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for GCSE and beyond
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Past Papers
Why should you do past papers?
Practising past exam papers is an invaluable strategy for English Language GCSE revision. Engaging with these papers familiarises students with the exam format, question types, and time constraints, reducing exam-day anxiety. It enables students to identify common themes and recurring topics, honing their ability to structure coherent, persuasive responses. Additionally, past papers provide a practical opportunity to apply analytical skills and improve critical thinking. Reviewing marked papers highlights strengths and areas for improvement, guiding focused revision. Overall, this practice enhances exam readiness, boosts confidence, and maximises the potential for achieving high grades in the English Language GCSE.
AQA English Language (9-1) 8700
Changes to AQA English Language GCSE from 2026
From 2026, AQA will be making some changes to the English Language GCSE exam papers. These changes are designed to improve the clarity and accessibility of the papers, but the core skills being assessed remain exactly the same.
If you're resitting in November 2025, these changes will not affect you — you'll still be taking the current version of the paper. However, if you're taking the exam in summer 2026 or beyond, you’ll be sitting the updated version.
What does this mean for past papers?
Many past papers will still be very useful for practice, especially for developing your reading and writing skills. However, some of the questions and formats are changing slightly, which means that students preparing for 2026 onwards need to be aware of the differences.
To support you with this transition, I’ll be adapting existing past papers to match the new format, so that you can practise with materials that reflect what you’ll actually see in the exam. These updated resources will be clearly labelled and added gradually to this page.
AQA English Language Changes (2026 Onwards) – At a Glance
If you're unsure which paper version applies to you or you want to know whether a resource is right for your exam year, don’t hesitate to get in touch or check the label on each paper I’ve uploaded. I’m here to help you feel confident and well prepared — whatever year you’re sitting the exam.
Sample papers for examination from 2026 onwards
AQA have adapted the June 2023 exam papers to reflect the new changes
8700/1 Paper 1 Explorations in creative reading and writing
Sample set 2026 onwards
Question Paper
8700/1 Paper 1 Explorations in creative reading and writing
Sample set 2026 onwards
Insert includes extract from The Life of Pi by Yann Martel
8700/2 Paper 2 Writers' viewpoints and perspectives
Sample set 2026 onwards
Question Paper
8700/2 Paper 2 Writers' viewpoints and perspectives
Sample set 2026 onwards
Insert includes extract from One's Company by Peter Fleming and Records of Girlhood, an extract from a letter by Fanny Kemble
Old format past papers (examined 2017-2025)
Specimens for specifications examined from 2015
8700/2 Paper 2 Writers' viewpoints and perspectives
Specimen 2014
Question Paper
8700/2 Paper 2 Writers' viewpoints and perspectives
Specimen 2014
Insert includes newspaper article entitled "Could you do your child's homework?" and two letters from the 1820s.
June 2017
8700/2 Paper 2 Writers' viewpoints and perspectives
June 2017
Question Paper
8700/2 Paper 2 Writers' viewpoints and perspectives
June 2017
Insert includes a newspaper article entitled "How can my son be a year old already?" and Boy Lost, an extract from a Victorian newspaper
November 2017
8700/1 Paper 1 Explorations in creative reading and writing
November 2017
Question Paper
8700/1 Paper 1 Explorations in creative reading and writing
November 2017
Insert includes an extract from Labyrinth by Kate Mosse
8700/2 Paper 2 Writers' viewpoints and perspectives
November 2017
Question Paper
8700/2 Paper 2 Writers' viewpoints and perspectives
November 2017
Insert includes an extract from The Other Side of the Dale and The Ragged School, an extract from a diary of a teacher from 1849.
June 2018
8700/1 Paper 1 Explorations in creative reading and writing
June 2018
Question Paper
8700/1 Paper 1 Explorations in creative reading and writing
June 2018
Insert includes an extract from Jigs and Reels by Joanne Harris
8700/2 Paper 2 Writers' viewpoints and perspectives
June 2018
Question Paper
8700/2 Paper 2 Writers' viewpoints and perspectives
November 2017
Insert includes an extract from Morning Glass and The Hawaiian Archipelago, an extract from a letter by Isabella Bird.
November 2018
8700/1 Paper 1 Explorations in creative reading and writing
November 2018
Question Paper
8700/1 Paper 1 Explorations in creative reading and writing
June 2018
Insert includes an extract from A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury
8700/2 Paper 2 Writers' viewpoints and perspectives
November 2018
Question Paper
8700/2 Paper 2 Writers' viewpoints and perspectives
November 2017
Insert includes a newspaper article entitled "All cyclists fear bad drivers" and On a bicycle in the streets of London, a magazine article published in 1896.
