Paper 1 Questions 1 and 2: the unseen source

Section A opens with a one-mark multiple-choice question on a media term and a 12-mark analysis of an unseen print source, such as an advert or a magazine cover.
Reading an unseen source quickly for its design, layout, codes and representations, and using precise subject terms.
The 2025 question on the design and layout of an IKEA advert and the 2024 question on a How It Works magazine cover.
From 2027, AQA's papers use tick boxes for multiple-choice answers.
A question set out as AQA sets it, with its wording and marks, and a model answer with the level and mark an examiner would give and why, beside a weaker answer and what would lift it.
Sentence starters and a short checklist of the steps, for students aiming at Grade 4 and above.

Applying familiar ideas to an unfamiliar product

An unseen source is a media product you have not been required to study in advance. You bring your knowledge of media language and representations to it, rather than recalling a prepared answer about a Close Study Product.

Paper 1 Section A focuses on Media Language and Media Representations. It can test any two of these forms: newspapers; magazines; advertising and marketing; online, social and participatory media and video games. In the 2024 and 2025 papers, Question 1 was a one-mark multiple-choice question about the unseen source, followed by a 12-mark analysis in Question 2.

These questions test different skills. Question 1 checks whether you recognise a concept accurately. Question 2 checks whether you can explain how particular choices communicate meaning. Knowing the name of a technique is the starting point, not the analysis itself.

Reading the source with a purpose

Start with the question's focus. If it asks about design and layout, look closely at positioning, size, spacing, colour, lettering and the relationships between images and text. A question about codes and conventions allows a wider discussion of the product's familiar features and meaning-making choices.

Then establish what the product is and what it appears to offer. An advertisement may promote a product or service; a magazine cover presents the publication's identity and gives a taste of its contents. Notice the most prominent element first, then trace how your attention moves towards smaller images, information and branding.

Distinguish denotation, what is literally shown, from connotation, what it suggests. A crowded magazine cover denotes many images and cover lines. In context, that density may suggest plentiful, exciting content. The interpretation becomes convincing when you explain why those particular features support it.

Read words and images together. A verbal code communicates through words, including written words. A non-verbal code communicates without words. The words beside an image may provide anchorage, steering its meaning towards one interpretation rather than another.

Question 1: recognising the concept

The June 2025 question read:

01 The image of the sheet in Figure 1 is an example of which of the following?

A Anchorage
B Non-verbal code
C Paralanguage
D Verbal code

[1 mark]

The answer was B — Non-verbal code. The sheet is communicated through an image rather than words. Anchorage would describe how accompanying wording directs the meaning of that image. Paralanguage concerns features accompanying speech, such as tone of voice, rather than the pictured object.

The 2024 question instead asked which feature demonstrated anchorage. The answer was the cover line ‘007’s GADGETS’: it directed readers to interpret the James Bond imagery in terms of technology and gadgets.

Question 2: explaining IKEA's design and layout

The June 2025 question read:

02 Analyse the IKEA advertisement (Figure 1) to show how design and layout communicate meaning.

[12 marks]

The advertisement's central idea was an energy-drink can with a sheet spilling out. The can borrowed the recognisable appearance of an energy drink, while the sheet replaced the expected liquid. The label stated ‘SLEEP BOOSTS YOUR ENERGY’, and the advertisement included ‘Tomorrow starts tonight’. Together, these choices presented good sleep as a source of energy.

This is a visual metaphor: one thing is presented through another to suggest a shared quality. The advertisement did not literally claim that a sheet was a drink. It associated the sheet and sleep with the energising promise of an energy drink, using surprise and humour to make the message memorable.

Here is a possible developed response:

The central image combines an energy-drink can with a sheet spilling from it. The recognisable can initially suggests an energy drink, but the unexpected sheet changes that interpretation. This visual metaphor presents sleep as an alternative source of energy, making the bedding seem useful rather than merely decorative. The verbal code ‘SLEEP BOOSTS YOUR ENERGY’ anchors the image by explaining the connection.

The layout separates the message into thirds: the can occupies the top third, the sheet the middle, and the anchorage copy and strapline the bottom. This arrangement gives the audience a clear sequence from the surprising image to its explanation. White space in the lower area helps the functional information stand apart, while the larger lettering of ‘Tomorrow starts tonight’ connects tonight's sleep with tomorrow's energy.

The muted blue and grey palette suggests calm, contrasting with the pink and yellow label and its jagged flash. The contrast brings together the excitement associated with energy drinks and the relaxation associated with sleep. The minimal design also supports an image of IKEA as modern and functional. Positioning the product name and price beside the product links the unusual image to something available to buy, while the bottom-right IKEA logo identifies the retailer. Overall, the design turns an amusing image into a clear promise about comfort and renewed energy.

