AQA GCSE English Language Paper 1 exam skills pack

Ensure your students are fully prepared for AQA's GCSE English Language Paper 1: Explorations in creative reading and writing with this updated digital teaching pack, now aligned with the 2026 exams.

This comprehensive, downloadable resource has been revised to reflect the latest AQA exam requirements, including new multiple choice practice questions. Designed to be both accessible and challenging, the pack features top tips, assessment objective breakdowns, detailed activities, exam-style questions and suggested answers.

Key features of this digital teaching pack

This student-facing resource is divided into reading and writing sections, covering four engaging fiction extracts with accompanying exam questions. Activities include pre-reading tasks, matching exercises, true/false questions, planning grids, vocabulary work, sequencing tasks, creative extensions and correction activities.

The pack builds students' confidence when working with unseen texts and prepares them thoroughly for the rigour of the GCSE exam. Perfect for structured revision and exam preparation.

What texts are featured?

• Jamrach's Menagerie – Carol Birch
• 'The Singing Lesson' – Katherine Mansfield
• The Lodger – Marie Belloc Lowndes
• The Hampdenshire Wonder – J.D. Beresford

What's included

• Four fiction text extracts for analysis
• Reading and writing sections aligned to AQA assessment objectives
• Exam practice questions, including new multiple choice questions
• Downloadable and printable format for classroom use

What's inside

Teacher introduction (pages 3-4)

Section A: Reading (pages 5-6)

Practise the exam skills: AO1 (first bullet point) (pages 7-25)

• Source 1: Jamrach’s Menagerie by Carol Birch

Practise the exam skills: AO2 (language) (pages 25-53)

• Source 2: ‘The Singing Lesson’ by Katherine Mansfield

Practise the exam skills: AO2 (structure) (pages 54-78)

• Source 3: The Lodger by Marie Belloc Lowndes

Practise the exam skills: AO4 (pages 79-102)

• Source 4: The Hampdenshire Wonder by J.D. Beresford

Section B: Writing (pages 103-104)

Practise the exam skills: AO5 (pages 105-120)

Practise the exam skills: AO6 (pages 121-142)