Pearson Edexcel International GCSE in English Language (Specification A) · 4EA1 · Free · no account needed

English Language A

One qualification, three examinations — all taught free. Pearson Edexcel International GCSE English Language A (4EA1) examines reading of the prescribed anthology, transactional writing for a real reader, and imaginative writing. Incandio teaches each area against the specification and marks it against the published grids.

Also known as Edexcel IGCSE English Language A — Pearson’s own name for the qualification is the International GCSE, and that is the name every Incandio page uses.

The three areas

Anthology Texts — all 20 prescribed texts: what each does, how it is built, the methods a Grade 9 answer names, then teach it and defend your reading. Paper 1 Section A, 64 of 150 raw marks.
Transactional Writing — an article, a speech, a letter, a guide, a review or a leaflet, written for a real reader and marked out of 45, AO4 and AO5 judged separately. Paper 1 Section B.
Creative Writing — imaginative writing for Component 2, marked against the examiners' published grids and then read by the Writers' Room. 30 marks. With a Grade 9 guide and original practice questions.

The anthology texts

Part 1 is the non-fiction the reading questions are set on; Part 2 is the fiction and poetry. Each text has its own page — what it does, how it is built, the methods a Grade 9 answer names — and its own Teach and Defend gates.

Part 1 — non-fiction (10)

From The Danger of a Single Story — Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
From A Passage to Africa — George Alagiah
From The Explorer's Daughter — Kari Herbert
Explorers or boys messing about? Either way, taxpayer gets rescue bill — Steven Morris
From 127 Hours: Between a Rock and a Hard Place — Aron Ralston
Young and dyslexic? You've got it going on — Benjamin Zephaniah
From A Game of Polo with a Headless Goat — Emma Levine
From Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan — Jamie Zeppa
From H is for Hawk — Helen Macdonald
From Chinese Cinderella — Adeline Yen Mah

Part 2 — fiction and poetry (10)

Disabled — Wilfred Owen
'Out, Out—' — Robert Frost
An Unknown Girl — Moniza Alvi
The Bright Lights of Sarajevo — Tony Harrison
Still I Rise — Maya Angelou
The Story of an Hour — Kate Chopin
The Necklace — Guy de Maupassant
Significant Cigarettes (from The Road Home) — Rose Tremain
Whistle and I'll Come to You (from The Woman in Black) — Susan Hill
Night — Alice Munro

The specification, and exam practice

The 4EA1 specification — components, assessment objectives and question shapes.
Exam Ready — authored questions, marked on Incandio against the real grid.
Incandio — learn every idea, teach it, then defend it.

Incandio is aligned to this specification and is not published by, endorsed by or affiliated with Pearson.