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  • A-Level English Language: Language Change and Why It Matters

    Language change is the topic in A-Level English Language where students most reliably let their own opinions derail their analysis. Whether they’re outraged by teenagers’ use of “literally” or cheerfully indifferent to shifting grammar conventions, they bring personal perspectives to a topic that rewards academic distance and careful evidence-based argument.

    Here’s what the language change topic actually covers — and how to write about it in a way that earns marks rather than reflecting personal taste.

    What Language Change Means

    Language change refers to the fact that English — like all living languages — shifts constantly over time, in its vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, and use. Words are invented, old words fall away, meanings shift, grammatical structures become more or less common, spelling conventions evolve.

    At A-Level, you’ll examine evidence of these changes — comparing historical texts to modern ones, analysing how specific words or structures have changed, exploring what drives those changes — and you’ll engage with the debate about whether language change is something to resist or accept.

    The Prescriptivism vs Descriptivism Debate

    This is the central theoretical framework for language change at A-Level, and you must understand it clearly.

    Prescriptivism is the view that there is a correct standard form of English, that deviations from it are errors, and that it’s the job of educated speakers and institutions to maintain the standard. Prescriptivists worry about declining standards, object to grammatical constructions like the split infinitive or the singular “they”, and value traditional usage guides.

    Descriptivism is the view of most linguists: that the job of linguistic study is to describe language as it actually is and how it changes, not to prescribe how it should be. Descriptivists don’t think language change is decline — they see it as natural development, and they point out that every “corruption” of English that prescriptivists object to was itself a change from an earlier standard.

    In exam responses, you should engage with both perspectives as equally valid academic positions — and you should use linguistic evidence to support your argument rather than personal preference.

    Key Causes of Language Change

    • Technology and new concepts: New things require new words — “internet”, “tweet”, “podcast” didn’t exist before the things they described
    • Social and cultural change: Shifting attitudes to gender, ethnicity, and identity drive vocabulary change — both the adoption of new terms and the retirement of old ones
    • Borrowing from other languages: English has always borrowed vocabulary freely — from Latin, French, Norse, and now increasingly from global English varieties
    • Media and popular culture: Words and phrases spread through social media, television, and music in ways that earlier generations of language change couldn’t achieve
    • Simplification and regularisation: Over time, complex grammatical systems often simplify — Old English’s elaborate case system collapsed into the much simpler system of modern English

    How to Write About Language Change in an Exam

    The key principle: your personal view is irrelevant. “I think using ‘literally’ as an intensifier is annoying” is not a linguistic argument. “The use of ‘literally’ as an intensifier demonstrates semantic bleaching — a well-documented process in which a word’s specific meaning is widened or generalised through frequent metaphorical use” is a linguistic argument. The second earns marks; the first doesn’t.

    Ground every point in linguistic evidence: historical texts, corpus data (if provided), specific examples. Use theoretical frameworks — semantic change, grammatical convergence, language contact — to explain patterns. Acknowledge complexity: very few changes are simply good or simply bad; most serve communicative functions for specific communities, even if they seem incorrect from other communities’ perspectives.

    Language change, diversity, and acquisition are covered in depth in Thorogood English’s A-Level English Language programme. Join the waiting list for January 2027 classes.

  • Setting Up for IGCSE English Success: A Year-by-Year Timeline for Parents

    Many parents first start thinking about IGCSE English in Year 10 or Year 11 — when the exam is close, when they’ve seen a mock result they weren’t expecting, or when a teacher has raised concerns. This is not too late, but it’s later than ideal. The students who perform best at IGCSE English have been building the underlying skills for years.

    Here’s a realistic year-by-year guide to what good preparation looks like.

    Year 7 and 8: Foundation Skills

    At this stage, the most valuable thing isn’t exam practice — it’s developing genuine literacy. The focus should be on reading widely and often (fiction, non-fiction, newspapers, online long-form writing), building vocabulary through reading and conversation, and developing the writing habit.

    In school, look out for how your child’s written work is being marked: are they getting specific feedback on vocabulary, sentence variety, and structure — or just a grade? If it’s the latter, this is a good time to consider supplementary support to ensure the underlying skills are developing well.

