a level coursework ideas

A Level NEA

Please select the page that you wish to complete. Please note that these are generic pages, there may be some that are not relevant to your project or you may add additional pages of your own!

Please watch the guidance video blow that briefly explains why each step of the NEA is required. This will help you to understand their purpose and how they influence the sequence of your project.

Sections A&B (30 marks): Identify, investigate & outline design possibilities

Please watch the following video that explains how you should approach using the following resources so that you only include relevant work in your project portfolio.

Sections C&D (50 marks): Design & make prototypes that are fit for purpose

Sections E (20 marks): Analysing and evaluating

A Level History Coursework Edexcel – A Guide

• Post author By admin
• Post date November 16, 2023
• No Comments on A Level History Coursework Edexcel – A Guide

This guide shows you how to plan, research and write A Level History coursework for Edexcel using ideas, resources, examples and structure. This coursework is weighted towards Assessment Objective Three (AO3) 15% and Assessment Objective One (AO1) 5%. This makes it substantially different from coursework assessed under AQA or OCR. For Edexcel coursework, the focus is on differing interpretations of the past and analysis of them, alongside your own view of the events.

A Level History Coursework Edexcel – Ideas, Examples and Resources

Question Format – The question that you decide to answer for the Edexcel Coursework will always use the following template.

• Historians have disagreed about [ the chosen question, problem or issue ].
• What is your view about [ the chosen question, problem or issue ]?

Thus, we can see that there are two parts to this coursework:

• Part 1 – dealing with the historian’s viewpoints which is (AO3) and worth 15%
• Part 2 – your own viewpoint which is (A01) and worth 5%  

Question Ideas, Example and Selection

There are two key points to consider when selecting a question, problem or issue for your coursework.

• Is there enough debate around this question? – There needs to be a scholarly debate around the question or issue. This means differing views on the question from different historians. This makes it easier to select appropriate works to analyse and compare.
• Can you access the appropriate resources? – You must use a minimum of three different key works as well as two supplementary works. Your three key works should hold opposing views about the question or issue. Let’s look at an example question to make this clear:

Historians have disagreed about the extent to which by 1924 the Russian people had exchanged one authoritarian regime for another. What is your view about the extent to which by 1924 the Russian people had exchanged one authoritarian regime for another?

• View 1 – Tsarist Rule was more authoritarian. (C. Hill argues this)
• View 2 – Bolshevik rule was more authoritarian. (R. Service argues this)
• View 3 – The regimes were equally authoritarian. (R. Pipes argues this)

This is the ideal example of having three viewpoints that would be spread across the historiographical spectrum. This helps us to engage with the historical debate and hit the following criteria for the coursework:

• analyse ways in which interpretations of the question or issue differ.
• explain the differences you have identified.
• evaluate the arguments, indicating which you found most persuasive and why.

You would then add to this a minimum of two supplementary works, (more is better) that would assist in helping you form your view and add weight to your analysis and arguments. Critically, you must be able to access all these resources to use them effectively in completing the coursework.  

Coursework Resources

• Library – school, local, college, university – you should be able to borrow appropriate works.
• Teacher – your teacher should be able to provide you with copies of appropriate resources to use.
• JSTOR – www.jstor.org – contains a large collection of journal articles from historical publications covering numerous topics. These will often engage in the historical debate by replying to opposing views.
• Purchase Books – many second-hand books are available to purchase at very cheap prices through Amazon or similar sites.

A Level History Coursework Edexcel – How to Research and Write

Researching the Coursework – When researching our coursework we use the resource record form, which acts as a bibliography to the books, articles and online resources we are using. As we go through these resources we want to make notes that help us to identify the overall argument of the historian. Key quotes or passages should be noted down, alongside a reference. If we then use this material in our write up, we can add the appropriate footnote.

Writing the Coursework – When writing our coursework we need to be aware of the total word count as well as making sure that we hit all the assessment criteria. This means dividing up the 4000 words (maximum word count) effectively between the assessment criteria. An example structure to implement this is shown in the next section.

A Level History Coursework Edexcel – Structure and Planning

First section – introduction to the overall question and key works (c. 1000 words).

Introduction to the overall topic. You need to put the question into context by providing relevant information regarding what was happening at the time. You then need to define any key terms in the question.

Example from our question above – authoritarian regime would be defined as ‘a regime in which power is highly centralised and maintained regardless of popular support, with the use of repression and violence’.

Finally, you need to set out valid criteria by which the question can be judged.

Example from our question and definition above – we need to compare the Tsarist regime to the Bolshevik regime in terms of:

• Centralisation of power .
• Power maintained despite lacking popular support.
• Power maintained through repression and violence.

