GCSE Ninja Members · AQA GCSE English Literature (8702)
See exactly what a top-band English Literature answer looks like, every week.
One full exam-style question a week, with a five-minute plan, a model paragraph written to AQA's top level, and an explanation, sentence by sentence, of where the marks come from. Plus a plain-English guide for the parent, so you can help without having read the book.
This is our launch price. Only the first 20 Ninjas can jpin at thsi price, so today's price is the lowest it will be. Students: please ask a parent or guardian to sign up.
The problem with most revision advice
"Analyse the language more." "Link to context." "Write a clear argument." It is all true, and it rarely shows you a finished paragraph and explains why it earns the marks.
Parents are stuck too. You want to help, but you have not read Macbeth since school, and asking "have you done your revision?" is not help.
GCSE Ninja Members shows the finished thing, takes it apart, and gives you something to try yourself.
What arrives each week
For the student
- Monday: the method. How to take a question apart, choose your argument and write with precision. About ten minutes.
- Thursday: the full question. An original question in AQA's format, a five-minute plan, a model paragraph at AQA's top level (Level 6 of 6), a sentence-by-sentence explanation of the marks, and where marks are typically won and lost. With a printable PDF.
For the parent
- Saturday: what they are studying. A plain-English summary of the scene or poem, what your child has been asked to write, and a three-point check you can use without knowing the text.
- Tuesday: a coaching script. A short, specific way to help at home: planning, recall, a tired evening, a timed answer.
The weeks rotate through Macbeth, A Christmas Carol, An Inspector Calls and the Power and Conflict poetry, so every text comes round and nothing goes cold.
A real sample from Week 1
The question (our own, in AQA's format):
Starting with this part of Act 2 Scene 2, explore how far Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as the stronger partner in her marriage.
The opening of the model paragraph:
[1] Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth as the stronger partner at the moment the marriage is tested hardest, but the strength he gives her is a matter of will rather than nerve, and the play makes her pay for it.
[2] When Macbeth returns from Duncan's chamber still holding the daggers, she dismisses him in a phrase, "Infirm of purpose!", and follows it with a bare command, "Give me the daggers."
And the commentary on those two sentences:
[1] AO1: the opening sentence answers the question set ("how far", "stronger partner") and holds two ideas at once. It does not start with a general summary of the play.
[2] AO1: two short quotations, embedded in the sentence rather than dropped in.
That is the level of detail in every Thursday email.
Why you can trust what is inside
- Built from AQA's own documents. Mark schemes, the specification and examiner reports, not general ideas about how GCSE English works.
- Quotations are checked against the text before they are used.
- Honest about who writes it. GCSE Ninja is written by parents, not teachers or examiners, and is not affiliated with AQA. The model answers are our own examples, not official AQA answers.
- No grade promises. We cannot guarantee any grade, and nobody honestly can.
How soon, and how much effort
- It starts the day you join. You begin at week 1, so you miss nothing, whenever you join.
- Each task is about ten minutes. The plan takes five.
- It all arrives by email. No app to download and no login.
- Parents do not need to know the text. The Saturday check works without it.
Join
Launch price. It rises by 20% after every five sales. For students taking AQA GCSE English Literature (8702). If you are a student, please ask a parent or guardian to sign up for you.
Questions
Do you guarantee a grade?
No. We cannot guarantee any grade. What we can do is show you what a top-level answer looks like and give you a method to practise.
Who writes it?
Julie, a GCSE parent, working from AQA's published mark schemes and examiner reports. We are not teachers or examiners.
Is it official AQA material?
No. GCSE Ninja is not affiliated with or endorsed by AQA. The questions are our own, written in AQA's format, and the model answers are our own examples.
My child's school teaches the texts in a different order. Does that matter?
No. The weeks rotate through the texts, so each one comes round regularly.
Does my child need a parent to sign up?
Yes. Please ask a parent or guardian to sign up, and we will send the student and parent emails to the right people.
GCSE Ninja is written by parents, not teachers or examiners, and is not affiliated with or endorsed by AQA. Model answers are our own examples, written to AQA's published mark scheme. They are not official AQA answers and we cannot guarantee any grade. Please check quotations against your own copy of the text.