    Creative writing at home — even short pieces, even journalling — builds confidence and fluency that pays dividends in IGCSE creative writing responses several years later.

    Year 9: Introduction to Exam Skills

    In Year 9, students begin encountering the types of analytical and written tasks that appear at IGCSE. This is a good time to start familiarising with the exam structure — not intensive preparation, but awareness: What are the papers? What kinds of questions appear? What does an IGCSE-standard analysis paragraph look like?

    This is also an excellent year for vocabulary development — building a bank of precise, varied language that students can draw on in writing. Students who enter Year 10 with a strong vocabulary have a significant advantage over those who are still working at a basic word level.

    In Year 9, consider whether tutoring support is appropriate. Starting tutoring a year or two before the exam, rather than in the final push, gives time to address underlying skill gaps gradually rather than urgently.

    Year 10: Skill Development and First Timed Practice

    Year 10 is when the exam skills need to be developed systematically. This doesn’t mean exam practice from September — it means understanding each question type, developing the specific techniques each requires, and beginning to practise them under some time pressure.

    By the end of Year 10, students should have attempted at least two or three timed practice papers and received detailed feedback on them. They should know their weakest question types and have begun targeted work on improving them. For Literature students, they should be engaged with the set texts — not just for plot summary but for analytical reading.

    Year 11: Final Preparation and Consolidation

    Year 11 is for consolidation and exam preparation specifically. By January, students should know the exam format with complete confidence. By March, they should have completed at least four or five full timed papers and received feedback on each. The final weeks before the exam are for fine-tuning specific weaknesses, practising timing, and building confidence — not for learning new skills from scratch.

    Students who arrive in Year 11 without the underlying skills fully established will find it very difficult to develop them in the time available alongside their other subjects. This is why starting earlier — even just in terms of reading broadly and getting occasional feedback on writing — makes such a difference.

    The One Thing That Matters Most

    If there’s a single intervention that makes the most difference across all these years, it’s reading. Students who read independently, broadly, and regularly throughout secondary school arrive at IGCSE with vocabulary, analytical instinct, and writing fluency that tutoring alone cannot replicate in a short time. Everything else helps — but nothing helps as much as sustained, genuine engagement with books and writing.

    Thorogood English’s IGCSE English groups open in January 2027. Whether your child is in Year 9 with time to build foundations, or in Year 11 needing focused final preparation, small-group teaching with individual feedback is one of the most effective things you can do. Join the waiting list to secure a place.

  • A-Level English Language Creative Writing: How to Write a Commentary

    At A-Level English Language, the creative writing component requires two things: a piece of original writing, and a commentary on it. The commentary is not an afterthought — it’s worth significant marks, and it tests a specific skill that is quite different from the skill of writing the piece itself.

    The skill is this: talking about your own language choices analytically, using linguistic frameworks, in a way that demonstrates genuine awareness of what you were doing and why.

    What a Commentary Is — and Isn’t

    A commentary is not a summary of your piece (“In the first paragraph, I wrote about…”). It is not a description of what you were trying to do in vague terms (“I wanted to make it dramatic”). And it is not an apology for what you didn’t manage to achieve.

    A commentary is an analytical reflection on your own linguistic choices — the specific decisions you made about form, genre, register, lexis, grammar, and structure, grounded in the frameworks you’ve been studying, and connected to the purpose and audience of your piece.

    Write the Commentary Alongside the Piece

    The most useful piece of advice: don’t write the piece and then try to write a commentary on it afterwards from memory. Write both together. As you make a significant decision in the writing — choosing a particular register, using a specific sentence structure for effect, drawing on a genre convention — note it immediately. “Used short declarative sentences here to create urgency” in the margin of your draft becomes the core of a commentary point when you come to write it up.

    Writers who write the piece fully and then try to reverse-engineer a commentary are working much harder than they need to — and often produce commentaries that feel strained, because they’re discovering (or inventing) the rationale retrospectively.