CIE First Language English 0500
November 2023
0500/11 Paper 1 Reading
November 2023
Question Paper
0500/12 Paper 1 Reading
November 2023
Question Paper
0500/11 Paper 1 Reading
November 2023
Insert
0500/12 Paper 1 Reading
November 2023
Insert
0500/13 Paper 1 Reading
November 2023
Question Paper
0500/13 Paper 1 Reading
November 2023
Insert
0500/21 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
November 2023
Question Paper
0500/22 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
November 2023
Question Paper
0500/21 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
November 2023
Insert
0500/22 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
November 2023
Insert
0500/23 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
November 2023
Question Paper
0500/23 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
November 2023
Insert
June 2023
0500/11 Paper 1 Reading
June 2023
Question Paper
0500/12 Paper 1 Reading
June 2023
Question Paper
0500/11 Paper 1 Reading
June 2023
Insert
0500/12 Paper 1 Reading
June 2023
Insert
0500/13 Paper 1 Reading
June 2023
Question Paper
0500/13 Paper 1 Reading
June 2023
Insert
0500/21 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
June 2023
Question Paper
0500/22 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
June 2023
Question Paper
0500/21 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
June 2023
Insert
0500/22 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
June 2023
Insert
0500/23 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
June 2023
Question Paper
0500/23 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
June 2023
Insert
November 2022
0500/11 Paper 1 Reading
November 2022
Question Paper
0500/12 Paper 1 Reading
November 2022
Question Paper
0500/11 Paper 1 Reading
November 2022
Insert
0500/12 Paper 1 Reading
November 2022
Insert
0500/13 Paper 1 Reading
November 2022
Question Paper
0500/13 Paper 1 Reading
November 2022
Insert
0500/21 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
November 2022
Question Paper
0500/22 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
November 2022
Question Paper
0500/21 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
November 2022
Insert
0500/22 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
November 2022
Insert
0500/23 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
November 2022
Question Paper
0500/23 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
November 2022
Insert
June 2022
0500/11 Paper 1 Reading
June 2022
Question Paper
0500/12 Paper 1 Reading
June 2022
Question Paper
0500/11 Paper 1 Reading
June 2022
Insert
0500/12 Paper 1 Reading
June 2022
Insert
0500/13 Paper 1 Reading
June 2022
Question Paper
0500/13 Paper 1 Reading
June 2022
Insert
0500/21 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
June 2022
Question Paper
0500/22 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
June 2022
Question Paper
0500/21 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
June 2022
Insert
0500/22 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
June 2022
Insert
0500/23 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
June 2022
Question Paper
0500/23 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
June 2022
Insert
March 2022
0500/12 Paper 1 Reading
March 2022
Question Paper
0500/12 Paper 1 Reading
March 2022
Insert
0500/22 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
March 2022
Question Paper
0500/22 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
March 2022
Insert
November 2021
0500/11 Paper 1 Reading
November 2021
Question Paper
0500/12 Paper 1 Reading
November 2021
Question Paper
0500/11 Paper 1 Reading
November 2021
Insert
0500/12 Paper 1 Reading
November 2021
Insert
0500/13 Paper 1 Reading
November 2021
Question Paper
0500/13 Paper 1 Reading
November 2021
Insert
0500/21 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
November 2021
Question Paper
0500/22 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
November 2021
Question Paper
0500/21 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
November 2021
Insert
0500/22 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
November 2021
Insert
0500/23 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
November 2021
Question Paper
0500/23 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
November 2021
Insert
June 2021
0500/12 Paper 1 Reading
June 2021
Question Paper
0500/12 Paper 1 Reading
June 2021
Insert
0500/13 Paper 1 Reading
June 2021
Question Paper
0500/13 Paper 1 Reading
June 2021
Insert
0500/21 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
June 2021
Question Paper
0500/22 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
June 2021
Question Paper
0500/21 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
June 2021
Insert
0500/22 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
June 2021
Insert
0500/23 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
June 2021
Question Paper
0500/23 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
June 2021
Insert
March 2021
0500/12 Paper 1 Reading
March 2021
Question Paper
0500/12 Paper 1 Reading
March 2021
Insert
0500/22 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
March 2021
Question Paper
0500/22 Paper 2 Directed Writing and Composition
March 2021
Insert
Eduqas C700
Summer 2023
Component 1:
20th Century Literature Reading and Creative Prose Writing
Question Paper includes a story by Penelope Lively entitled 'A World of Her Own'
​
Component 2:
19th and 21st Century Non-fiction Reading and Transactional / Persuasive Writing
Question Paper includes an account of living in a lighthouse which appeared in the New York Tribune in 1869, and a newspaper article entitled '"We save people. It's just our job'.
Summer 2022
Component 1:
20th Century Literature Reading and Creative Prose Writing
Question Paper includes an extract from The Crow Trap by Anne Cleeves
​
Component 2:
19th and 21st Century Non-fiction Reading and Transactional / Persuasive Writing
Question Paper includes an extract from the book London Labour and the London Poor, published in 1851 and a newspaper article with the headline 'Knockout Punch'
Autumn 2022
Component 1:
20th Century Literature Reading and Creative Prose Writing
Question Paper includes an extract taken from a story about a married woman with a husband called Ewan and two children called Alex and Cassandra.
