Preparing for the June Pearson Edexcel 4EA1 exam series

This guide explains how the June series is structured and how our teachers pace a full year of preparation toward it. It describes no past paper and never predicts what a paper will contain.

How the June series works

Every 4EA1 candidate sits Component 1 (Non-fiction Texts and Transactional Writing). Most schools enter students for the examined Component 2 (Poetry and Prose Texts and Imaginative Writing). The alternative is the Component 3 coursework route.

Both written papers fall in the June examination window, at the end of the academic year. They are marked out of 90 and 60 respectively. The optional Spoken Language Endorsement, where a school offers it, is completed internally and reported separately.

Results for the June series are issued in the weeks after the papers. This gives Year 11 students their grades before they move on to the next stage. For the exact timetable, confirm with your school.

Who sits the June series

The June series is the standard route for Year 11 students in Malaysian international schools that follow the Pearson Edexcel pathway. It is sat as the culmination of two years of IGCSE study. It is the larger of the two annual sittings.

Most of your child's classmates will be preparing alongside them. It also suits students who began First Language English in Year 10 and followed the full syllabus at the usual pace. Homeschooled candidates working to the same school-year rhythm sit it too.

Homeschooled candidates working to the same school-year rhythm sit it too.

A preparation timeline for the June series

Our teachers usually pace preparation for the June exams like this. We adapt it to when your child starts and where they are:

• Start of the year (8+ months out): Diagnose reading and writing against the 4EA1 assessment objectives, then set the habit of regular timed writing. Begin working through the anthology non-fiction and the Section B transactional forms of Component 1.
• 5-6 months out: Consolidate Component 1. Practise close reading of unseen non-fiction for AO1 and AO2. Rotate transactional forms - letter, article, report, speech - for a specified purpose, audience and form.
• 3-4 months out (mock season): Full-length, timed Component 1 and Component 2 papers under exam conditions. Develop imaginative writing craft for Section B and steady anthology poetry and prose reading for Section A.
• 6-8 weeks out: Target the weakest assessment objective from mock feedback. Refine pacing across the 2h15m and 1h30m papers. Tighten accuracy for AO5 - spelling, punctuation, grammar and sentence variety.
• Final fortnight: Light, confidence-building review and a calm exam-day plan for reading time, question order and checking. No new material is introduced this close to the papers.

We never predict what a paper will contain, and this page describes no past paper. Confirm the exact timetable and any assessment changes for your exam year with your school or the board. Past papers are on the board's own website.

How we help

Your child works one-to-one with an experienced English teacher, with a plan built around the June series. Lessons are online, from RM70/hr. See First Language English tuition.

You may also find Pearson Edexcel 4EA1 overview useful. Next, visit our paper-by-paper guides to plan the months before the exam. Our First Language English tuition page explains how lessons run. When you are ready, the paid one-hour trial is the first step.