Eduqas Component 2: 19th and 21st Century Non-Fiction
Two non-fiction texts written roughly two hundred years apart, and two pieces of transactional writing. Two hours, and sixty per cent of the qualification.
Where these figures come from
Duration and weighting read from the Summary of Assessment table in the Eduqas specification. The per-question mark allocations below come from Eduqas's own Component 2 additional assessment materials, which prints each question with its tariff in brackets, and whose front cover states the two section totals and the timing for the writing section. Eduqas materials are linked, never copied. RCF English is not affiliated with, endorsed by or approved by Eduqas or WJEC.
One figure below is not Eduqas's. The 20 marks shown against each of the two writing tasks is not stated in that document. Eduqas gives Section B as 40 marks and advises 30 minutes on each of the two questions; splitting it evenly is an inference, and it is marked as one. Check a past paper before relying on it.
Component 2 at a glance
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Title | 19th and 21st Century Non-Fiction Reading and Transactional/Persuasive Writing |
| Assessment | Written examination |
| Time | 2 hours |
| Weighting | 60% of the qualification - the larger of the two papers |
| Reading section | Unseen non-fiction: one nineteenth-century text and one twenty-first-century text |
| Writing section | Transactional and persuasive writing |
| Set texts | None. Both texts are unseen. |
The century gap is the point of this paper
Pairing a nineteenth-century text with a twenty-first-century one is not decoration. It is what makes comparison possible: two writers on a related subject, separated by two centuries of changed assumptions about class, gender, science, empire and what may be said in public.
The nineteenth-century text is the one to prepare for. Its sentences are longer, its vocabulary is less familiar, and its tone is often formal in a way that can read as cold or pompous to a modern ear when it is neither. Reading a few nineteenth-century letters, speeches, travel accounts or newspaper columns before the examination is the single most useful preparation for this paper.
Do not mistake unfamiliarity for difficulty of thought. A Victorian writer arguing for better drains is making a plain argument in an ornate register. Translate the register in your head and the argument is usually straightforward.
Where the 80 marks sit
| Question | Marks | What it asks for |
|---|---|---|
| A1 (a) (b) (c) | 1 + 1 + 1 | Retrieval from the first text. One fact each, written plainly. |
| A2 | 10 | How the writer shows something about the first text. The question names what he says and language, tone and structure, and both halves must be answered. |
| A3 (a) (b) (c) | 1 + 1 + 1 | Retrieval from the second text. |
| A4 | 10 | Evaluation. How well does the text convey the writer's feelings? Not what the feelings are, but how successfully they are conveyed. |
| A5 | 4 | Short synthesis across both texts. Information, not analysis - there are no marks for method here. |
| A6 | 10 | Comparison across both texts: the subject itself, and how each writer gets their feelings across. |
| Section A total | 40 | About one hour. |
| B1 and B2 | 40 (about 20 each) | Two transactional or persuasive tasks, about 30 minutes each: five minutes planning, twenty-five writing. |
The two questions students most often misread
A4 is an evaluation question, not a feelings question. The marks are in the words how well. An answer that lists what the writer feels, however accurately, has answered only the first of the two bullets.
A5 is worth four marks and wants facts. Analysing language here earns nothing, and it costs the time A6 needs. Five minutes is enough.
The reading section
- Read one text and answer its questions before moving to the second. Reading both first and then starting is slower and leads to confusing the two.
- Short questions want short answers. Give the number of points the marks ask for and stop.
- Language questions want effect, not labels. Say what a word or image does to the reader, and use terminology only where it helps you say it.
- The comparison question is where the paper is won or lost. Both writers must appear in every paragraph, and each paragraph should say how the two differ - not describe one and then the other.
- Attitude and viewpoint matter more than subject. The question is usually about how each writer feels about the subject and how you can tell, rather than what the subject is.
Transactional and persuasive writing
The writing section asks for transactional or persuasive pieces - writing that does a job for a stated reader: a letter, an article, a speech, a report, a review, a leaflet.
- Obey the form, audience and purpose. They are stated, not implied. A letter to a head teacher and an article for a local newspaper are different registers, and adapting register is explicitly credited.
- Open in the register, not with a run-up. The first sentence should already sound like the form you have been asked for.
- Structure by argument, not by paragraph count. Two developed points beat four thin ones, and a concession you then answer is worth more than another point.
- Do not draw the layout. Time spent on boxes, columns and headings is time not spent on the writing that is actually marked.
- Protect the 20% for spelling, punctuation and grammar. Leave five minutes at the end of each piece.
A timing plan for Component 2
0-10 min read the first text and its questions.
10-40 min answer on the first text.
40-70 min read and answer on the second text.
70-85 min the comparison question, which needs both texts and a plan.
85-115 min the writing section, including planning.
115-120 min check the writing. This paper is 60% of the qualification, so the last five minutes are worth more here than on Component 1.
Next
Component 1
The literature and creative writing paper.
Past papers
Official papers and mark schemes.
Eduqas overview
Both components and the weightings.