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GCSE English LanguageReading and writing

GCSE English Language revision, one skill at a time

English Language is built for Show Working, for AQA, Edexcel, OCR and WJEC Eduqas. It isn’t on phones yet: it will arrive in an update to the app.

This page shows how the two papers work on every board, the skills they test, and real questions from the app with their answers, free for anyone to use now.

Find your board’s papersPractise a skill
  • 525 skill questions
  • 39 exam questions explained
  • 16 practice sets
  • 18 writing tasks

Language techniquesTap one

“It was a town of machinery and tall chimneys, out of which interminable serpents of smoke trailed themselves for ever and ever, and never got uncoiled.”Charles Dickens, Hard Times

Which technique is used in “interminable serpents of smoke”?

  1. AOxymoron
  2. BMetaphor
  3. COnomatopoeia
  4. DSimile

The smoke is called serpents with no “like” or “as”, so it is a metaphor. Snakes are dangerous and coil endlessly, which fits the smoke that “never got uncoiled”: the town is choked and threatened by its own industry.

Every answer comes with the reason

01 / The two papersEvery board, the same idea

Two exams, reading then writing

Every board sets two papers, and each one has a reading section and a writing section. You read unseen texts and answer questions on them, then write your own piece. There’s no coursework, and you don’t study set books for it.

GCSE English Language papers by exam board
Board and paperTime and marksReading textsWriting
AQA Paper 1Explorations in creative reading and writing1 hour 45 minutes, 80 marks (50% of the GCSE)One extract from a novel or short story written in the 20th or 21st century.Question 5, 40 marks
AQA Paper 2Writers’ viewpoints and perspectives1 hour 45 minutes, 80 marks (50% of the GCSE)Two non-fiction texts on the same theme: one from the 19th century, one from the 20th or 21st.Question 5, 40 marks
Edexcel Paper 1Fiction and imaginative writing1 hour 45 minutes, 64 marks (40% of the GCSE)One extract of about 650 words from a 19th-century novel or story.Question 5 or 6, 40 marks
Edexcel Paper 2Non-fiction and transactional writing2 hours 5 minutes, 96 marks (60% of the GCSE)Two non-fiction texts from the 20th and 21st centuries, about 1,000 words together, on a shared theme.Question 8 or 9, 40 marks
OCR Component 01Communicating information and ideas2 hours, 80 marks (50% of the GCSE)Two non-fiction texts on a shared theme: one from the 19th century, one from the 20th or 21st.Question 5 or 6, 40 marks
OCR Component 02Exploring effects and impact2 hours, 80 marks (50% of the GCSE)Two prose extracts from the 20th or 21st century: fiction, or one fiction and one literary non-fiction.Question 5 or 6, 40 marks
WJEC Eduqas Component 120th century literature reading and creative prose writing1 hour 45 minutes, 80 marks (40% of the GCSE)One extract of 60 to 100 lines from 20th-century prose, often a whole short story or a complete episode.Section B, 40 marks
WJEC Eduqas Component 219th and 21st century non-fiction reading and transactional writing2 hours, 80 marks (60% of the GCSE)Two non-fiction texts, one from the 19th century and one from the 21st, about 900 to 1,200 words together.B1, 20 marks; B2, 20 marks

You also give a short spoken presentation in school, assessed by your teacher. It’s reported separately as Pass, Merit or Distinction, and it doesn’t count towards your 9 to 1 grade.

02 / Every question explainedPick your board

Your board’s papers, question by question

What each question asks, the marks, how long to spend, what the best answers do, the usual mistakes and a way to tackle it. All in our own words.

AQAPaper 1 and 2: 10 questions explained, with marks, timing, what top answers do and the usual mistakes.Every question →EdexcelPaper 1 and 2: 14 questions explained, with marks, timing, what top answers do and the usual mistakes.Every question →OCRPaper 1 and 2: 10 questions explained, with marks, timing, what top answers do and the usual mistakes.Every question →WJEC EduqasPaper 1 and 2: 14 questions explained, with marks, timing, what top answers do and the usual mistakes.Every question →

Show Working is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by AQA, Pearson Edexcel, OCR or WJEC Eduqas. Not sure which board you’re on? Ask your English teacher, or look at the front of a mock paper.