You should now have a complete introduction to the topic (1 paragraph)

Introduction to the debate by placing each of the key works in the historiographical debate. You can also place your supplementary works on the historiographical line here. (1 paragraph)

Set out the arguments in extended detail from the three key works. What are the historians’ views on this question? (1 paragraph)

Show how the arguments from each of the key works differ or are like one another. (1 paragraph)

Summary of the views of the key works. (1 paragraph)

Second Section – Explaining why the key works differ from one another (c. 1000 words)

Introduction – You need to set out three valid criteria to explain why the key works differ. Why is it that the historians’ arguments differ? There are several different potential criteria that could be used here: When was the work written? What sources and evidence did they use? Have they defined the key terms of the question differently? Have they defined the criteria to answer the question differently? Do they have different scopes of enquiry? What is the purpose of the work? What is the historians background and view?

Example from our question – The historians have defined the key term to answer the question differently – C. Hill has focused on authoritarian being defined as lacking popular support. R. Service is more focused on authoritarian being defined through repression. R. Pipes is mostly focused on authoritarian being defined as a centralisation of power.  

The historians have defined the key term ‘authoritarian’ differently. (1 paragraph)    

Paragraphs – This is where you use the criteria set out from the introduction to this section. You want one paragraph per item of criteria that we are judging the key works on.

Example from our question – one paragraph regarding how the historians have defined the key term ‘authoritarian’ differently.

Then you need to consider the three works in terms of the criteria set out for that paragraph. Show why there are differences in the key works regarding that criteria and how that leads the historian to arrive at their interpretation. Use evidence to support your points. (3 paragraphs – 1 for each criterion)

Conclusion – Brief conclusion that offers a summary of why the key works are different. (1 paragraph)

Third Section – Your own viewpoint on the question (c. 1000 words)

Brief introduction of your own viewpoint and line of argument that will be taken, remembering to re-instate the criteria by which the question can be judged . (1 paragraph)

Paragraphs that set out your own view on the question. This is where you should be using the criteria set out in your introductions. You want one paragraph per item of criteria.

Example from our question – one paragraph regarding ‘centralisation of power’.

Then you need to bring evidence and analysis to assess the criteria being judged. You can also use the key works and the supplementary works in this section to help you. (3 paragraphs – 1 for each criterion)

Conclusion that reaches a judgement on the question and follows your line of argument that has flowed throughout. (1 paragraph)

Fourth Section – Evaluation and Judgement of the key works and of the question (c. 1000 words)

Go through each of the key works and make a judgement on how convincing and valid the arguments from the historians are compared to the criteria. (3 paragraphs – 1 for each key work)

Form an overall judgement on the question and an overall judgement on which of the key works is most convincing. These should broadly align together. (1 paragraph)   

How To Improve Further at A Level History

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9705 D&T coursework examples

Topic outline.

A range of coursework submissions (for both components) for this Syllabus have been included here along with a breakdown of the marks awarded, and a moderator commentary explaining how the marks were decided. You should always refer to the syllabus for specific details about the requirements for and assessment of coursework. Additionally, the Cambridge Handbook sets out the process and requirements for submitting coursework for moderation by Cambridge International.

• Select activity Component 2 Component 2
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How to develop your ideas in an Art project

Last Updated on September 1, 2023

Many high school Art students (such as those studying AS or A2 Level Art & Design) must present a Coursework or Exam portfolio that shows development . Students are sometimes confused about what the term ‘development’ means in this context, and are uncertain about how they should go about achieving this. This article endeavours to answer these questions and provides a process by which students can ensure their work develops sufficiently. This is intended as a broad guide only, and should be used only in conjunction with advice from your teacher.

If you are told that your work must show development, your teacher is telling you that your work must change a little (both in use of media and composition) from one piece to the next. In other words, an A Level Art Coursework portfolio must tell a visual story : with a starting point, a conclusion, and a journey in between. It is not acceptable, for example, to show the same things drawn or painted from different angles over and over again, or to execute the same composition first in pastel, then in paint, then in charcoal and so on…or to submit paintings of many different items that have no visual or thematic connection to each other.

‘Development’ means systematically working towards better artwork: trialing, refining and exploring compositional devices and technique, demonstrating to the examiners that you have gone through a learning process and arrived at a successful final piece.

As an example, the following process was undertaken by my A Level Painting students (this process could be easily modified for Graphic Design, Photography or Sculpture) during the course of the year:

1. Select an original, personally relevant, visually complex, readily-available A Level subject or theme that can sustain your interest for a year (see the accompanying guide:  how to select a good A Level Art theme );

2. Complete 4-10 drawings of your chosen topic in your A Level Art Sketchbook , using a range of black and white and coloured mediums such as graphite pencil, Indian ink, acrylic, coloured pencil, watercolours, oil. The level of realism achieved in these drawings will be dependent on your own drawing style and preferences. Mix and layer mediums as appropriate.  Include photographs if desired. The drawings may be semi-incomplete and can merge into each other. At this point, do not worry so much about what you are achieving in terms of composition. You are merely conducting visual research and exploring your topic.

