Speaking & listening: OxfordAQA 9270

Our teachers help your child structure and rehearse the talk in 1-to-1 lessons. We coach the skills and never write the script.

What this task asks in OxfordAQA 9270

Your child prepares and delivers a presentation to an audience, then answers questions and takes part in discussion about it. The component tests presenting in a formal setting, listening and responding appropriately, and using spoken Standard English clearly. Because it is endorsed, the school assesses it and reports a separate grade rather than adding it to the written result.

Credit goes to clear structure, engaging delivery and genuine responses in discussion, not to a memorised speech read aloud. Choosing a topic your child cares about carries the whole task. Confirm the timing, format and how the endorsement is reported with the school.

How we approach it, step by step

1. Choose a topic you genuinely care about and can sustain for the set time: real interest carries an audience.
2. Research two or three solid points; in a short talk, depth beats a long list.
3. Structure it like an essay you can hear: a clear opening, a signposted middle and a memorable close.
4. Make cue cards with keywords only: never a full script to read out word for word.
5. Rehearse aloud against the clock, and record yourself to hear pace, filler words and clarity.
6. Prepare for the discussion by listing the questions you would ask yourself, and answer them out loud in practice.
7. On the day, slow down and look at your listeners. Treat each question as a chance to add something, not to defend yourself.

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.

Where students lose marks

• Students write a full speech and read it aloud in a flat monotone, with their eyes down.
• They pick a topic so broad that the talk skims the surface and says nothing memorable.
• They give no signposting, so the audience cannot tell where one point ends and the next begins.
• They prepare the presentation but not the discussion, then answer questions in one nervous word.
• They rush, filling gaps with 'um' and 'like' instead of pausing calmly.

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.

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.