    What to Include in Your Commentary

    Purpose and Audience

    Establish clearly what you were trying to achieve and for whom. This context shapes all your other choices and gives the examiner the framework for evaluating them. Be specific: not “I wanted to entertain” but “I was aiming for a piece that would appeal to adult readers familiar with the conventions of Gothic fiction, deliberately subverting genre expectations by…”

    Form and Structure

    Why did you choose this form? How did you structure the piece, and why? If you chose a non-linear structure, what effect does that create? If you used a genre convention, were you following it, subverting it, or playing with it — and why?

    Specific Language Choices

    This is the heart of the commentary. Choose four or five specific language choices — a verb, a sentence structure, a lexical field, a phonological pattern — and analyse them. Why this word rather than another? What connotations does it carry? How does it relate to the piece’s overall tone and purpose?

    Use the linguistic frameworks: lexis, grammar, phonology, graphology, pragmatics, discourse. You don’t need to force all of them in, but you should draw on at least two or three, and you should use the terminology precisely.

    What You Would Change

    Many mark schemes reward a brief honest reflection on what you might do differently — what you were attempting but feel you didn’t quite achieve, or what you’d explore if you had more words. This demonstrates critical distance from your own work, which is a sophisticated intellectual move. Don’t dwell on failure, but don’t be afraid of honest self-evaluation either.

    Tone and Length

    The commentary should read like analytical writing — precise, evidence-based, and confident, but not academic in the heavy sense. You’re reflecting on your creative decisions, not writing a dissertation. Aim for a tone that’s engaged and thoughtful: you’re a writer thinking clearly about craft.

    Most commentaries at this level should be around 300–500 words — enough to make substantive points but focused enough to remain analytical rather than drifting into description.

    A-Level English Language at Thorogood English includes dedicated work on the creative writing component and commentary, with individual feedback at every stage. Join the waiting list for January 2027 classes.

  • How to Revise for IGCSE English: A Realistic 4-Week Plan

    IGCSE English revision confuses many students because it doesn’t look like revision for other subjects. You can’t read notes and learn facts. You can’t make flashcards. You can’t memorise a formula. English is a skills-based exam, and skills are improved through practice, feedback, and deliberate repetition — not through passive study.

    Here’s a realistic 4-week revision plan that actually works.

    Week 1: Know the Exam and Find Your Weaknesses

    Days 1–2: Go through the exam structure in detail. What papers are there? What question types appear in each? What are the mark allocations? Many students sit the IGCSE without knowing that the summary question is worth 15 marks and the directed writing is worth 25. Knowing the marks tells you where to invest your revision time.

    Days 3–5: Do a timed practice paper — the full paper, under exam conditions. Mark it against the mark scheme. Don’t focus on the overall mark; focus on which question types you underperformed in. This is your revision priority list for the next three weeks.

    Days 6–7: Read back through any marked essays or comprehension tasks you’ve had returned this year. Look for patterns: are there specific comments that appear repeatedly? (“Doesn’t use own words for summary”, “quote but no analysis”, “register shifts mid-piece”) These patterns are your specific targets.

    Week 2: Targeted Skill Practice

    Choose the two or three question types you most need to improve. Spend week 2 practising them specifically — not full papers, but isolated practice on these question types.

    If your weakness is language analysis: practise writing three-point analysis responses on short extracts. Check each one for specific language (has every point named a technique, given a quotation, and explained an effect — not just labelled one?).

    If your weakness is directed writing: practise writing one directed piece per day in different forms (letter, article, speech, report). Ask someone to check: does this look and sound like the form it’s supposed to be? Is the register consistent?

    If your weakness is summary: practise finding and transforming specific information from texts. After writing each summary, check how much of the original phrasing you’ve copied and replace it.

    Week 3: Full Paper Practice

    Do at least two more full papers this week, timed strictly. After each one, mark it carefully and note your improvement (or lack of improvement) in your target areas. Are the issues from Week 1 getting smaller?

    This week, also focus on time management. Do you know how long to spend on each question? Practise the discipline of moving on when your allocated time is up — leaving a question to come back to is better than running out of time on a question worth many more marks.

    For Literature: read through your set texts one more time, but actively — with a pen, noting key passages, character turning points, significant language choices, and thematic moments. These are your essay quotation resources. Spend time reading through your model essay structures and practising timed introductions and conclusions.