03 / The skills14 topics

The skills both papers test, with answers

Short questions on the skills behind every answer: naming a technique and saying what it does, reading structure and tone, and the grammar, punctuation and spelling that the writing marks reward.

Reading

Language techniques63 questions in the app, on 26 lines from classic books and our own examples. 30 with answers on this site.Free to try →Structure in reading40 questions in the app, on 26 lines from classic books and our own examples. 30 with answers on this site.Quiz yourself →Connotation and tone27 questions in the app, on 11 lines from classic books and our own examples. 26 with answers on this site.Quiz yourself →Irony, euphemism and more devices30 questions in the app, on 2 lines from classic books and our own examples. 28 with answers on this site.Quiz yourself →

Writing

Writing to persuade and inform43 questions in the app, on 13 lines from classic books and our own examples. 30 with answers on this site.Quiz yourself →Descriptive and narrative writing35 questions in the app, on 15 lines from classic books and our own examples. 30 with answers on this site.Quiz yourself →Paragraphs and discourse markers26 questions in the app. 25 with answers on this site.Quiz yourself →Forms, purposes and audiences24 questions in the app. 24 with answers on this site.Quiz yourself →

Grammar and punctuation

Sentence types and structure48 questions in the app, on 8 lines from classic books and our own examples. 30 with answers on this site.Quiz yourself →Word classes43 questions in the app. 30 with answers on this site.Quiz yourself →Punctuation34 questions in the app. 30 with answers on this site.Quiz yourself →Apostrophes and commas33 questions in the app. 30 with answers on this site.Quiz yourself →Spelling and homophones55 questions in the app. 30 with answers on this site.Quiz yourself →Standard English24 questions in the app. 24 with answers on this site.Quiz yourself →

04 / Try itQuestions from the app

Example questions, with the answers

These come straight from the app’s question banks. Lines quoted from books are from classic novels and stories that are free to quote. Pick an answer, then open it to check, with the reason.

01 / Language techniquesA line from a book

“It was a town of machinery and tall chimneys, out of which interminable serpents of smoke trailed themselves for ever and ever, and never got uncoiled.”

Charles Dickens, Hard Times

Which technique is used in “interminable serpents of smoke”?

  1. AOxymoron
  2. BMetaphor
  3. COnomatopoeia
  4. DSimile
Show the answer

Answer: B Metaphor

The smoke is called serpents with no “like” or “as”, so it is a metaphor. Snakes are dangerous and coil endlessly, which fits the smoke that “never got uncoiled”: the town is choked and threatened by its own industry.

02 / Structure in readingA line from a book

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.”

Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

This is the first sentence of the novel. What does it suggest the story will be about?

  1. AWar and adventure
  2. BScience and invention
  3. CMarriage and money
  4. DCrime and detection
Show the answer

Answer: C Marriage and money

The opening names a rich single man and a wife in one sentence, so the reader expects a story about marriage and wealth. Openings often set up the central concerns of a text.

03 / Connotation and toneA line from a book

“his lips ran back over his gums, the long, sharp, canine teeth showed out strangely”

Bram Stoker, Dracula

“Canine” is a word for these teeth, but it also means “like a dog”. What does it suggest about the Count?

  1. AHe is old and weak
  2. BHe is like a wild, dangerous animal
  3. CHe is kind and welcoming
  4. DHe is nervous and shy
Show the answer

Answer: B He is like a wild, dangerous animal

The denotation is a type of tooth, but “canine” also connotes dogs and wolves. Together with “long, sharp”, it hints that the Count is a predator, a clue to what he really is.

04 / Irony, euphemism and more devicesA line from a book

“the parish authorities magnanimously and humanely resolved, that Oliver should be “farmed,””

Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist

Baby Oliver is being sent to a place where children are half-starved. Which technique is Dickens using in “magnanimously and humanely”?