3. Fill gaps around the drawings with notes discussing your theme / issue / message …why this is personally relevant to you; what appeals to you visually about the subject; how the subject matter might be composed in order to support or convey your ideas. Look carefully at what you have drawn and make notes about how the visual elements (line, tone, texture, space, colour etc) interact… For example, are there strong contrasts between highly detailed areas and sparse areas? Are the negative spaces as interesting as the objects themselves? Are there repetitions of certain shapes and colours? Are you exploring frames within frames? …In essence, establish what you are dealing with visually .

4. Select an artist model whose work relates to your subject matter and inspires you . Research this artist. Complete several pages in your A Level Art Sketchbook, including composition studies, imitations and pastiches of their artwork, using a range of mediums.  Fill spaces around the illustrations with notes explaining/discussing their technique/s (mark-making methods); use of media / materials; style; composition (i.e. the relationship between the visual elements: line, shape, colour, tone, texture and space. Discuss how these elements form ‘visual devices’ that ‘draw attention’, ‘emphasise’, ‘balance’, ‘link’ or ‘direct the viewer through the artwork’ and so on). Write notes about the ideas, moods and subjects explored within the drawings and how all of the above relates to your topic or theme. Your comments should show evidence that you have researched your artist (using proper terminology) and should also contain your own thoughts and responses. Under no circumstances should it appear as if you are just regurgitating information from a textbook. Learn from this artist and establish how this artist is relevant / useful for your own project.

5. Complete 10 – 15 drawings and paintings that show a smooth transition from your original artworks to images that are influenced by your first artist model .

Do not leap in and copy everything the artist does. It may be, for example, that you simply copy the way a particular artist uses foreground, mid-ground and background, or the way in which they apply paint onto a scratched, irregular surface. The purpose of this exercise is to learn particular techniques or compositional strategies – not to copy their work in its entirety. The result should be a series of paintings which show gradual changes and exploration. After each one you should have a discussion with your teacher about what you can do next to help convey your ideas more successfully.

6. When you have learned all that you need to from the first artist, select another artist and repeat the process . Once you have learned from this artist, repeat again. The intention is that by the time you get to your final piece, your work is a beautiful combination of your own ideas and the influence of several others. Your work should look absolutely original – a beautiful mixture of wisdom gained from a multitude of sources. It can be good practice to choose a range of artist models – ie. national / international, contemporary / historical etc…but this is not always necessary. The best outcomes occur when students choose artists whose work really moves them. It can be typical for an AS student to have 2-4 artist models and A2 students to have 3-10 artist models.

Here is a well-developed A Level (A2) Painting portfolio by  Nikau Hindin , a talented A Level Art student from ACG Parnell College . Her A2 Coursework portfolio achieved 98%.

Still unsure? Viewing our Featured Art Projects  will also help you understand how to develop your ideas within your work.

Amiria has been an Art & Design teacher and a Curriculum Co-ordinator for seven years, responsible for the course design and assessment of student work in two high-achieving Auckland schools. She has a Bachelor of Architectural Studies, Bachelor of Architecture (First Class Honours) and a Graduate Diploma of Teaching. Amiria is a CIE Accredited Art & Design Coursework Assessor.

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History Coursework: how to Choose the Best Question

• Dr Janet Rose
• June 13, 2020

So, just when you thought your first A-level History year was over and you could relax before tackling next year, you have to think about your history coursework. This will be the non-exam assessment (NEA) or Historical Investigation.  It can cause a lot of angst amongst students but taking some time and thinking it through carefully before you start can make the world of difference.

1. Choose to study something interesting for your history coursework

If you have the chance to choose whichever topic you like for your history coursework and set your own question, or if you are given a list of different topics, choose one you are genuinely interested in. You will be working on this piece for months, so it makes sense to choose something that will hold your interest.

2. Make sure there are no clashes with your other topics

In practice, there are constraints set by the various exam boards to make sure that your topic does not overlap with the components you are already studying for your A level or Pre U. Your exam centre (school, college or independent centre) will need to have your question approved by the exam board and they will not approve a topic with an obvious overlap. For example, if you are already studying the Tudors for AQA, it is unlikely that you can  study a topic set in England between 1485 to 1603. Therefore, if you are setting your own question, ask yourself if it overlaps in date or topic with one of your components. If it does, you will need to find an alternative. Each exam board has slightly different rules, so check on their website to see what the rules are for your exam board.

3. Find your source material early

For your history coursework, you will need to find two types of source material – primary and secondary:

P rimary sources are those that were written at the time and you will also need to find a range of these to support your investigation. To achieve high marks you should look for a variety of primary sources, for example, a letter, a report, a painting, a speech etc.

