Paper 1 Question 3 AQA explained
Paper 1 Question 3 AQA English Language GCSE EXPLAINED
Summary of Mrs Wear’s “Top Five Things to Know About AQA Paper 1 Question 3”
Mrs Wear gives a clear, five-point breakdown of how to approach the structure question (Q3) on AQA English Language Paper 1.
What the question asks – It’s always worded the same: “How has the writer structured the text to interest you as a reader?” AQA don’t care if you were genuinely interested — they want you to spot and comment on structural choices.
Marks and timing – It’s worth 8 marks, so spend no more than 10 minutes writing, after your 15 minutes of initial reading and planning.
The skill being tested – This is all about structure, not language. Language analysis gets no marks here. Instead of zooming in on words, you must ask: why has the writer chosen to present this at this point in the text?
Don’t slip into language analysis – It’s tricky because language and structure overlap, but the key is to keep your focus on order, shifts, and perspective, not word-level detail.
Structural techniques to use – Two reliable techniques will always be there:
Narrative viewpoint (first/third person, internal/external).
Writer’s focus (on character or setting, zooming in from macro to micro).
These can always form the backbone of your answer if nothing else stands out.
She finishes by urging students to practise these approaches, check her longer videos for detail, and use Stream English courses for deeper support.
Timestamps
0:00 Introduction
0:30 What do you need to do?
1:21 Marks & Timings
1:47 What skill is it testing?
2:51 Seriously, don't analyse language
3:42 What structural techniques should I analyse?
