GCSE English Language past papers: AQA, Edexcel, OCR and Eduqas papers, marks and a plan to May

Key takeaways

• →Use papers from your own board: AQA (8700), Pearson Edexcel (1EN0), OCR (J351) or WJEC Eduqas (C700QS). Every board holds its newest papers back for teachers, so summer 2026 is not public yet.
• →AQA and OCR each set two equal papers of 80 marks. Pearson’s papers are 64 and 96 marks. Eduqas sets two 80-mark papers, but its second counts for 60%.
• →In 2027 all four boards put Paper 1 on Monday 24 May and Paper 2 on Tuesday 8 June. From 1 November, the first is just over 29 weeks away.
• →Sit each paper once, to time, and mark it with the official mark scheme. Ask a teacher or tutor to check your marking now and then.

1. GCSE English Language past papers: get the real ones from your exam board

The best GCSE English Language past papers are the ones your own exam board publishes, with their mark schemes. This guide covers four boards. Ask your school which one you are entered for, and check the code on the front of the paper.

AQA: code 8700. Use its Find past papers and mark schemes page. You choose a subject and a qualification, and it shows past papers, mark schemes and examiner reports.^[5]

Pearson Edexcel: code 1EN0. Use its Past papers page. You narrow the list by qualification family, subject and exam series, and it shows question papers, mark schemes and examiner reports.^[10]

OCR: code J351. Use its past papers materials finder. You choose a subject, then narrow with three drop-downs: type of qualification, qualification and level.^[15]

WJEC Eduqas: code C700QS. Open the GCSE English Language page on the Eduqas website and use its Past Papers / Mark Schemes tab.^[18]

Every board holds its newest papers back for teachers, so schools can use them as mocks. Get full papers from the board’s own site. The sections below give the dates.

2. The four boards side by side

The table shows each paper, its length and its share of the GCSE. Do not compare marks across boards: Edexcel’s papers differ in size, and Eduqas counts its second paper for more.

3. AQA (8700): papers, marks and when they go public

Both papers are written exams of 1 hour 45 minutes and 80 marks, each worth 50% of the GCSE. In each, Section A is reading (40 marks) and Section B is writing (40 marks: 24 for content and 16 for technical accuracy).^[1]

Paper 1 reading uses one literature fiction text (questions of 4, 8, 8 and 20 marks), and its writing task is descriptive or narrative. Paper 2 reading uses one non-fiction and one literary non-fiction text (4, 8, 12 and 16 marks), and its writing task asks you to present a viewpoint. All texts are unseen. Spoken language is a separate endorsement worth 0%.^[1]

The 2026 updates changed wording, not structure. AQA says each paper keeps the same number of questions and the same marks per question. Paper 1 Question 1 is now multiple choice.^[2]

From summer 2027 AQA is changing the layout of question papers in all subjects except modern foreign languages. Its page does not say marks or timings change.^[7]

AQA lists the summer 2026 papers, mark schemes and reports for its public website on 9 July 2027. Most papers stay online for three years. Teachers can get the newest ones earlier through Centre Services.^[4]

AQA’s revision page describes the finder as free digital copies of past papers and mark schemes.^[6]

Our AQA English Language Paper 1 explained and Paper 2 explained guides go through each question.

4. Pearson Edexcel (1EN0): papers, marks and when they go public

Paper 1 is 1 hour 45 minutes and 64 marks (40%). Section A is reading, 24 marks, on one unseen 19th-century fiction extract. Section B is imaginative writing, 40 marks, with a choice of two tasks.^[8]

Paper 2 is 2 hours 5 minutes and 96 marks (60%). Section A is reading, 56 marks, on two unseen non-fiction extracts from the 20th and 21st centuries. Section B is transactional writing (writing for a real purpose, such as a letter or article), 40 marks, with a choice of two tasks.^[8]

On both papers the 40 writing marks split 24 for content and organisation and 16 for vocabulary, sentences, spelling and punctuation. Spoken language is a separate endorsement and counts for 0%.^[8]

Pearson also offers English Language 2.0 (1EN2), with different papers. Its 2027 timetable lists 1 hour 55 minutes for each. Check the code on your paper.^[9]

Pearson says its past papers are free to teachers and students, but only teachers can open papers sat in the last 12 months. One note on the page says nine months, so ask your teacher.^[10]

Pearson’s publication policy (version 2.3, August 2026) agrees: 12 months, then open to everyone.^[11]

On 1 August 2026 Pearson removed the padlocks from its 2025 papers. The June 2026 papers need a teacher’s Edexcel Online login.^[12]

Our Edexcel English Language Paper 1 and 2 explained guide goes deeper.