Indicative teacher assessment: Level 4, around 11/12. This is an estimate using AQA's descriptors. The response develops several components, consistently links evidence to intended meanings and uses terminology effectively. It also explains how elements work together rather than treating them as isolated decorations.

Compare it with a weaker response:

There is a can and a sheet in the middle. The colours attract attention. There is writing at the bottom and an IKEA logo. The layout is simple and makes people want to buy the sheet.

Indicative teacher assessment: Level 1, around 2/12. It identifies features but gives little explanation of their meanings. To improve it, develop the relationship between the can and sheet, quote the anchoring words and explain how the simple arrangement makes that message clear. Naming more features alone would not solve the problem.

Transferring the method to a magazine cover

The June 2024 question read:

02 Analyse the front cover of How It Works magazine (Figure 1) to show how codes and conventions communicate meaning.

[12 marks]

This required a broader focus than the IKEA question. The cover used a dense layout, James Bond imagery, gadget photographs and short cover lines to present science and technology as exciting and accessible.

For example, photographs of gadgets arranged around the subheading linked the words ‘007’s GADGETS’ to concrete examples. The familiar cultural figure of Bond connected futuristic technology with entertainment. The cover therefore offered both recognisable material and the promise of discovering how remarkable devices work.

The prominent red FREE/WIN wording highlighted extras and competitions. Adjectives such as ‘incredible’ and ‘amazing’ suggested wonder, while the question ‘Could we build total recall?’ created an enigma: readers were offered a question whose answer lay inside. These details do more than identify magazine conventions; they explain the appeal and meaning of those conventions in this particular cover.

Representation can also be relevant. The cover foregrounded a male cultural icon and contained no female representation, limiting the range of people visibly associated with its science-and-technology content. That is a supported observation about this cover, not proof that only men read the magazine. Context and interpretation should remain tied to the product's actual choices.

Building an analytical answer

A useful paragraph moves from specific evidence → technique or choice → meaning → connection to the question. You might begin:

‘The positioning of … makes … prominent, suggesting …’
‘The words “…” anchor the image by …’
‘The contrast between … and … communicates …’
‘Together, these choices present … as …’

These are supports, not a compulsory formula. Develop the strongest relevant observations and finish with a brief judgement about the overall message. Explain intended meanings without assuming that every audience member will respond identically.

For these 12-mark questions, AQA's bands are Level 1: 1–3; Level 2: 4–6; Level 3: 7–9; and Level 4: 10–12. The progression is from mainly description towards clear, detailed analysis of meanings using accurate terminology. There is no requirement to reproduce every possible interpretation.

A short working checklist is: identify the question's focus; inspect the main elements; select precise evidence; explain meanings and relationships; draw a supported conclusion.

Questions 1 and 2

Question 1: recognise a media concept accurately; one mark in the 2024 and 2025 papers.
Question 2: analyse how the unseen product communicates meaning; 12 marks in those papers.
Follow the exact focus: design and layout is narrower than codes and conventions.

Recall the distinctions

Verbal / non-verbal: words / meaning without words.
Denotation / connotation: literal content / suggested association.

Answer the focus named in the question: design and layout is narrower than codes and conventions generally.

For each feature, explain a specific meaning. ‘It attracts attention’ alone does not explain what the product communicates.

Use terminology accurately: written words are verbal codes; images are non-verbal codes. Anchorage describes how words guide the interpretation of an image.

Discuss several relevant components, developing their meanings rather than listing everything you notice. AQA rewards both depth and breadth.

Support claims about class, gender or ethnicity with precise evidence. Do not assume that a person's appearance proves their social background.

From summer 2027, AQA uses tick boxes for multiple-choice questions. Older papers use shaded circles: follow the instructions on your actual paper.

The levels for a 12-mark answer are not GCSE grades. A final grade depends on performance across the qualification.

The choices of words, images, sounds and techniques through which a media product communicates meaning.

A word or group of words that communicates meaning in a media product, such as a headline or slogan.

A feature that communicates meaning without words, such as an image, colour or facial expression.

The use of words to guide an audience towards a particular interpretation of an image.

A familiar feature or established way of presenting a particular media form or genre, such as cover lines on a magazine.

The literal content or meaning of a sign: what is shown or stated.

An association or suggested meaning carried by a sign, interpreted in its context.

The arrangement and positioning of elements within a media product.

The appearance and arrangement of lettering, including typeface, size and weight.

The way a media product constructs a portrayal of a person, group, place, event or idea through selection and presentation.

A feature that raises a question or withholds information, encouraging the audience to seek an answer.