Stop Losing Easy Marks in English Language
Download the FREE Top 10 Exam Mistakes Guides and fix the exact errors that cap students at Level 2/3, even when they “write a lot”.
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✓ Top 10 Exam Mistakes: Paper 1
✓ Top 10 Exam Mistakes: Paper 2
Who This Is For
Students aiming for Grade 6–9
Anyone stuck writing generic analysis
Students who revise hard but still feel like the mark scheme is a riddle
In 10 minutes, you’ll know what to stop doing… and what to do instead.
What You’ll Learn (In Plain English)
PAPER 1:
➥ Stop the “scattergun quote” habit (and learn micro-quoting instead)
➥ Replace filler like “it engages the reader” with real analysis
➥ Avoid feature spotting (technique naming = 0 marks without impact)
➥ Fix structure and evaluation with a simple lawyer-style formula
➥ Upgrade Question 5 with concept-led description (not “tour guide writing”)
➥ Quick AO6 saves: no comma splicing, better sentence control, and legibility
PAPER 2:
➥ Avoid the Concrete Focus trap in Q2 (the rubric infringement that caps marks)
➥ Stop mismatched comparisons (no more apples vs oranges)
➥ Learn how to infer properly (not paraphrase)
➥ Write strong Q4 responses using the rule: Perspective + Method
➥ Drop vague labels like “positive/negative” and use precise emotional vocabulary
➥ Avoid formulaic Q5 templates and “fake experts”
If we haven’t met before - Hi, my name’s Mr Salles 👋
I started teaching English in 1992, then began making videos for my students in 2011, and writing exam guides in 2016.
I knew nothing about exams when I started (because English used to be 100% coursework!). Every time a new GCSE comes out, I sit the exam papers multiple times. Sometimes I even pay to sit them with my students.
Understanding what the examiners wanted was a challenge at first.
I was a husband, dad, a head of department and then an assistant head, running a YouTube channel on the side, and still wanted to spend time with my family and friends.
That didn’t leave a lot of time to learn exam techniques (without just copying what everyone else was doing).
But I knew I wanted the inside knowledge which would mean most of my students could gain top grades…
Over 20 revision guides later, I knew I understood the exam inside and out.
I read hundreds of exam answers, fully marked by senior examiners. I rewrote them, tore them down and built them back up again, in order to find out exactly how each mark was earned.
Then I wrote dozens of my own exam answers at every grade to exactly match what top grade students wrote.
Each year I get hundreds of messages and emails after the exams, telling me how I helped students get top grades. In fact, 55% of viewers on my channel, Mr Salles Teaches English, say they got grades 8 and 9. And another 22% say they got grade 7.
Wait, what? How do students do across England then?
Only 4.9% of students in the country got a grade 9 in 2023. 7.1% got a grade 8. 9.6% got a grade 7. Add them all up, and 22% of students gained a grade 7 or more.
On my channel, it was 77%! (If 4200 students are to be believed).
Over 4000 viewers responded. And that was students just watching my videos.
I know, it's absolutely mental.
I think it’s fair to say that my advice can completely change your grades.
And I fundamentally believe that you can jump two or three grades very quickly.
Over 7000 students on my channel said this happened for them.
These results are fantastic.
But how many videos did students watch? Were they the right ones, with the best advice, or older videos, where I was still learning what gets 100%?
This is what my viewers said:
Nearly 9000 students responded. At least 74% of said my advice really helped them and improved their grade.
But what if I could get 100% of my viewers top grades? How would I do that? Well, it’s pretty simple…