Secondary sources are scholarly books or articles by historians, or what the a-level exam boards call ‘interpretations.’ this means that your investigation will only be viable if historians have written about the topic and, preferably, argued over it. you will need to understand the arguments that provide a framework for your chosen topic. historians call this the historiography..

Therefore, the question you set yourself will only be able to achieve high marks if you make sure there are both secondary sources (scholarly argument) and primary sources (original material) to support your investigation. If you cannot find these, you should re-think your question.

4. Remember you actually have to answer the question!

It sounds really obvious – but remember that you actually have to answer the question you set yourself!  You need to choose something that is achievable in the time frame and gives you a good chance of success. A good question will give you a framework within which to research and write – you are looking for something that is not too vague nor too wide.

You also need something that you can address in the historical time frame (e.g. around 100 years for AQA) and a topic that you can analyse and evaluate in approximately 3, 500 words (check the word limit for your own exam board). In practice, any question that is too wide, too vague or unlikely to be achievable should be vetoed either by your school/college/independent centre or the exam board. However, this will waste your valuable time and is not totally foolproof, so choose an achievable project to give yourself a fighting chance of achieving that elusive A grade.

5. Choose a good format for your history coursework question

The standard ‘for and against’ question format will always be a good choice and will give you a framework within which to set your investigation. There are various ways to word such a question e.g. ‘How far…’, To what extent…’ ‘Within the context of … how important was…’ which will give you a clear framework and a direction for your investigation. Keep it simple is good advice here. Remember, though, to define your framework by including the date range in your question. For example ‘Within the context of 1790 to 1890, how important was…?’

Done well, the NEA or Personal Investigation will teach you a huge amount about how historians work, how sources are used and how to construct an argument. This will help you enormously when you come to the final exams and it can be a very valuable contribution to your qualification. It can also be enjoyable as it is your first chance to ‘do’ some real historical research. Choose your question with care and you automatically give yourself a head start.

Exam Board History Coursework Guidance

AQA Guidance

Cambridge Pre U Guidance

OCR Guidance

Edexcel Guidance

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• How to Make Your Coursework as Good as It Can Possibly Be

Many GCSE and A-level subjects are assessed in part by coursework in addition to exams, meaning that the mark you receive for coursework contributes to your overall grade. Many students prefer coursework, because it’s a chance to showcase your academic abilities away from the high-pressured environment of the exam room, making it ideal for those who don’t perform to the best of their abilities in exams. However, the time you have available for coursework, in contrast with the time constraints of the exam room, can lull some students into a false sense of security. Coursework is arguably just as challenging as exams, just in different ways – and, given the fact that you have more time, much higher standards are expected of you in coursework than in exams. Careful planning and research are needed for successful coursework, as well as strong data-gathering and essay-writing skills. In this article, we look at how to produce excellent coursework, from planning to proofreading. This information might also be useful to you if you’re planning on attending an Oxford Summer School this summer.

What is coursework?

GCSE and A-level coursework typically takes the form of an extended essay or project. Its objectives vary from one subject to another, but there’s usually an emphasis on the student conducting independent research into a topic of their own choice. Thus coursework often takes the form of some sort of investigation; it may, therefore, help to have your ‘detective’ hat on as you explore, investigate and analyse your topic. You can usually work on your coursework at home, though it’s sometimes completed under controlled conditions through sessions at school. To give you a better idea of how coursework varies from one subject to another, here are some examples:

• English – English coursework usually takes the form of an extended essay with a title of your choice. You’re usually given a choice of themes and/or texts to explore, and you could choose a format such as a comparison between a set text and another one.
• Geography – Geography coursework usually focuses on the gathering, reporting and interpretation of data designed to answer a particular geographical question. You could investigate usage of a shopping centre, for example, or look at erosion on a particular beach.
• Sciences – coursework for science subjects often takes the form of a scientific project or experiment that you conduct and report on yourself.

Before you start work on your coursework, it’s essential that you have a thorough understanding of the rules. Failing to conform to the rules – inadvertently or not – may result in your coursework (or possibly even your entire qualification) being disqualified, so it’s a serious matter.

• No plagiarism – this is particularly dangerous given the ready availability of relevant information on the internet these days. Make sure everything is in your own words; you’ll need to sign a declaration stating that it’s your own original work.
• There’s only so much help your teacher can give you . They can provide guidance on what you need to include, and on what the examiners will be looking for. You can ask them questions, but they’ll usually only be able to check through your first draft once and offer broad hints on updating it.
• Check the word count , and stick to it. Find out whether footnotes, appendices and bibliographies are included in the word count.
• Check what topics you’re allowed to do your coursework on; if there’s an exam on this topic, you’ll almost certainly have to choose a different one for your coursework.