  1. APathetic fallacy
  2. BOnomatopoeia
  3. CSimile
  4. DIrony
Show the answer

Answer: D Irony

“Magnanimously” means generously and “humanely” means kindly, but sending a baby to be neglected is neither. Dickens says the opposite of what he means, which is irony, to show how cruel the authorities really are.

05 / WritingHalf the marks

The writing questions, with model answers

Every board ends each paper with a writing task: creative writing, such as a story or a description, on one paper, and a piece that gives a view, such as an article, a letter or a speech, on the other. Together they are half the marks.

Content and organisation earn the most marks, then technical accuracy: spelling, punctuation and a range of sentences. Our writing page shows how each board sets it, 8 moves that lift any piece, and 3 full model answers with a checklist.

Read the writing guide

What the app gives you for writing

  • 18 writing tasks set out the way each board sets them, each with a plan and a model answer.
  • A timer and an answer box, so you write under exam conditions.
  • A tick-yourself checklist for content and for accuracy, so you see what to fix next time.
  • No mark or grade, ever. Nothing you write is marked by an AI.

06 / Checked, word for wordWhy you can trust the answers

Every quoted line is in the book. We checked.

455

skill items with 525 questions, each with one right answer and a reason.

Our own count, 29 Oct 2026
101

lines quoted from 18 classic writers, each found word for word in a public-domain copy of the book.

Our own checker, 29 Oct 2026
39

exam questions explained across the four boards’ papers, from the boards’ published papers and examiners’ reports.

In our own words
78

questions in 16 practice sets, set out like each board’s papers, with model answers.

Our own texts and classic passages

Every question and model answer is our own: we never copy past papers, mark schemes or specifications. Wrong options never include an answer you could fairly give, so a good answer is never marked wrong.

07 / Coming to Show WorkingWhat it will cost

English Language is on its way to the app

It’s built, but it isn’t on phones yet. It will arrive in an update to Show Working, and we won’t give a date until it’s ready. When it comes:

  • One payment of £9.99 for English Language, for every board. No subscription.
  • Free to try: Language techniques, plus the first practice set and the first writing task of each board’s first paper.
  • All subjects for £24.99, including subjects we add later.
  • Same app, same rules: no account, no adverts, no tracking, and it works offline.

Doing GCSE maths too?

Maths is the subject in Show Working today: fresh questions every time, with the working shown for every answer. See the maths topics. Revising set texts for English Literature? Macbeth quotes, A Christmas Carol quotes.

Coming soon to the App Store

08 / QuestionsAbout GCSE English Language

GCSE English Language, answered

Is GCSE English Language in Show Working?

Not on phones yet. English Language is built, and it will arrive in an update to the app. We won’t give a date until it’s ready. Maths is the subject in the app today.

What will English Language in Show Working cover?

Both papers on every board. There are 525 short questions on 14 skills, from language techniques and structure to punctuation and spelling; a guide to every reading question on each board’s papers; 16 practice sets laid out like the real papers, with model answers; and 18 writing tasks with a plan, a model answer and a checklist. There’s no mark or grade, and nothing you write is marked by an AI.

Which exam boards does English Language cover?

AQA, Pearson Edexcel, OCR and WJEC Eduqas, both papers each. Choose your board and the practice papers, question guides and writing tasks follow that board’s format. Show Working is independent and not affiliated with any exam board.

How much will English Language cost?

English Language will be one payment of £9.99 inside the app, with no subscription. All subjects together will be £24.99. Language techniques will be free to try, with the first practice set and the first writing task of each board’s first paper.

Is there a web version?

Not yet. Show Working is an iPhone and iPad app. A version that runs in a web browser may come later, but there’s nothing to sign up for today. The guides and questions on this website are free for anyone to use now.

More English Language guides

AQA papersEdexcel papersOCR papersWJEC Eduqas papers
Writing, with model answersAll revision guides

One question at a time.

Start with the paper you sit first.

Find your board, read how every question works, then practise the skill you are least sure of.

Find your board

Or start with language techniques, the skill every reading paper asks for.

Show WorkingComing soon to the App Store