On the non-fiction paper especially, your child must link texts point by point, not describe them one after the other. Our teachers drill this linked, analytical style in 1-to-1 lessons.
What this task asks in OxfordAQA 9270
The higher-tariff reading questions ask your child to analyse a writer's methods, using accurate terminology. These include how word choice, imagery, sentence forms and the order of ideas shape meaning and steer the reader. On the non-fiction paper, one question also asks them to compare how two texts convey a theme, attitude or point of view.
Marks reward precise analysis of method and, for the comparison, genuine links between the texts rather than two separate descriptions. The strongest answers compare the writers' perspectives, not just their words. Confirm which questions carry comparison and their mark value with the school or specification.
How we approach it, step by step
- For a single-text analysis, track how the writer's choices develop across the extract (the opening, any shift, the ending). Do not look only at isolated words.
- Pick short quotations that carry a nameable method: a strong verb, an image, a sentence type or a structural turn.
- Explain the effect on the reader first, then step back to why the writer might want that effect.
- For comparison, fix the shared theme or attitude before writing, then map where the two texts agree and where they differ.
- Build linked points using connectives such as 'whereas', 'similarly' and 'by contrast' so each paragraph holds both texts at once.
- Support every comparison with one short quotation from each text, kept in balance.
- Finish points by comparing the writers' perspectives, not merely their vocabulary.
An original model: analysing & comparing texts
Here is a model comparison paragraph our teacher wrote about two invented texts of our own, both about the sea. Text A is a swimmer's diary that admires it. Text B is a coastguard's notice that warns against it.
The passage and model above are our own original teaching material, written to show the technique. None of it is a reproduced exam text or mark scheme.
Want help with Analysing & comparing texts: OxfordAQA 9270? In a paid one-hour trial, an experienced teacher works on it one-to-one with your child.
Where students lose marks
- Students describe each text in a separate paragraph and never actually compare them.
- They spot and name techniques but do not explain the effect on the reader.
- They compare what the texts say while ignoring how the writers use language and structure to say it.
- One text is analysed in depth and the other barely mentioned, so the comparison is lopsided.
- Comparative connectives are missing, leaving the examiner to guess where the link is.
Practise it
Start with the skills guide for the method. Then try the OxfordAQA 9270 practice tasks.
In a paid trial lesson, an experienced teacher can mark your child's own attempt against the criteria. Lessons are one-to-one and online, from RM70/hr.
Marks and word guidance can change between syllabus versions. Confirm the current requirements for your exam year with your school or the board's official syllabus, linked below.