Paper 1: How to Answer Question 3 (AQA GCSE English Language) : Revision Note

Paper 1, Section A: Question 3 is the structure question.

How to answer Paper 1 Question 3

Let’s look at Question 3 from the June 2023 exam:

The wording of this exam question from 2026 onwards has slightly changed. Instead of being asked to explore how a writer has structured a text to interest you as a reader, you will be given a specific effect (e.g. tension) to analyse.

Let’s look at an example of the new wording for this question:

Step-by-step guide to Question 3

In order to achieve 8 marks for this question, you should:

1. Grab your highlighter:

• Read the question carefully

• Highlight the focus of the question

2. Scan the source text:

• Highlight information directly relevant to the focus of the question

• Annotate in the margins reasons why the writer might have used a particular structural feature (not just what the feature is)

• Ensure you have explored the whole of the text: beginning, middle and end

3. Start your answer using the wording of the question:

• For example: The writer structures the start of the text to create tension by deliberately leaving out crucial details of the setting.

• This demonstrates to the examiner that you have understood both the question and the text

4. Go into detail:

• You need to make 2–3 main points, ranging throughout the text

• Use the annotations you have made in the margins to form the basis of each point

• It is a good idea to make your points in chronological order, if possible

• For the highest marks, write about the effects of the writer’s structural choices

5. Sum up:

• Your concluding statement should sum up what you have discovered about the writer’s structural choices as a whole

How to get full marks on Paper 1 Question 3

• Question 3 tests your ability to see the text as a construct, created and ordered for narrative effect:

  • All texts are organised by a writer for particular purposes

  • Your job is to look at the shape of the text and consider why the writer has put the text together in the way they have

• Try to consider why a certain detail is located at that particular point in the text:

  • What is the reader being shown and why?

  • What does the reader learn from being shown these things?

  • What is being withheld from the reader and why?

Structural features can be at a:

Structure exam tips

Common mistakes

• Avoid generalised and vague comments on how “the reader” might respond:

  • For example, “it interests the reader” or “it makes the reader want to read on” only lead to simple comments

  • These statements do not show any understanding of the effect(s) of a particular structural feature and will not be credited above a Level 1

• Don’t use complex technical terms without also explaining why they’ve been used:

  • You must not simply spot techniques without demonstrating your understanding or acknowledging the effects achieved by the writer 

• Do not stray into writing about language:

  • Some of the structural features you may comment on may also be considered a language feature (e.g. foreshadowing)

  • However, you must ensure your comments focus on how the writer has used it as a structural device, rather than how they have used it as a language device

  • For example: The writer foreshadows the dramatic events at the end of the text by describing the tranquillity and silence at the start of the extract.

Grade 9 tips

• Use the bullet points to help structure your answer:

  • They are there to encourage you to consider the whole of the extract

  • They also ask you to look for contrasts and shifts across the text

• Having a focused approach will help you to structure your response and will enable you write more about less:

  • Quality over quantity is key to achieving a high grade in the exam 

• Make sure that your selection of evidence is precise and that your comments and analysis relate to the question being asked

• Deconstruct the structural features you choose, analysing each one in detail:

  • You need to think about how these elements combine to create meaning

• Higher responses focus on the effects of structural choices, rather than writing about complex structural techniques

Learn more and test yourself

For more great tips and tricks, check out our dedicated revision notes on the Paper 1 Question 3 mark scheme and our fully annotated Paper 1 Question 3 model answer.

You can also test yourself on Paper 1 Question 3 with expert-created Save My Exams quiz and exam questions. Try our Paper 1 Question 3 multiple choice questions and answer full questions and get them marked by Smart Mark, our AI model created by English Language experts.