Comparing Conflict poems — Edexcel GCSE English Literature 1ET0
Edexcel GCSE English Literature · 1ET0
Comparing Conflict poems
What you need to know
How the anthology question works: one Conflict poem is printed, and you compare it with one other poem you choose from the collection and write about from memory, in about 35 minutes.
How to choose the second poem, plan and structure a comparison, using the June 2025 question on Catrin as the worked example, with a model answer and commentary.
The marks: 20 in all, 15 for language, form and structure and 5 for context, with comparison running through every level; an answer that discusses only one poem cannot go above the top of Level 2.
The mark scheme's five levels, and what lifts an answer from obvious similarities to perceptive comparison with context woven into the argument.
The Conflict questions so far: Cousin Kate and strong feelings (2023), The Class Game and differences between people (2024), and Catrin and conflicts in relationships (2025).
What examiners saw in 2025: Poppies and Cousin Kate were the most popular second poems and Poppies the most effective, answers that dealt with only half of the focus or chose a poor match struggled, and form and structure were the parts most often missed.
A worked plan and a model answer of about 650 words to the June 2025 question, comparing Catrin with Poppies.
The level and mark an examiner would give the model answer and why, set beside the examiners' Level 2, Level 3, Level 4 and full-mark answers from 2025.
