aqa
A-level
ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND
LITERATURE
7707/1
Paper 1 Telling Stories
Mark scheme
June 2024
Version: 1.0 Final
approved
,2
, English Language and Literature Mark Scheme
How to Mark
Aims
When you are marking your allocation of scripts your main aims should be to:
recognise and identify the achievements of students
place students in the appropriate mark band and in the appropriate part of that mark scheme (high,
low, middle) for each Assessment Objective
record your judgements with brief notes, annotations and comments that are relevant to the mark
scheme and make it clear to other examiners how you have arrived at the numerical mark awarded for
each Assessment Objective.
Approach
It is important to be open minded and positive when marking scripts.
This specification is underpinned by the belief that the best form of literary criticism is rooted in a rigorous
and precise application of concepts and methods from language study. This means that although vague
and impressionistic terms like ‘imagery’ and ‘tone’ are unhelpful, there will be occasions where students
might be drawing on different areas of linguistics, or on different ideas about classifying language. They
therefore may use a term that is different from what an examiner might normally expect but it is in the
spirit of this specification that we accept a range of ideas and approaches as long as they are
grounded in precise descriptive analysis.
Assessment Objectives
This component requires students to:
AO1: Apply concepts and methods from integrated linguistic and literary study as appropriate, using
associated terminology and coherent written expression
AO2: Analyse ways in which meanings are shaped in texts
AO3: Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which texts are
produced and received
AO4: Explore connections across texts, informed by linguistic and literary concepts and methods
AO5: Demonstrate expertise and creativity in the use of English to communicate in different ways.
3
, Level of response marking instructions
Level of response mark schemes are broken down into levels, each of which has a descriptor. The
descriptor for the level shows the average performance for the level. There are marks in each level.
Before you apply the mark scheme to a student’s answer read through the answer and annotate it (as
instructed) to show the qualities that are being looked for. You can then apply the mark scheme.
Step 1 Determine a level
Start at the lowest level of the mark scheme and use it as a ladder to see whether the answer meets the
descriptor for that level. The descriptor for the level indicates the different qualities that might be seen in
the student’s answer for that level. If it meets the lowest level then go to the next one and decide if it
meets this level, and so on, until you have a match between the level descriptor and the answer. With
practice and familiarity you will find that for better answers you will be able to quickly skip through the
lower levels of the mark scheme.
When assigning a level you should look at the overall quality of the answer and not look to pick holes in
small and specific parts of the answer where the student has not performed quite as well as the rest. If
the answer covers different aspects of different levels of the mark scheme you should use a best fit
approach for defining the level and then use the variability of the response to help decide the mark within
the level, ie if the response is predominantly level 3 with a small amount of level 4 material it would be
placed in level 3 but be awarded a mark near the top of the level because of the level 4 content.
Step 2 Determine a mark
Indicative content in the mark scheme is provided as a guide for examiners. It is not intended to be
exhaustive and you must credit other valid points. Students do not have to cover all of the points
mentioned in the Indicative content to reach the highest level of the mark scheme.
Annotating scripts
It is vital that the way you arrive at a mark should be recorded on the script. This will help you with
making accurate judgements and it will help any subsequent markers to identify how you are thinking,
should adjustment need to be made. To this end you should:
use the relevant emarker2 annotation commenting on the answer’s relationship to the Assessment
Objectives
write a summative comment at the end for each Assessment Objective
Please do not make negative comments about students’ work or their alleged aptitudes; this is
unprofessional and it impedes a positive marking approach.
Distribution of Assessment Objectives and Weightings
The table below is a reminder of which Assessment Objectives will be tested by the questions and
tasks completed by students and the marks available for them.
Assessment
AO1 AO2 AO3 AO4 Total
Objective
Question 1 15 15 10 40
Questions 2–9 10 10 15 35
Questions 10–17 15 10 25
100
4
A-level
ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND
LITERATURE
7707/1
Paper 1 Telling Stories
Mark scheme
June 2024
Version: 1.0 Final
approved
,2
, English Language and Literature Mark Scheme
How to Mark
Aims
When you are marking your allocation of scripts your main aims should be to:
recognise and identify the achievements of students
place students in the appropriate mark band and in the appropriate part of that mark scheme (high,
low, middle) for each Assessment Objective
record your judgements with brief notes, annotations and comments that are relevant to the mark
scheme and make it clear to other examiners how you have arrived at the numerical mark awarded for
each Assessment Objective.
Approach
It is important to be open minded and positive when marking scripts.
This specification is underpinned by the belief that the best form of literary criticism is rooted in a rigorous
and precise application of concepts and methods from language study. This means that although vague
and impressionistic terms like ‘imagery’ and ‘tone’ are unhelpful, there will be occasions where students
might be drawing on different areas of linguistics, or on different ideas about classifying language. They
therefore may use a term that is different from what an examiner might normally expect but it is in the
spirit of this specification that we accept a range of ideas and approaches as long as they are
grounded in precise descriptive analysis.
Assessment Objectives
This component requires students to:
AO1: Apply concepts and methods from integrated linguistic and literary study as appropriate, using
associated terminology and coherent written expression
AO2: Analyse ways in which meanings are shaped in texts
AO3: Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which texts are
produced and received
AO4: Explore connections across texts, informed by linguistic and literary concepts and methods
AO5: Demonstrate expertise and creativity in the use of English to communicate in different ways.
3
, Level of response marking instructions
Level of response mark schemes are broken down into levels, each of which has a descriptor. The
descriptor for the level shows the average performance for the level. There are marks in each level.
Before you apply the mark scheme to a student’s answer read through the answer and annotate it (as
instructed) to show the qualities that are being looked for. You can then apply the mark scheme.
Step 1 Determine a level
Start at the lowest level of the mark scheme and use it as a ladder to see whether the answer meets the
descriptor for that level. The descriptor for the level indicates the different qualities that might be seen in
the student’s answer for that level. If it meets the lowest level then go to the next one and decide if it
meets this level, and so on, until you have a match between the level descriptor and the answer. With
practice and familiarity you will find that for better answers you will be able to quickly skip through the
lower levels of the mark scheme.
When assigning a level you should look at the overall quality of the answer and not look to pick holes in
small and specific parts of the answer where the student has not performed quite as well as the rest. If
the answer covers different aspects of different levels of the mark scheme you should use a best fit
approach for defining the level and then use the variability of the response to help decide the mark within
the level, ie if the response is predominantly level 3 with a small amount of level 4 material it would be
placed in level 3 but be awarded a mark near the top of the level because of the level 4 content.
Step 2 Determine a mark
Indicative content in the mark scheme is provided as a guide for examiners. It is not intended to be
exhaustive and you must credit other valid points. Students do not have to cover all of the points
mentioned in the Indicative content to reach the highest level of the mark scheme.
Annotating scripts
It is vital that the way you arrive at a mark should be recorded on the script. This will help you with
making accurate judgements and it will help any subsequent markers to identify how you are thinking,
should adjustment need to be made. To this end you should:
use the relevant emarker2 annotation commenting on the answer’s relationship to the Assessment
Objectives
write a summative comment at the end for each Assessment Objective
Please do not make negative comments about students’ work or their alleged aptitudes; this is
unprofessional and it impedes a positive marking approach.
Distribution of Assessment Objectives and Weightings
The table below is a reminder of which Assessment Objectives will be tested by the questions and
tasks completed by students and the marks available for them.
Assessment
AO1 AO2 AO3 AO4 Total
Objective
Question 1 15 15 10 40
Questions 2–9 10 10 15 35
Questions 10–17 15 10 25
100
4
