Component 2: 19th and 21st Century Non-Fiction Reading and Transactional/Persuasive Writing — Eduqas GCSE English Language
Test yourself on Component 2: 19th and 21st Century Non-Fiction Reading and Transactional/Persuasive Writing with EDUQAS GCSE practice questions.
7 days Premium · Then free forever · No card, no charge
Component 2: 19th and 21st Century Non-Fiction Reading and Transactional/Persuasive Writing explained
Section B carries 30% of the overall GCSE qualification (half of Component 2) and 40 marks, split into two compulsory tasks worth 20 marks each.
Read the full explanation
Both tasks demand transactional, persuasive and/or discursive writing, so you must argue, explain or advise for a purpose rather than tell a story. Each task supplies a scenario, audience and form, such as a letter to a council, an article for a magazine, a review of a film or a speech to peers. You adapt tone, register and structure to suit that reader and context: a formal letter differs from a lively article. Planning both answers, allocating time evenly and checking accuracy are essential because AO5 rewards content and organisation while AO6 rewards technical accuracy.
Your focus
- Plan and produce two transactional, persuasive or discursive texts that fulfil the stated purpose, audience and form.
- Select and apply structural and linguistic features appropriate to letters, articles, reviews or speeches.
- Proofread and correct writing so spelling, punctuation and grammar are accurate and controlled.
Component 2: 19th and 21st Century Non-Fiction Reading and Transactional/Persuasive Writing exam tips
Marking Points
- Identify the purpose in each task (persuade, argue, explain, review or advise) and sustain it throughout, so every paragraph advances the stated viewpoint or information.
- Match register, tone and address to the named audience and form, using conventions such as salutation and sign-off in a letter, headline and subheadings in an article, or direct address in a speech.
- Organise each response with a clear opening, logically sequenced paragraphs, discourse markers and a deliberate conclusion that reinforces the purpose.
- Select vocabulary, rhetorical devices and sentence structures that suit the form, for example emotive lexis and rhetorical questions in persuasive writing, or measured evaluative language in a review.
- Demonstrate control of spelling, punctuation and grammar, including accurate sentence demarcation, varied punctuation and secure Standard English, to satisfy AO6.
- Manage time so both 20-mark tasks receive comparable attention, planning briefly and leaving minutes to proofread for technical errors.
Examiner Tips
- 💡Read both tasks before writing and jot a short plan of three to five points for each, deciding the purpose, audience and form explicitly.
- 💡Learn the conventions of common forms such as letters, articles, reviews and speeches so you can apply them quickly under timed conditions.
- 💡Reserve the final few minutes of each task to proofread for punctuation, spelling and sentence-boundary errors, which directly affect AO6.
Common Mistakes
- Writing a narrative or descriptive piece because it feels familiar; the correction is to check the task's purpose and form first, then plan points that argue, persuade or inform.
- Ignoring the stated audience and writing in a generic voice; the correction is to name the reader in the plan and adjust vocabulary, tone and address accordingly.
- Spending so long on the first task that the second is rushed or unfinished; the correction is to divide time evenly and keep to a brief plan for each response.