Master the IB English A: Language and Literature Higher Level exam. A longer Paper 1 across both passages, the HL essay, and deeper analysis — everything you need to score top marks.
240 teaching hours • 3 external components • 1 internal oral
Know exactly what to expect in each component and how to maximize your marks.
Two previously unseen non-literary passages, each from a DIFFERENT text type, each with one guiding question. Unlike SL, HL students write a SEPARATE guided analysis of BOTH passages. The same four criteria are applied to each answer (20 + 20 = 40).
What to expect:
Key Tips
Easy Marks
Watch Out
Identical task to SL: four general questions, answer ONE, comparative essay on TWO literary works, closed book. The paper and the four criteria are shared by SL and HL.
What to expect:
Key Tips
Easy Marks
Watch Out
A formal 1,200–1,500-word essay developing your OWN line of inquiry on ONE literary work OR one non-literary body of work studied in the course. It is written over time from your learner-portfolio exploration, with citations and references, and must not reuse texts from the Individual Oral or Paper 2.
What to expect:
Key Tips
Easy Marks
Watch Out
Command terms tell you exactly what the examiner expects. Filter by Assessment Objective (AO).
Match your answer depth to the marks available.
Example questions:
Interpret, don’t summarise — show what the text implies and back every claim with a precise reference.
Example questions:
Evaluate effect — analysis that judges how a choice shapes meaning is what moves you into the top band.
Example questions:
Keep one running focus — an effectively organized, coherent response scores Criterion C almost for free.
Example questions:
Write in a precise academic register — a few controlled, ambitious sentences beat many error-strewn ones.
These concepts appear throughout English A HL exams. Master them to score higher.
For every feature you name, state the authorial CHOICE, its EFFECT on the reader, and what it MEANS for the text’s purpose. This three-step move is the core of Criterion B in every component.
Paper 1 is unseen non-literary text. Drill identifying text type, purpose, audience, tone and structure fast — the first 10 minutes of annotation decide your whole analysis.
For Paper 2 keep both literary works in dialogue throughout. A running comparison (B2) scores far higher than two separate accounts stitched together.
The HL essay and the Individual Oral each turn on a single focused idea — a line of inquiry or a global issue. Frame it sharply, then test it against the whole work or body of work.
Prepare up to 10 bullet points for the Individual Oral and give equal weight to the literary and non-literary extracts. A memorised script reads as inauthentic and costs Criterion C and D marks.
Learn from others' mistakes. These cost students marks every exam session.
Feature-spotting instead of analysing effect
Never stop at "there is a metaphor". Say what the choice does to meaning and the reader — that is Criterion B.
Summarising the text rather than analysing it
Assume the examiner has read the passage. Spend your words on HOW it works, not on retelling what it says.
Paper 2 essay of two halves
Weave the comparison throughout — alternate between the two works so Criterion B2 (comparative analysis) is sustained.
Answering a remembered question, not the one set
Read all four Paper 2 questions and answer the exact one on the paper — a well-rehearsed but off-question essay loses Criteria A and C.
HL Paper 1: running out of time on the second passage
HL analyses BOTH passages for 40 marks. Split your time deliberately so neither analysis is left unfinished.
Reusing a text across components
A work used in the Individual Oral, Paper 2, or the HL essay cannot be reused in another component — plan your texts so each is used once.
Memorising the Individual Oral
Speak from a 10-point outline. A memorised, scripted oral distances you from the listener and reads as inauthentic.
20% of final grade • 15 minutes (10 min prepared + 5 min teacher Q&A)
A recorded oral responding to the prompt: "Examine the ways in which the global issue of your choice is presented through the content and form of one of the works and one of the bodies of work that you have studied." You analyse a ~40-line extract from ONE literary work and a ~40-line extract from ONE non-literary body of work, both showing your chosen global issue, then answer teacher questions.
Marking Criteria
Tips for Top Marks
Apply these exam skills with our English A practice questions. Get instant AI feedback that shows exactly what scored marks and how to improve.