GCSE English Language revision · Writing

Spelling, punctuation and grammar

The idea

Technical accuracy is worth 16 of the 40 marks on each Question 5. Examiners reward accurate sentence demarcation, a range of punctuation, varied sentences and ambitious, correctly spelled vocabulary.

Mark the end of each sentence with a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark; never join two sentences with only a comma.
Use a range of punctuation accurately: semicolons, colons, dashes, question marks.
Leave five minutes to proofread for spelling and missing words.

Watch out The comma splice, two full sentences joined by a comma, is the most common error.

See it worked

Worked example

Correct this: "The rain stopped, we went outside."

Two complete sentences are joined by a comma: a comma splice.
Fix it with a full stop, a semicolon or a conjunction.
"The rain stopped; we went outside."

Answer "The rain stopped. We went outside." or "The rain stopped; we went outside." or "When the rain stopped, we went outside."

Your turn

Question 11 mark

Which sentence is punctuated correctly?

Question 21 mark

Which word is spelled correctly?

Question 31 mark

How many marks are for technical accuracy in each Question 5?

In past papers

15 official questions in 15 papers since 2020. The latest:

All GCSE English Language past papers

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