    Week 4: Fine-Tune and Consolidate

    Do one more timed paper. Compare your performance with the paper you did in Week 1. Where have you improved? Where do you still need to be careful?

    In the final days: don’t start new things. Practise the things you already do well to build confidence, and spend time on the specific one or two areas where you know you still lose marks. Read some of your best past work to remind yourself what your writing looks like when it’s going well.

    The day before the exam: don’t do a practice paper. Do something light — read a passage analytically, practise a single paragraph of directed writing, review the exam format. Then rest. The day of preparation has already happened. The exam is simply the performance of what you’ve been building for months.

    What Doesn’t Work

    • Reading textbooks or notes without practising — knowledge about language doesn’t transfer to exam performance without practice
    • Doing practice papers without marking them carefully — practice without feedback doesn’t improve anything
    • Focusing only on the question types you’re already good at — revision should address weaknesses, not reinforce strengths
    • Leaving creative writing to chance — even if you’re a strong creative writer, practise openings, endings, and specific techniques so they’re available on the day

    Thorogood English’s IGCSE English classes include regular timed practice and individual written feedback — the two things that actually move grades. Join the waiting list for January 2027 classes.

  • How to Answer Language Analysis Questions in IGCSE English: A Practical Guide

    Language analysis questions — questions that ask you to comment on the effects of the writer’s language choices — are the most intellectually demanding questions in IGCSE English Language. They’re also the questions where top marks are most attainable, once you understand what distinguishes a high-scoring answer from a mediocre one.

    Here is the difference, stated plainly: a mediocre answer identifies features and names them. A high-scoring answer identifies features, names them, and explains precisely and specifically what effect they create in this passage.

    The Structure of a Strong Language Analysis Answer

    Every language analysis point needs three things:

    1. A quotation — specific words or a short phrase from the text
    2. Identification of the technique or feature — what is this? (metaphor, verb choice, alliteration, rhetorical question…)
    3. An explanation of effect — what does this do? What feeling, image, idea, or reaction does it create in the reader?

    The third element is where most students underperform. They name the technique correctly, quote accurately, and then write: “This creates a sense of tension.” That’s not an explanation — it’s a label. What kind of tension? How does this specific word choice, in this specific sentence, in this specific context, create that tension? The answer to those questions is what earns the marks.

    What “Zoom In” Actually Means

    You’ll often hear teachers say “zoom in on the language.” Here’s what that means in practice.

    Instead of quoting a long passage and commenting on it generally, select a single word or short phrase and analyse why that specific word works — what its connotations are, what it implies about the subject, what alternative words the writer could have used and why they didn’t.

    Take the verb “lurked” versus “stood” or “waited.” All three describe a person in a position, but “lurked” carries connotations of threat, hidden intention, predatory patience. A single verb can do enormous work, and an analysis that notices and explains that work is much more impressive than an analysis that quotes three sentences and says they “paint a vivid picture.”

    Avoid These Phrases

    Certain phrases appear in almost every mediocre language analysis response and signal that real analysis isn’t happening:

    • “This creates a vivid image in the reader’s mind” — almost always true but almost always empty
    • “This shows that…” — often followed by a paraphrase of the quotation rather than an analysis of it
    • “The writer uses language effectively” — circular and meaningless
    • “This technique makes the reader want to read on” — usually a guess, and usually not what’s actually being asked

    Replace these habits with more specific language: “The verb… suggests…”, “The connotations of… imply…”, “By choosing… rather than…, the writer conveys…”

    Selecting What to Analyse

    You don’t have to comment on everything. You need to comment well on a selection. Choose the features where you can say the most — where you have a genuine observation about the effect of that specific word or phrase, not just a name-and-label response.

    Aim for depth over breadth. Two genuinely analytical paragraphs, each exploring a specific feature with precision, will outscore five superficial paragraphs that name five features and say little about any of them.

    A Useful Test

    After writing each analytical point, ask yourself: “Is what I’ve written here specific to this quotation, or could I have written almost the same thing about any quotation from any text?” If it could apply to anything, it’s not analysis — it’s a template. Push yourself to say something that is only true of this particular language choice in this particular context.

