Print the study plan for Josh's folder →
One essay. Three things that win every mark.
The exam comes down to one analytical essay, on one text you study all term, answering a question you have not seen. It sounds scary. It is actually the most preparable piece in the whole subject. Learn the three things it is marked on and the shape it takes, and you always know what to do.
How the essay is marked
Your essay is scored out of 45 on three things. This is where the marks actually live, so this is where the time goes.
Ideas
- What the text is really doing (its perspective)
- The values and beliefs sitting underneath it
- How the writer's choices create the effect
Structure
- A sharp thesis that answers the question
- Arguments that build it, with chosen evidence
- Logical order, smooth links between ideas
Craft
- Varied, accurate sentences
- Precise words in the right register
- Punctuation and spelling under control
The essay is written for a marker who already knows the text inside out, so plot summary wins nothing. Every sentence should show them you can think about how the text works. That instinct alone lifts most essays a band.
Ideas 18Structure 16Craft 11Othello, act by act
Start with your three rooms → · then try the Marking Bench → then five short pages, about 15 minutes each. What actually happens, who wants what, the one scene that matters, and three quotes to take with you. Do one a week alongside the Tuesday block. You have seen the film, so most of this is jogging what is already in there.
Half an hour with you, ten on his own
English shares the weekly session with maths, so its slot is short and sharp: about thirty minutes together, mostly talking through the one move that matters most that week, then a tiny practice he does on his own. Arguing out loud IS the skill the exam marks, so the table time is for thinking and the writing happens in his own time. The hard reading happens in class. We build the technique.
One sharp move
- Two minutes: recall last week's micro
- Read a short model, name the one move
- Build one thing out loud: a thesis, or one paragraph
- Set this week's phone practice
Make it stick
- Quote cards: tap to flip, recall the line
- Name the technique in a short passage
- Sentence upgrades: turn a flat line sharp
- Thesis sprint: one minute, one strong sentence
- Spot the better paragraph
- The writing gym: thesis, topic sentence, paragraph, link
Ten weeks on the essay, then practice in Term 4 Term 3 · all essay
Term 3 is a clean run at the one external piece. Each week is one 20-minute block with Nat plus one phone practice, and every week now has its own page. After week 10, the holiday loop keeps the essay muscle warm through to the exam on 27 October.
The run-in: four full timed essays, booked → The Quote Vault: learn them so they stay → The Quote Cards: ten quotes, six slots each → Watch the lines: every quote in the film → The talk ladder: five rungs, out loud → Plot to analysis: what Shakespeare is doing → The paragraph ladder: nine rungs, one shape → Exam day card: Tue 27 Oct →
This is your space, the same as the maths site. Term 3 is all about the one external piece, the essay, and your text is locked in: Othello. Your quote bank and a model paragraph are already on the essay page, and we grow them as we go.