First Language English: the skills we teach

Below are the core skill areas for First Language English. The exact papers, question types, marks and word guidance differ by board and syllabus version, so we teach those specifics from the board's official syllabus and cite it. In every area, your child works one-to-one with an experienced teacher who reads their work closely and shows how to improve it.

Finding what a text states and what it implies, without over-reading.

Explaining how word choice, imagery and sentence structure shape meaning and tone.

Choosing the right points and rewriting them concisely in your own words.

Responding to a text in a set form, register and audience.

Discursive, argumentative, persuasive, descriptive and narrative writing.

Each board assesses First Language English a little differently. These pages set out what each board's papers ask and how we teach them, with the assessment facts traced to the board's official syllabus:

You may also find qualifications we teach and original practice tasks useful. Next, visit our paper-by-paper guides to see how each paper is assessed. Our First Language English tuition page explains how lessons run. When you are ready, the paid one-hour trial is the first step.