SKILLS

GCSE English Literature

student example essays

These essays were written by SHSG students in the actual GCSE exam, and they all received a grade 9. They are included here to help you see the different essay writing skills in action in an authentic way. They are not intended to be used as revision for the content of the texts. Don’t assume that everything in these essays is necessarily exactly right — they were written in an exam by an actual teenager; they are not literary criticism. But they should help you see how to write essays to meet the AQA marking criteria.