    Language analysis is the skill Thorogood English invests most time in across all its IGCSE English courses — because it’s the skill that makes the biggest difference to grades. Join the waiting list for January 2027.

  • 11+ English: The Most Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

    After years of teaching 11+ English preparation, certain mistakes come up again and again — in the comprehension, in the writing, in how students manage their time. The good news is that predictable mistakes are avoidable mistakes. Here are the most common ones and what to do about them.

    Comprehension: Answering Without Evidence

    The most common comprehension error: stating an inference or interpretation without backing it up with evidence from the text. “The character feels scared” is worth almost nothing as an answer. “The character feels scared — the text says her hands ‘wouldn’t stop shaking’” is a complete answer that earns the mark.

    Teach your child this habit: every answer to an inference or analysis question needs a quotation. Find it, use it, explain it briefly. This three-step pattern (point — evidence — explanation) is the backbone of almost every English mark scheme at every level, and building the habit at 11+ pays dividends all the way through A-Level.

    Comprehension: Not Reading the Question Carefully Enough

    Many marks are lost not because a student can’t answer a question, but because they answer the wrong question — a question that’s similar to but subtly different from what was actually asked. A question asking “how does the writer create tension?” is not the same as “what happens in this paragraph?” A question asking for two examples expects exactly two, not one or three.

    Slow down at the question. Underline the key instruction words. Check the mark allocation — a question worth 4 marks almost certainly expects 4 valid points. Then answer what’s asked, not what you wish had been asked.

    Writing: Openings That Start Too Slowly

    “One day, a girl called Emma was walking to school. It was a sunny morning and she felt happy. Suddenly something happened.”

    This kind of opening — scene-setting, vague, slow — is extremely common and earns very few marks. Good writing openings do something immediate: they drop the reader into a moment, they create curiosity, they establish a voice. The reader should feel interested after the first sentence, not patiently waiting for something to begin.

    Practise openings specifically. Write ten different opening sentences for the same story prompt. Then choose the best one. The ability to write a strong opening is learnable, and it has an enormous effect on the overall impression a piece makes.

    Writing: Telling Instead of Showing

    “She was very angry.” This tells us what the character is feeling but doesn’t make us feel it with her. “She didn’t say anything. She picked up her bag and left, and closed the door so carefully that it made no sound at all.” This shows us anger — through action, through detail, through what is conspicuously not said.

    This “show don’t tell” principle is one of the most reliably mark-earning techniques in creative writing at 11+ and beyond. It requires writers to imagine the scene vividly and report its specific details, rather than summarising the emotional content from outside. Practise it until it becomes instinctive.

    Time Management: Spending Too Long on One Section

    Many children arrive at the 11+ without having practised managing their time across the whole paper. They spend twenty minutes on a question worth four marks, rush the comprehension at the end, and have no time to check their writing. This is entirely preventable with timed practice.

    Practice papers should be done under strict exam conditions from the first one — not because it’s fun, but because the time pressure is a significant part of the challenge and children who are unaccustomed to it will find it much harder to manage on the day. Teach the discipline of moving on: if a question is taking too long, mark it and come back.

    Writing: Not Checking at the End

    Most children don’t check their work. Most children who do check their work don’t know what to look for. Build a specific checking routine: (1) Punctuation — is every sentence properly punctuated? (2) Paragraphs — is there a new paragraph for each new idea? (3) Vocabulary — can any basic word be replaced with a more interesting one? (4) Does the ending feel finished, or does it drop off mid-story?

    Five minutes of this kind of focused checking can easily add several marks to a piece of writing.

    These are exactly the skills practised in Thorogood English’s 11+ preparation groups — in small classes where every student’s work gets individual attention. Join the waiting list for January 2027 places.

  • English Tutoring for Expat Families: Why IGCSE Is the Right Choice Abroad

    If you’re a British family living abroad — in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, the UAE, or anywhere else in the world — you’ve probably navigated the question of English qualifications more than once. The IGCSE offers one of the clearest and most internationally recognised answers. Here’s why, and how to make the most of it from anywhere in the world.

