Please write clearly in block capitals.
Centre number Candidate number
Surname
Forename(s)
Candidate signature
I declare this is my own work.
GCSE
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Paper 1 Explorations in creative reading and writing
Tuesday 4 November 2025 Morning Time allowed: 1 hour 45 minutes
Materials
For this paper you must have: For Examiner’s Use
• Source A – provided as a separate insert. Question Mark
Instructions
1
• Answer all questions.
• Use black ink or black ball-point pen. 2
• Fill in the boxes at the top of this page.
• You must answer the questions in the spaces provided. 3
• Do not write outside the box around each page or on blank pages. 4
• If you need extra space for your answer(s), use the lined pages at the end of
this book. Write the question number against your answer(s). 5
• Do all rough work in this book. Cross through any work you do not want to be TOTAL
marked.
• You must refer to the insert booklet provided.
• You must not use a dictionary.
Information
• The marks for questions are shown in brackets.
• The maximum mark for this paper is 80.
• There are 40 marks for Section A and 40 marks for Section B.
• You are reminded of the need for good English and clear presentation in your answers.
• You will be assessed on the quality of your reading in Section A.
• You will be assessed on the quality of your writing in Section B.
Advice
• You are advised to spend about 15 minutes reading through the source and all five questions you have
to answer.
• You are advised to plan your answer to Question 5 before you start to write.
• You should make sure you leave sufficient time to check your answers.
IB/G/Nov25/G4015/V4 8700/1
, 2
Do not write
outside the
Section A: Reading box
Answer all questions in this section.
You are advised to spend about 45 minutes on this section.
0 1 Read again the first part of the source, from lines 1 to 6.
List four things about the classroom from this part of the source.
[4 marks]
1
2
3
4
4
IB/G/Nov25/8700/1
, 3
Do not write
outside the
box
0 2 Look in detail at this extract, from lines 7 to 15 of the source.
I can still hear the tired, disillusioned voice of Herr Zimmermann, who was condemned to
teaching for life and had accepted his fate with sad resignation. He was a yellow-faced
man, whose hair, moustache and sharply pointed beard were all tinged with grey.
He looked out at the world through glasses on the tip of his nose with the expression of a
mongrel dog in search of food. Though he was probably not more than fifty years old, to
us he seemed to be eighty. We despised him because he was kind and gentle and
because he had a poor man’s smell – his two-roomed flat probably had no bath – and he
was dressed in a much patched, shiny, greenish suit which he wore during the autumn
and the long, winter months (he had a second suit for spring and summer).
How does the writer use language here to describe the teacher?
You could include the writer’s choice of:
• words and phrases
• language features and techniques
• sentence forms.
[8 marks]
Turn over ►
IB/G/Nov25/8700/1
Centre number Candidate number
Surname
Forename(s)
Candidate signature
I declare this is my own work.
GCSE
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Paper 1 Explorations in creative reading and writing
Tuesday 4 November 2025 Morning Time allowed: 1 hour 45 minutes
Materials
For this paper you must have: For Examiner’s Use
• Source A – provided as a separate insert. Question Mark
Instructions
1
• Answer all questions.
• Use black ink or black ball-point pen. 2
• Fill in the boxes at the top of this page.
• You must answer the questions in the spaces provided. 3
• Do not write outside the box around each page or on blank pages. 4
• If you need extra space for your answer(s), use the lined pages at the end of
this book. Write the question number against your answer(s). 5
• Do all rough work in this book. Cross through any work you do not want to be TOTAL
marked.
• You must refer to the insert booklet provided.
• You must not use a dictionary.
Information
• The marks for questions are shown in brackets.
• The maximum mark for this paper is 80.
• There are 40 marks for Section A and 40 marks for Section B.
• You are reminded of the need for good English and clear presentation in your answers.
• You will be assessed on the quality of your reading in Section A.
• You will be assessed on the quality of your writing in Section B.
Advice
• You are advised to spend about 15 minutes reading through the source and all five questions you have
to answer.
• You are advised to plan your answer to Question 5 before you start to write.
• You should make sure you leave sufficient time to check your answers.
IB/G/Nov25/G4015/V4 8700/1
, 2
Do not write
outside the
Section A: Reading box
Answer all questions in this section.
You are advised to spend about 45 minutes on this section.
0 1 Read again the first part of the source, from lines 1 to 6.
List four things about the classroom from this part of the source.
[4 marks]
1
2
3
4
4
IB/G/Nov25/8700/1
, 3
Do not write
outside the
box
0 2 Look in detail at this extract, from lines 7 to 15 of the source.
I can still hear the tired, disillusioned voice of Herr Zimmermann, who was condemned to
teaching for life and had accepted his fate with sad resignation. He was a yellow-faced
man, whose hair, moustache and sharply pointed beard were all tinged with grey.
He looked out at the world through glasses on the tip of his nose with the expression of a
mongrel dog in search of food. Though he was probably not more than fifty years old, to
us he seemed to be eighty. We despised him because he was kind and gentle and
because he had a poor man’s smell – his two-roomed flat probably had no bath – and he
was dressed in a much patched, shiny, greenish suit which he wore during the autumn
and the long, winter months (he had a second suit for spring and summer).
How does the writer use language here to describe the teacher?
You could include the writer’s choice of:
• words and phrases
• language features and techniques
• sentence forms.
[8 marks]
Turn over ►
IB/G/Nov25/8700/1