Choose your topic wisely

Ideally, choose something you’re genuinely interested in, as your enthusiasm will come across and you’ll find it more enjoyable to write. If there’s something you’ve been working on for the course so far that you’ve particularly enjoyed, you may be able to focus more on this as part of your coursework. For science coursework, you’ll need to choose something to investigate that you can measure, change and control; it should be what’s called a ‘fair test’, meaning that you have to acknowledge all the controls you use in the experiment and why. Try not to pick a topic for which the scope is too vast, as you’ll struggle to research it properly and you’re unlikely to do it justice, and it’ll be hard to keep within the word limit. Ask your teachers for some guidance on choosing your topic if you’re not sure what to write about; they might even tell you a bit about what previous students have done to give you some inspiration.

Plan how long it’s going to take

Never leave your coursework until the last minute, even if this is your normal approach to essays and it usually works for you. Make sure you understand when the deadlines are, including time for submitting a first draft for comments from your teacher. Then schedule blocks of time for working on it, allowing plenty of time before the deadline to cater for any unexpected delays. Allow ample time for making corrections based on teacher feedback on your first draft, and keep some time aside before the deadline for final editing and proofreading. Because actual deadlines are few and far between, you’ll need to take responsibility for the writing process and impose some deadlines on yourself to ensure it’s finished in time. Write down your deadlines on a calendar, with the coursework broken into stages and dates assigned to each, by which time each task should be complete. You can base your stages on the next few points in this article – research and data gathering, a structure plan for the piece of work, writing up, and so on.

Conducting your research and gathering data

As coursework is primarily a research exercise, the research phase is crucial, so don’t be tempted to skimp on it and go straight to writing up. Use as many different resources as you can to gather data: books, journals, newspapers, television, radio, the internet and anything else you think might be relevant. For science and Geography coursework, you’ll need to base your work on a hypothesis, so the research stage should start by coming up with at least one hypothesis, otherwise your research will lack direction. The research phase for some subjects may involve site visits for gathering data, so allow plenty of time for this, particularly if you need your parents to drive you somewhere to do so. If it’s a scientific experiment you’re conducting for your coursework, you’ll need to pay careful attention to planning the experiment using rigorous scientific methods (also noting what Health and Safety precautions you are taking), as well as reading up on the background and theory so that you have an idea of what to expect from the outcome of your experiment. In the research stage, make notes about what you expect to happen, so that you can later compare your expectations with what actually did happen. The experiment itself also forms part of the research and data-gathering stage for your science coursework; in the write-up stage, which we come onto shortly, you analyse and write up the results.

Plan your structure

Once you’ve completed your research, the process of writing up begins. Before you get down to the actual writing, however, it’s advisable to write a plan for how you’re going to structure it – essentially an essay plan for English coursework and other subjects for which the coursework is based on an extended essay. It’ll look slightly different from an essay plan for science subjects and others that revolve around project work, but the principle is the same: plan out what order you’re going to present your information in. For big projects, this is particularly important, because with a lot of information to convey, you risk being disorganised and waffling.

Writing up your project

For any coursework, but particularly coursework based around an extended essay, you’ll need to perfect your essay-writing abilities. For science coursework, writing up your project also involves data analysis, as you interpret the results of your experiment and work your notes into formal scientific language.

When you’re writing up, it’s important to find a place where you can work quietly, without distractions that could cause you to make careless errors. You wouldn’t want noise or distractions when you were in an exam room, so treat your coursework with the same reverence.

Supporting materials and images

For some subjects, namely the sciences and Geography, it would be appropriate to include images, graphs, charts, tables and so on in your coursework. For example, for Geography coursework, your extra material could include annotated images and maps of the site you’re talking about, plus tables, graphs and charts. An appendix could then detail your raw data; if, for example, your coursework focused on the results of a survey, you could put the raw survey responses in an appendix and provide summaries and analysis in the main body of the coursework.

Footnotes and bibliography

As we said earlier, it’s important that you always use your own words in your coursework to avoid the possibility of falling foul of plagiarism rules. However, it’s acceptable to quote from another source, as you would in any piece of academic writing, but you must make sure that you state where it is from and use quotation marks to show that it’s a quote from somewhere else. The best way of citing another work is to use a footnote; word processors will allow you to insert one, and it just puts a little number at the end of the sentence and another in the footer of the document, into which you put the name of the author and work, and the page within that work that the quote can be found. At the end of your piece of work, include a bibliography that includes a list of every external source you’ve used in the creation of your coursework. Stick to a set formula when including books. A common format is: Author Surname, Initial. (Date) – Title of Book , page number For example: Lewis, C.S. (1960) – Studies in Words , p. 45 When you get to university, you’ll be expected to include footnotes and bibliographies in all your essays, so it’s a good habit to get into and coursework gives you good practice at it.

The final pre-submission check

Having completed a first draft, received feedback from your teacher, and honed your work into a finished piece of coursework, have a final check through it before you send off your coursework for submission.