    Why IGCSE Works for Families Abroad

    The Cambridge IGCSE was designed with international families in mind. Unlike the standard GCSE — which is tied to the English national curriculum and primarily available through UK schools — the IGCSE is available globally, can be sat by private candidates, and is marked by Cambridge Assessment International Education regardless of where the student is based.

    For a family in Kuala Lumpur, Dubai, or Sydney, this means your child can sit a British qualification — one recognised by UK universities, and by universities across the world — without being in a UK school. Many international schools offer the IGCSE as their chosen British pathway precisely for this reason.

    The Specific Value of IGCSE English

    IGCSE English Language is not just about English as a first language — it’s about writing, reading, analysis, and communication in ways that benefit every student regardless of their future academic path. Universities and employers look for evidence of strong written English, and a strong IGCSE English grade (particularly A or A*) is universally understood as that evidence.

    For students who may apply to UK universities in the future — whether they’re British children living abroad or international students — GCSE/IGCSE English Language at grade C or above (or grade 4+) is typically a baseline requirement for any course. Getting this right matters.

    Common Challenges for Expat Students

    Families who’ve moved around often find that their children have studied different curricula in different countries — which can mean gaps in the specific skills the IGCSE tests. A child who’s been educated in an American system, for instance, will have different writing conventions than the IGCSE demands: different essay structures, different punctuation habits, different expectations around formality.

    Similarly, students in international schools that offer a mixed curriculum may not have had the consistent exposure to IGCSE-specific question types that students at dedicated British schools have had — which means exam preparation needs to include familiarisation with the format as well as subject knowledge.

    How Online Tutoring Solves the Problem

    The great advantage of online tutoring for expat families is the obvious one: location is irrelevant. A student in Kuala Lumpur can work with a teacher in the UK — getting the expertise of someone who knows the Cambridge exam inside out, in a timezone that works for their family, without any of the logistics of face-to-face sessions.

    Zoom sessions work across time zones with minimal friction. Written feedback arrives via email. The student’s progress is monitored and guided with the same attentiveness as any local student. The only thing that’s different is that the student and teacher are on different sides of the world — and for most purposes, that doesn’t matter at all.

    What to Look for in an Online IGCSE English Tutor

    For families abroad specifically: look for a tutor who knows the Cambridge IGCSE specifically (not just general GCSE knowledge), who has experience working with students across time zones, and who is clear about what feedback on writing looks like (because that feedback needs to happen asynchronously). A tutor who has worked as an examiner is particularly valuable — they understand the mark scheme not just in theory but in practice.

    Thorogood English is run by Jacqueline — a qualified teacher and former Cambridge examiner, currently based in Malaysia herself. She offers IGCSE English Language and Literature online, for students anywhere in the world. Join the waiting list for January 2027, wherever you are.

  • IGCSE vs A-Level English: What’s the Difference and How Do You Bridge the Gap?

    Many students who do well at IGCSE English find A-Level harder than they expected. This surprises them — and their parents. After all, English is English, isn’t it? Good readers and good writers should continue to be good readers and good writers at A-Level.

    This is true — but A-Level English asks for something additional and different from IGCSE, and students who aren’t aware of the shift often find themselves struggling in ways they don’t understand. Here’s what changes — and how to bridge the gap.

    The Biggest Change: You Have to Think About Language, Not Just Through It

    At IGCSE, language is a tool. You use it to read, write, and analyse literary texts. You are assessed on whether you can use it well.

    At A-Level English Language, language itself becomes the subject. You study how language works as a system: how meaning is made, how communication succeeds and fails, how language varies across contexts and communities, how it changes over time. This is a significant conceptual shift — from “what does this text say?” to “how does language construct meaning?”

    A-Level English Literature, meanwhile, requires a much more extended, independent engagement with texts — including contextual research, awareness of critical debate, and the ability to construct a sustained argument across a long essay rather than a paragraph-based response.

