Language Paper 1, Section A Unit (AQA)

KS4 AQA English Language Paper 1, Section A – 5-Week Mastery Unit

If you’re teaching AQA GCSE English Language Paper 1, Section A, and you want something more than disconnected exam practice, this five-week unit is carefully sequenced to build depth, confidence and long-term retention.

This scheme doesn’t just “practise questions” - it deliberately snowballs learning so that working memory is strengthened into long-term memory. By weaving in past AQA papers, alongside original extracts inspired by Jekyll and Hyde and references to the Love and Relationships poetry cluster (which my class were also preparing for), students repeatedly revisit key analytical concepts across texts and genres. The result? Stronger recall, sharper analysis and greater exam confidence.

What Makes This Unit Different?

• Interleaves previous AQA Language Paper 1 exams
• Includes original exam-style papers based on Jekyll and Hyde
• Makes purposeful links to Love and Relationships poetry to deepen analytical thinking
• Explicitly teaches students to understand effect before attempting critical analysis
• Encourages students to think like writers as well as readers

This dual focus - reader and writer - transforms the way students approach unseen texts.

Lesson Focus

Across five weeks, lessons are structured around two key strands:

Understanding the Effect of Language

• Identifying methods with precision
• Moving beyond feature spotting
• Exploring how writers shape meaning and reader response
• Analysing structure and shifts

Forming Critical Analysis

• Developing perceptive, evaluative responses
• Building analytical paragraphs step-by-step
• Embedding terminology naturally
• Refining exam technique and timing

Alongside this, students are given regular opportunities to practise creative writing skills, encouraging them to think like professional writers. By understanding craft from the inside, their analytical responses become far more sophisticated.

What’s Included?

• Revision booklets
• Structured homework tasks
• Assessment support slide
• Student-friendly mark schemes
• Model responses
• Clear overview of Language Paper 1, Section A

Everything is designed to reduce teacher workload while maximising student progress.

Why This Unit Works

Students don’t just learn how to answer Question 2 or Question 4 - they understand why writers make choices. They see connections across texts. They revisit core ideas repeatedly in new contexts. They practise thinking critically and creatively.

If you’re looking for a rigorous, intelligently sequenced and exam-focused KS4 scheme that builds genuine analytical maturity - this resource is ready to transform your Paper 1 teaching.

Language Lighthouse :)