• Sense check : have a read through your completed piece of work and check that it all makes sense. Make sure you haven’t contradicted yourself anywhere, or repeated yourself, or laboured the point. If there are any facts that you may have meant to look up to double check their accuracy, do so now.
• Word count : ensure that the completed work falls within the word count, and double check whether the bibliography should be included in the word count. If you’ve exceeded it, you’ll need to work through the piece and tighten up your writing, omitting unnecessary information, reordering sentences so that they use fewer words, and so on.
• Proofread : check your spelling and grammar, and ensure that there are no typos. Don’t just use the spellcheck – go through it with a fine toothcomb, manually, and if you can, ask someone to read through it for you to see if they spot anything you haven’t.
• Formatting : check that you’ve included page numbers, and that the font and line spacing is consistent throughout the work. Ensure that the font is plain and easy to read, such as Arial or Times New Roman.
• Bibliography : check that you’ve included everything, that the format is the same for all sources mentioned, and that the right information is included for each.

Once this stage is complete, you’re ready to submit your coursework along with your declaration that it’s entirely your own work. Get ready for a feeling of immense satisfaction when you finally send off your hard work!

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20+ A-Level English Language Original Writing NEA Ideas

In A-Level by Think Student Editor May 11, 2024 Leave a Comment

The NEA or non-exam assessment for A-Level English Language is one of the most varied parts, especially when it comes to what you actually do based on your exam board. However, even within the same exam board, the level of independence means that what each person does can be incredibly different compared to what others, even people in the same class are doing.

This is what I personally loved about doing the NEA for A-Level English Language, particularly for the original writing or creative writing section that some exam boards do. However, while the extent of creative freedom was enjoyable, it could also be overwhelming trying to narrow down the many, many different things you could do within the guidelines into the 1 (or 2 depending on the exam board) final idea that was needed.

In this article, we’ll be getting you started in the right direction with some ideas that you can use for the A-Level English Language original writing NEA. This article will explain what the requirements are for this NEA and help you understand what makes a good idea.

Table of Contents

What is the A-Level English Language original writing NEA?

For A-Level English Language, the structure of the course, can vary greatly based on the exam board. This can be particularly clear when it comes to the NEA in comparison to exams.

For the original writing NEA, which may also be known as the creative writing NEA, the only exam boards that do this for A-Level English Language are AQA and Pearson Edexcel. The other exams boards instead do the language investigation NEA and the AQA exam board does both of these NEAs. If you would like to learn more about this NEA and to get some ideas for this instead, have a look at this Think Student article.

While only these 2 exam boards do the original/creative writing NEA, how they offer this form of coursework is still fairly different. This is especially as it is only half of the coursework requirements for the AQA exam board, but it is the whole of the coursework requirements for Pearson Edexcel.

Have a look at the following sections to see what the specific requirements are for this NEA for each exam board.

What is the A-Level English Language original writing NEA for AQA?

The AQA A-Level English Language original writing NEA is as previously mentioned, only half of the coursework that students need to do as a part of the course. In total, the coursework makes up 20% of the whole A-Level. However, this means that the original writing NEA only makes up 10% of the whole A-Level.

For the original writing NEA for AQA, student need to complete a piece of original writing based of a style model and then produce a commentary. This commentary will need to reflect on their choices in writing, the similarities and differences compared to the style model and how their writing fits into the genre and in the category of writing.

For the AQA exam board’s original writing NEA, by the category of writing, I’m referring to the 3 categories that AQA sets out for students to pick the original writing pieces within. There are 3 categories; these are the power of persuasion, the power of storytelling and the power of information.

The piece of original writing and the commentary are worth 25 marks each and should be around 750 words each with a maximum of 1,500 words together.

What is the A-Level English Language original writing NEA for Pearson Edexcel?

For the Pearson Edexcel A-Level English Language course, the creative writing is the only form of coursework that students will have to do. Due to this, for this creative writing NEA there is a bit more required than for the AQA one as it is worth the whole 20% of A-Level English Language coursework requirements.

Students will need to research a genre, complete 2 pieces of original writing and produce a commentary on these. The 2 pieces need to be in the same genre but need to differ due to the audience and/or the purpose of the piece. The commentary will need to delve into comparing these and the student’s choices as well as commenting on the research that the student did and how this applies to what they produced.

Altogether, the 2 pieces of writing need to be between 1,500 and 2,000 words long and the commentary needs to be 1,000 words on its own . All in all, this should come to 50 marks in total, with the original writing having 30 marks together and the commentary having 20 marks.

What makes a good A-Level English Language original writing NEA idea?

There are so many different ideas that you could choose for the A-Level English Language original writing NEA, that I couldn’t possibly go through all of them in this article. Due to this, it’s important to know what a good idea is and how to come up with one for yourself.