5. OCR (J351) and WJEC Eduqas (C700QS)

OCR has two 2-hour papers of 80 marks, each worth 50%, with 40 marks for reading and 40 for writing. Paper 01 reads two unseen non-fiction texts, one from the 19th century and one from the 20th or 21st, then sets a non-fiction writing task. Paper 02 reads unseen 20th or 21st-century fiction, then sets a creative writing task.^[13]

OCR adds papers to Teach Cambridge, its site for teachers, 2 to 10 days after the exam. A June series reaches OCR’s public site in early August of the following year, about 14 months after the exam.^[16]

OCR’s policy says papers stay on its website for five years.^[17]

Eduqas Component 1 (40%) has 40 marks for reading one unseen 20th-century literary prose extract, and 40 for a narrative or recount task chosen from four titles. Component 2 (60%) has 40 marks for reading two unseen non-fiction texts, one from the 19th century and one from the 21st, and 40 for two writing tasks of 20 marks each.^[19]

Eduqas’s grade points table gives each component a maximum of 80 marks, and weights Component 2 at 1.5 against 1 for Component 1.^[20]

The specification says 20% of all the marks are for spelling, punctuation and grammar. Spoken language is not part of the final mark.^[19]

Eduqas’s publication policy (effective September 2025) puts June-series papers and mark schemes on its public website in July of the following year, so summer 2026 should appear in July 2027. Centres get them earlier through the Eduqas Portal.^[22]

Eduqas’s spring 2026 newsletter says papers from earlier series are freely available on its public website. For Portal access, ask your school’s exams officer.^[23]

6. When the 2027 papers are

AQA’s timetable (version 1.2) has Paper 1 on Monday 24 May 2027 and Paper 2 on Tuesday 8 June, both in the morning. Published start times are 9.00am or 1.30pm, and schools may start up to 30 minutes either side.^[3]

Pearson’s final timetable has the same two days, both mornings.^[9]

So does OCR’s final timetable, which names Wednesday 23 June 2027 as a contingency day.^[14]

The Eduqas timetable (final, version 2) has the same two days and contingency day. Check its session times on your own timetable.^[21]

AQA names the same contingency day, a spare day in case an exam has to move. Stay free until then.^[3]

Dates can move: We checked the boards’ timetables at the end of October 2026. Use your school’s personal timetable nearer the time.

7. How to use past papers for English Language

Start with the mark scheme for one question type, then try that question. AQA suggests checking your answers against the mark scheme to see what examiners look for and how marks are given.^[6]

Later, sit whole papers in one go, with a clock. AQA suggests answering past papers as if under exam conditions.^[6]

Plan every writing task, even in practice.

Boards also publish reports on the exam alongside their papers. Read the report for a paper after you have marked it.^[4]

Mark honestly. English marks come from judgement, so ask a teacher or tutor to check one answer from each paper until you trust your own marking.

The reading texts are unseen on every board. Pearson, OCR and Eduqas each use a 19th-century text, so read some 19th-century writing as well as modern pieces.^[8]

Other boards’ papers give extra practice, but layouts and marks differ, so do not compare scores. For help with techniques, BBC Bitesize is a well-known free site.

Practise to time, mark it properly, then fix what lost marks.

Keep an error log: After each paper, write one line for every lost mark: what went wrong and what to do next time. Redo the weakest question a week later.

8. A plan from now to May and June 2027

From 1 November, Paper 1 on Monday 24 May is just over 29 weeks away. This plan is our suggestion, not a board rule. English Literature papers, if you sit them, come first, on 12 and 19 May: see our GCSE English Literature past papers guide.^[3]

9. How Brainhub can help

Brainhub teaches one-to-one, live online across the UK. Online GCSE lessons start from £30 an hour, and a qualified teacher with a PGCE costs £10 an hour more. Every family starts with a free 45-minute assessment.

Our GCSE students typically improve by 2 grades over 12 weeks of weekly lessons (Brainhub student records, 2021–2026). That figure is our own data, not independent research, and every student is different. Bring a marked past paper if you have one, so we can see whether reading or writing needs the most work first.

1. 1. Which two English Language boards give Paper 1 40% and Paper 2 60% of the GCSE?

   Show answer

2. 2. When are the summer 2027 English Language papers?

   Show answer

3. 3. Why can you not find the summer 2026 papers on every board’s website yet?

   Show answer

Your next steps

• Check your board and paper code with your school, then open that board’s own past papers page.
• Put 24 May and 8 June 2027 in the calendar and work back from them.
• Book a free 45-minute assessment to see whether reading or writing needs the most work.

Subject guides to go with this

Want one-to-one help? See how our online lessons work.