​
Component 2:
19th and 21st Century Non-fiction Reading and Transactional / Persuasive Writing
Question Paper includes a newspaper article entitled 'Revealed: new evidence about the life and death of Jumbo, the giant Victorian sensation' and an extract from the autobiography of Matthew Scott, written in 1885
Autumn 2021
Component 1:
20th Century Literature Reading and Creative Prose Writing
Question Paper
​
Component 1:
20th Century Literature Reading and Creative Prose Writing
Resource Material
Extract taken from
Component 2:
19th and 21st Century Non-fiction Reading and Transactional / Persuasive Writing
Question Paper includes
Component 2:
19th and 21st Century Non-fiction Reading and Transactional / Persuasive Writing
Resource Material
​
Autumn 2020
Component 1:
20th Century Literature Reading and Creative Prose Writing
Question Paper
​
Component 1:
20th Century Literature Reading and Creative Prose Writing
Resource Material
Extract taken from
Component 2:
19th and 21st Century Non-fiction Reading and Transactional / Persuasive Writing
Question Paper includes
Component 2:
19th and 21st Century Non-fiction Reading and Transactional / Persuasive Writing
Resource Material
Article entitled
Summer 2019
Component 1:
20th Century Literature Reading and Creative Prose Writing
Question Paper
​
Component 1:
20th Century Literature Reading and Creative Prose Writing
Resource Material
Extract taken from Heavy Weather by Helen Simpson
Component 2:
19th and 21st Century Non-fiction Reading and Transactional / Persuasive Writing
Question Paper includes an account of a rescue which appeared in a Victorian magazine called Penny Review.
Component 2:
19th and 21st Century Non-fiction Reading and Transactional / Persuasive Writing
Resource Material
Article entitled 'Miners rescued from Chilean mine' by Jeffrey Brown.
Autumn 2019
Component 1:
20th Century Literature Reading and Creative Prose Writing
Question Paper
​
Component 1:
20th Century Literature Reading and Creative Prose Writing
Resource Material
Extract taken from a story by W. Somerset Maugham
Component 2:
19th and 21st Century Non-fiction Reading and Transactional / Persuasive Writing
Question Paper includes a page from a Victorian magazine London As It Is.
Component 2:
19th and 21st Century Non-fiction Reading and Transactional/Persuasive Writing
Resource Material
Article entitled 'Is it the end of the road for London's traditional street markets? Meet the last stallholder in Hackney's Kingsland Road market'.
Summer 2018
Component 1:
20th Century Literature Reading and Creative Prose Writing
Question Paper
​
Component 1: 20th Century Literature Reading and Creative Prose Writing
Resource Material
Extract taken from Two Stories about Emma by Margaret Atwood
Component 2:
19th and 21st Century Non-fiction Reading and Transactional / Persuasive Writing
Question Paper includes extract from a description of the eruption of the Krakatoa volcano in 1883 by Pieter Sandrick
Component 2: 19th and 21st Century Non-fiction Reading and Transactional / Persuasive Writing
Resource Material
Article entitled 'Iceland's erupting volcano'' by Tom Robbins.
Autumn 2018
Component 1: 20th Century Literature Reading and Creative Prose Writing
Question Paper includes Resource Material
Extract about Samuel Hamilton taken from the novel East of Eden by John Steinbeck
​
Component 1: 20th Century Literature Reading and Creative Prose Writing
Resource Material
Extract about Samuel Hamilton taken from the novel East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Component 2:
19th and 21st Century Non-fiction Reading and Transactional / Persuasive Writing
Question Paper includes extract from a biography of Blondin, a famous tightrope walker, entitled Blondin: His Life and Performances by George Banks.
Component 2:
19th and 21st Century Non-fiction Reading and Transactional/Persuasive Writing
Resource Material
Article entitled 'Nik Wallenda Makes History at Niagara Falls' by Jacob Burnett.
Summer 2017
Component 1:
20th Century Literature Reading and Creative Prose Writing
Question Paper
​
Component 1:
20th Century Literature Reading and Creative Prose Writing
Resource Material
Extract taken from Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson
Component 2: 19th and 21st Century Non-fiction Reading and Transactional / Persuasive Writing
Question Paper includes extract from American Notes for General Circulation written by Charles Dickens in 1842.
Component 2: 19th and 21st Century Non-fiction Reading and Transactional / Persuasive Writing
Resource Material
Article entitled 'Inside America's Toughest Prison' by Mark Binelli
Autumn 2017
Component 1:
20th Century Literature Reading and Creative Prose Writing
Question Paper
​
Component 1: 20th Century Literature Reading and Creative Prose Writing
Resource Material
Extract taken from Cleopatra's Sister by Penelope Lively
Component 2:
19th and 21st Century Non-fiction Reading and Transactional / Persuasive Writing
Question Paper includes extract from The Whaleman's Adventures written by Henry Cheever in 1850.
Component 2:
19th and 21st Century Non-fiction Reading and Transactional / Persuasive Writing
Resource Material
Article entitled 'Whales Under Threat Again' by Michael McCarthy in 2006.
Sample set
Component 1:
20th Century Literature Reading and Creative Prose Writing
Question Paper includes extract
from The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
Component 2:
19th and 21st Century Non-fiction Reading and Transactional /Persuasive Writing
Question Paper includes extracts from The American Frugal Housewife written in 1832 by Lydia M. Child and a newspaper article entitled 'Waste not, Want not'' by John Humphrys