The main thing to consider when coming up with your original writing NEA idea is to make sure that it allows you to meet the requirements. These are of word count, having and being able to annotate your style guide and use it as a basis and being able to research into the genre to make sure your piece is assuredly a form of that kind of writing . Plus, for AQA, you will need to produce a form of writing that is in one of the categories: persuasion, storytelling or information.

Making sure that your idea is doable is the most thing for a good idea as regardless of the idea, you can elevate your writing using advanced technique and “sophisticated” vocabulary and writing devices.

A-Level English Language original writing NEA ideas

The following subsections will give you some ideas of the genres and writing types that you can do for your original writing NEA. These sections will explain how you can differentiate them, whether that’s from your style model to show off your own intentions in writing or between your 2 pieces for the Pearson Edexcel exam board.

1.Travel brochure

While a travel brochure may seem like a restrictive genre with little variation, there are a wide range of smaller ideas. You could diversify the purpose by picking either persuasion or information . Also, you could diversify the audience due to the place or type of travel you pick.

For example, you might want to write a brochure for a cruise holiday, which is more likely to appeal to a specific audience that will generally have savings and are normally older, or you could write a brochure for a known party destination, such as Ibiza or even Cancun to appeal to a specific audience that will generally be younger. I personally did this idea and went for a mythical destination, so the choice really is all yours.

2. Website page

A website page is a great option for your NEA as they already come with a limited number of words while still being made for specific purposes and aimed to appeal to specific audiences . The design isn’t actually as difficult as it seems, as you could use Word or PowerPoint to make your page look like an actual website.

You could write a donation page for a charity or you could even write the about page for an author or even the information page for a specific product. These all have very specific target audiences and very different purposes, so it would be fairly easy to diversify, even within these kinds of subcategory.

3. Sales email

This style of writing is very niche but if done well it could be an incredibly unique and creative idea. Sales emails are everywhere, and you could probably even find your style model by going through your own emails.

They have some very specific features, so it’s definitely possible to create a piece that looks exactly like a sales email, even if you decide to differ your piece from the style model . You may wish to write one for a restaurant or even some kind of subscription service.

4. Newsletter/ email newsletter

Something quite similar to the sales email is the email newsletter or a hard copy version. Newsletters are once again very common instead of being from businesses, they tend to be from bloggers and website, although the purpose will generally be to persuade you to buy something, it may also simply be to connect and to increase brand awareness.

Once again, they have some pretty distinctive features that you can replicate in your own piece(s) to make sure that the link to your style model/ the genre is clear. You may want to do a newsletter from an author’s personal website or even from a kind of blog, such as productivity or even food.

Speeches are great, particularly for the persuasion category, although they can also be a good option for the information category too. As you would have had to do a speech for GCSE English Language, you could even pick the same topic, although you would have to rewrite the speech to better fit the purpose and audience that you’ve chosen.

The great thing about speeches is that they’re easy to find to use one a style model, especially as there are many from political leaders and at many different events. You could even use the Queen’s/ King’s speeches as style models if you wish.

These can be done in a wide variety of topics, especially ones to do with social issues, such as climate change, racism, sexism and homophobia, but on you could do anything, even on food, sharks or your favourite film or TV show.

6. Persuasive letter

Letters are something of a lost art in this day and age, however, there are certain times where they are still quite commonly used. If you’re writing to your local council, an MP or someone else in a position of authority, about an issue that is important to you, a persuasive letter could be the way to go.

The difficulty with this one is that it could be a bit more difficult to find a style model, so you might want to find some kind of activist movement that writes to the council or MPs as they may publish these letters and the responses. Other than that, if your sixth form or college has written to the council, you may be able to ask them if you could use a copy of that letter, if it’s appropriate to do so.

7. Short story

When it comes to storytelling, often the first thing to think of is a book of some kind. For the NEA’s word count, doing a short story is probably the easiest way to do this. While a genre of their own, short stories come in their ow genres from horror to romance and many in between. You could write a short story about a haunted house or even one about the friendship between an elderly woman and a child that lives next door.

8. Extract from biography

While biographies are factual, they are often some of the most interesting stories to read. Many famous people and historical figures have biographies, so there are a range of texts you can use for your style model.

You could write an autobiography, a biography about someone you know, or even write a biography about a fictional character. If you need to write 2, you could write biographies with different purposes, such as to simply inform about the person, so you would want to focus solely on facts and description, and to entertain, so you might want to use humour and other techniques.

9. Extract from a novel

Once again, novels are a staple of storytelling. Obviously, the word count means that you can’t do the entirety of one, although you can write a chapter or maybe even just part of a chapter. Some ideas for this might be the opening or closing of the novel as they are often most engaging and need the least context, you might want to use this to introduce characters or maybe even portray a character’s death.

10. Blog post

There are such a vast range of blogs that you have a vast range of style models to choose from. Plus, it means you get to write about whatever you wish as there are blogs post on virtually everything. This can make it even easier to diversify, if needed from a blog post on social issues to spread awareness to a blog post about food trends to share your personal rating.