    What Stays the Same

    The fundamentals carry over. Close reading — noticing what specific language choices do, why a writer made this decision rather than another — is the core skill at IGCSE and it remains the core skill at A-Level. Students who have genuinely internalised that skill at IGCSE will find it transferable; they’ll need to apply it to different kinds of texts and in more complex ways, but the instinct is the same.

    Essay writing structure — clear argument, well-evidenced, logically sequenced — also carries over, though the level of sophistication expected increases significantly.

    What Gets Harder

    • Essay length and sustained argument: A-Level essays are longer and expect a more developed, independent argument — not a set of connected points but a genuinely exploratory analysis
    • Independent reading: A-Level Literature requires significant reading outside the set texts — criticism, context, related texts
    • Technical vocabulary: A-Level English Language introduces precise linguistic terminology (deixis, hedging, face-threatening acts, graphology) that has no equivalent at IGCSE
    • Time management: A-Level exams are longer and more demanding; students accustomed to IGCSE time management often need to recalibrate
    • Independent coursework: The language investigation and creative writing portfolio require self-directed work over an extended period — a different skill from timed exam performance

    How to Prepare Over the Summer

    If your child is moving from IGCSE to A-Level English, the summer between is a genuine opportunity. Some valuable things to do:

    • Read widely — novels, essays, long-form journalism, memoir. A-Level rewards breadth of reading in ways that IGCSE doesn’t always.
    • Start to notice language analytically in everyday life: how does an advertisement construct its appeal? What register does a text message from a friend use compared to a text from a parent?
    • If taking English Language: familiarise yourself with the basic linguistic frameworks (lexis, grammar, phonology, pragmatics, discourse) so they don’t feel alien in September
    • If taking English Literature: read at least one of the set texts before the course begins and engage with it thoughtfully — not to study it, but to read it as a whole and form your own response

    Thorogood English offers A-Level English Language in small groups from January 2027. If your child is approaching this transition, get in touch — and join the waiting list to secure a place.

  • What to Expect from Online English Tutoring: A First-Timer’s Guide

    If you’re considering online English tutoring for your child for the first time, you likely have practical questions: What does a session actually look like? What equipment do you need? Is it as effective as face-to-face? How does my child get feedback on their writing if everything is virtual?

    Here’s a straightforward guide to what online English tutoring involves — and how to help your child get the most out of it.

    What Equipment Do You Need?

    For online tutoring via Zoom or a similar platform, you need: a device (laptop, tablet, or desktop — a phone screen is too small for shared documents), a stable internet connection, and a quiet space where your child can focus for the duration of the session. A microphone and camera are standard on most modern laptops and tablets.

    Most tutors will share a document or presentation on screen during the session — your child will be able to see and interact with it on their own screen. For English tutoring specifically, your child should also have paper and a pen available: nothing replaces the habit of writing by hand for an exam that’s sat on paper.

    What Does a Session Look Like?

    A well-structured online English tutoring session typically moves between several activities: a review of work done since the last session, teaching or explanation of a concept or skill, practice (reading, analysis, or writing), and a brief wrap-up with clear guidance on what to do before the next session.

    In a small group session, the tutor will direct discussion, ask questions of different students, and create opportunities for students to respond to each other’s ideas — not just to the tutor. Good online tutors are skilled at managing this: using direct questions to involve quieter students, using breakout rooms for paired tasks, and reading the virtual room for signs of confusion.

    How Does Writing Feedback Work Online?

    This is the question parents ask most frequently — and it’s a reasonable one. The short answer is that written feedback works very well online, often better than in a face-to-face setting.

    Students submit writing (essays, directed pieces, creative writing) to the tutor between sessions — either by email, via a shared document, or through a learning management platform. The tutor marks it with detailed written comments — using track changes in a Google Doc, annotating a Word document, or writing separate feedback notes — and returns it before the next session. The session then includes time to discuss the feedback and address the specific issues it identifies.

    This process is arguably more efficient than face-to-face: the marking happens at the tutor’s own pace (not a rushed scan in the last five minutes of a session), the feedback is written down so the student can return to it, and discussion time is focused on the most important issues rather than whatever can be covered in the remaining minutes.

    How Do You Know If It’s Working?

