Critical reading and comprehension: critical reading and comprehension: identifying and interpreting themes, ideas and information in a range of literature and other high-quality writing; reading in different ways for different purposes, and comparing and evaluating the usefulness, relevance and presentation of content for these purposes; drawing inferences and justifying these with evidence; supporting a point of view by referring to evidence within the text; identifying bias and misuse of evidence, including distinguishing between statements that are supported by evidence and those that are not; reflecting critically and evaluatively on text, using the context of the text and drawing on knowledge and skills gained from wider reading; recognising the possibility of different responses to a text

The idea

Critical reading means actively interrogating a text rather than simply absorbing it. You identify themes, ideas and information, then interpret what they suggest. Purpose shapes method: skimming a review for its verdict differs from close-reading a speech to trace an argument. Comparing sources means judging usefulness, relevance and presentation for a set task. Inferences are conclusions the text implies but does not state, and each must be justified with a quotation or close reference. When you support a viewpoint, evidence from the text does the work. Bias appears in selection, emphasis and omission; misuse of evidence includes claims the text never supports. Reflecting evaluatively means weighing a text against its context and your wider reading, and accepting that other readers may respond differently.

What earns the marks

• Identifies explicit information and implied meaning, distinguishing surface detail from deeper theme or attitude.
• Selects and embeds relevant textual evidence, explaining how the quotation supports the inference rather than leaving it to speak for itself.
• Adapts reading approach to purpose, for example scanning for a specific fact versus close analysis of a writer's methods.
• Compares texts or sources for usefulness, relevance and presentation, reaching a judgement tied to the stated purpose.
• Detects bias and unsupported assertion, separating claims evidenced in the text from those merely asserted.
• Evaluates a text using its context and wider reading, acknowledging that different readers may respond differently.

Common mistakes and how to put them right

• Retelling the text instead of interpreting it.

  Put it right: For each point, ask what the detail suggests and why the writer chose it.

• Dropping in a quotation without comment.

  Put it right: Follow every quotation with an explanation linking it to your point.

• Treating one reading as the only possible response.

  Put it right: Phrase alternatives as 'a reader might' and justify each with evidence.

Exam tips

• Read the question first, then annotate the source for ideas that answer it directly.
• Use short, precise quotations and integrate them into your own sentences.
• When comparing sources, judge each against the stated purpose rather than listing similarities.