11. Extract from film script

If you’re interested in films and film writing, creating your own short film script or writing just a scene of a wider film could be a great idea. Films obviously come in many different genres and are made for many different audiences, from different ages groups to people from different countries and even to different interests. For example, you could write a film script for period drama, introducing the main characters but you could also write a short film script about a modern family on an emotional journey as they move away.

12. Dramatic monologue

If you have a flare for drama, this could be a great idea. You could change the genre and the function of this piece quite easily. You may want to make the monologue to introduce a new character through the eyes of another character or may instead want to portray the distress of a character in the midst of making a life-changing decision and there are so many other options for what you could do.

13. Feature article

Feature articles are longer and more in-depth than general news articles, plus they tend to appear in more than just newspaper, such as in magazines or on websites, allowing you to diversify the audience and function more easily. These kinds of articles allow you to talk about a vast range of different topics, such as a “how to” guide, a piece on fashion trends or even an in-depth piece about to do with technology, such as the features of a new phone or a certain kind of camera.

14. Travel writing

Travel writing can come in many different forms and can have its own subgenre, from writing an account to giving advice about travelling and even recommending or reviewing places or styles of travel. Y ou could aim this at different audiences by writing in these different ways, such as reviewing a tourist attraction compared to giving travelling advice, and/or writing about kinds of travel, such as a family holiday in comparison to a backpacking adventure.

There are many different kinds of poetry so this genre can provide you with lots of freedom and can make it easier when deciding on the purpose and audience of your poems. There are also loads of great examples that you can use for your style model.

Some forms of poetry that you might want to do are ballads, limericks, free verse poems and even nonsense poems. These can all easily be made for different age groups or even people from different countries, based on cultural references, if you need to differ these.

16. Children’s book

While a children’s book seems like a narrow and restrictive genre, there’s still plenty of ways of differentiating this. You can choose different age groups to aim the book at or even different purposes, such as informing or entertaining children through storytelling. Someone in my class did this option and they even went as far to design it as a children’s book would be with lots of illustrations and pictures, so it can be a great idea if you’re feeling creative.

17. Leaflet for a museum

Museums provide lots of information, even after people are already there. Creating an information leaflet about a museum and different artefacts there could be a great way to write in the category of information. Although if you’re doing the leaflet as a brochure, you could instead do it with the purpose of persuasion.

Brochures and leaflets can also be done in different formats, so they may only be focusing on certain exhibitions, which may even be focused on different age groups or people with different interests. For example, you might want to create a brochure for children about the fossils exhibition or you could instead write a leaflet focusing on an exhibition about historical fashion.

18. Scripted presentation

While a presentation can seem like a speech, these will often be more information based and would often use props and even things like a PowerPoint document. Due to this, you could either write it as a script or write it directly onto a PowerPoint document, making sure that you print this off in the correct format and may need to still transcribe it.

If you wanted, you could even do a presentation script for something like a YouTube video, or alternatively you could do one for something like a Ted Talk. Due to the nature of presentations, they will tend to have a specific audience and purpose, so these can easily be differentiated.

19. Interview

Interviews are a rather unique form of writing in that they are often found written out, despite literally being a conversation. There are lots of interviews to be found and you could choose to either transcribe one yourself to use as a style model or simply find one already in the right format.

You could differentiate this type of writing by simply choosing different people to interview, as different celebrities have different target audiences and you may even wish to do someone else, such as someone you know or even a fictional character in the same style. You might find it a bit tricky to differentiate the purpose, but this could be done by thinking of the actual contents of the interview and what’s being focused on.

20. News article

Unlike a feature article, a news article is simply about the facts, not the story behind it. You could think about a form of local news, even some from your sixth form or college or even something you’re willing to share about yourself for the topic of this article.

Alternatively, you could just make something up and put it into the style of a news article. While the purpose will generally be to inform, you could try to aim at different age groups or different kinds of readers. For example, you might want to do a tabloid piece and a broadsheet piece.

21. Investigative journalism

An investigative journalism article is a kind of feature article, however, it tends to be even more in-depth and is primarily based on providing information, although there is some storytelling involved. Investigative journalism articles once again have some very distinctive features.

Even if you do a topic that isn’t typically within the investigative journalism genre, you should be quite easily able to still write in this style, as long as you research properly and use the style model. If you have to do more than one piece, you can differentiate by audience, aiming at different age groups, or simply based on different interests.

*The information in this article is based off my own experience as a former A-Level English Language student as well as resources from the AQA and Pearson Edexcel exam boards. These are the specifications for the AQA, linked here , and the Pearson Edexcel, linked here , courses as well as the AQA NEA guidance document, linked here , and the Pearson Edexcel ‘Getting Started’ document, linked here .

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