    After the first few sessions, you should notice: your child coming away with clear tasks and a clear sense of what they’re working on; improvement (even small improvement) in the specific skills being targeted; your child being more willing to talk about their English work — a sign that they feel more confident and more capable.

    Ask your child these questions after sessions: “What did you work on today?” “Did you understand the feedback on your writing?” “Is there anything you found confusing?” Their answers will tell you whether the tutoring is genuinely landing.

    Tips for Getting the Most Out of Online Tutoring

    • Have your child sit at a desk — not a sofa — for sessions. Posture affects attention.
    • Close other browser tabs and put notifications on silent during the session.
    • Make sure any work set between sessions is done before the next session — feedback on incomplete work helps no one.
    • Encourage your child to ask questions during sessions, not just nod along. The best use of a tutor is the ability to ask “why” about anything.
    • Review feedback together occasionally — not to helicopter, but to understand what your child is working on and where they’ve improved.

    Thorogood English offers a free trial lesson so you and your child can experience online small-group English tutoring before committing to anything. Join the waiting list for January 2027 — or get in touch with questions.

  • How to Read a Text for IGCSE English Language: Active Reading Techniques

    Reading quickly is not the same as reading well. Students who rush through the source texts in IGCSE English Language, eager to start answering questions, consistently underperform students who read more slowly and more deliberately. Active reading — reading that notices and questions and marks — is the foundation of every question on the paper.

    What Is Active Reading?

    Active reading means engaging with a text while you read it, not just absorbing words. It means asking questions: What is the writer’s purpose here? Who is the intended audience? Why did they choose this word over another? What effect does this sentence structure create? What do I expect to happen next?

    This kind of attentive, questioning reading is the same skill that examiners reward in analysis questions. The more automatic it becomes — the more second-nature it is to ask “why” about every language choice — the stronger every answer on the paper becomes.

    Before You Read: Look at the Text

    Before reading a word of the text, spend 20–30 seconds looking at its overall shape. What form is it? (Article, letter, extract from a novel, travel writing?) What information do you have about it — a title, a date, a source, an author’s note? Who published it, and what does that tell you about the intended audience?

    This context shapes everything about how you read. A news article written in 1950 carries different expectations than one written today. A letter to a council is a completely different register from a personal essay. Knowing what you’re reading before you start reading it activates the right mental frameworks.

    First Read: For the Big Picture

    Read the whole text through once without stopping to annotate. Your goal is the big picture: What is this text about? What is the writer’s overall purpose — to inform, persuade, describe, or entertain? What is the overall tone? How does it begin and how does it end, and what does that journey tell you?

    Don’t stop at words you don’t know. Your job on the first read is to understand the whole; individual words you can address on the second read.

    Second Read: Annotate as You Go

    On the second read, annotate actively. Underline phrases that seem significant — not everything, just what strikes you as particularly intentional or effective. Write brief notes in the margin: “sarcasm here,” “shift in tone,” “emotional appeal to reader,” “statistics — builds authority.”

    Be alert to the structure: where does the argument or description shift? Where does the writer change tone, speed up, slow down, or introduce a counterargument? These structural moments are often the most analytically rich.

    Key Questions to Ask While Reading

    • What does the writer want the reader to think, feel, or do?
    • Who is the intended audience, and how does the language choices reflect this?
    • What is the overall tone — and does it shift?
    • Which words or phrases feel most deliberate and why?
    • How does the opening create a particular impression?
    • How does the ending leave the reader?
    • Are there any techniques that appear more than once — and if so, what effect does the repetition create?

    Reading with the Questions in Mind

    On the actual exam, you’ll have the questions before you start reading. Use them. Read the questions first, note what each one is asking, and then read the text with those specific demands active. You’ll find yourself noticing different things in the text when you know what you’re looking for.

    For retrieval questions (find information explicitly stated in the text): read for facts and underline them as you go. For analysis questions (comment on the writer’s language): read for effect — why this word? why this structure? For summary questions: read for a specific type of information and mark only what’s relevant.

    Active reading is practised as a skill from the first session at Thorogood English — not assumed. Join the waiting list for IGCSE English Language classes from January 2027.