation from the text either way making it clear that you are answering the question also you could use the wording of the question itself to help focus on the task and avoid writing about the thing so in this case you might start each answer with the words brightly or he so let's look through the lines in question and pick out four simple points up the road from Brent ought to st. Mary Tavi came brightly his basket dragging on his arm he was very tired but there
• 02:30 - 03:00 was nothing unusual in that he was tired to the point of exhaustion every day he was very hungry but he was used to that too he was thinking of bread and cheese and cider new bread and soft cheese and cider with a rough edge to it he licked his lips and tried to believe he was tasting them then he began to cough it was a long peeving cough something like that of a dog or pony he had to put his basket down and lean over it and tap it his thin chest with a long raw hand
• 03:00 - 03:30 so using brightly as our sentence openings let's pick out four simple points about this character brightly was tired brightly was hungry brightly was thinking about bread and cheese and cider brightly lift his lips and that's it it's as simple as that full marks or at least it should be simple but of course lots of students fail to make it that simple now the examiners reports have continually pointed out that simply retrieving information from the text as
• 03:30 - 04:00 I've just done in that example can lead to a better result than trying to interpret that information in other words students who try to draw an inference from the point often get that inference wrong and aren't credited with any marks let's look at an example in the extract brightly coughs some students might infer from this that he's sick and right brightly was sick for one of their answers but that wouldn't be awarded any marks it's not a fair
• 04:00 - 04:30 interpretation as coughing is a bodily function and not necessarily indicative of sickness so you would get a mark for writing brightly coughed but you wouldn't get a mark for trying to interpret that cough and writing Bribie was sick another common mistake is to slightly miss read the text for example in the sentence he licked his lips and tried to believe he was tasting them and miss reading could see a student write he tried to believe he was tasting his lips but of course that's not correct what brightly tries to believe he's tasting
• 04:30 - 05:00 is the bread and cheese and cider of the previous sentence so make sure you follow my three main tips for this question pick for explicit simple points for your answer don't overcomplicate through trying to infer or analyze use the wording of the question to ensure your answers are on topic and draw a box around the section of the text you're directed to to make sure you take your points from within the right lines I hope you found this video useful if you'd like to see a longer video on
• 05:00 - 05:30 this question then you can see one just here click on the screen and you'll be taken to that video please do subscribe to the channel