IB DP studies in language and literature
IB English A is the Diploma Programme's English course for students academically at home in the language, taken as Language and Literature or as Literature, at SL or HL. Edunest pairs your child with one tutor for live online lessons, and the tutor plans the two years around which studied work will serve each assessment.
Paper 1, Paper 2, the individual oral and the HL essay each reward a different skill. Lessons work on all four in Qatar time, with Arabic explanations whenever they help.
What we cover
Both English A courses share three areas of exploration and seven central concepts. Each module notes where DP students tend to lose marks, which is where tutoring time goes first.
How a text makes meaning, and how each reader helps make it. Students often spot a technique, then stop before explaining what it does to the reader.
Texts read against the time and culture that produced them and the readers who receive them. Marks slip when background facts crowd out analysis of the text itself.
Comparing texts across forms, genres and traditions. This area feeds Paper 2, where weaker essays discuss one work, then the other, and join them only in the conclusion.
Advertisements, speeches, cartoons, infographics, photographs and opinion columns, often studied as a body of work by one creator or campaign. Students lose marks by discussing the message and ignoring layout, image and audience.
Language and Literature studies at least 4 works at SL and 6 at HL; Literature studies 9 and 13. Some are read in translation, which asks for care with cultural context.
Identity, culture, creativity, communication, perspective, transformation and representation. They sharpen theses in every paper and give HL students a starting point for the essay's line of inquiry.
The portfolio holds a student's reading notes and reflections, and it prepares every assessment. Global issues for the oral grow from five fields of inquiry, such as culture, identity and community.
Schools choose the works, so a tutor builds the reading and writing skills around your child's own list.
How lessons run
Lessons follow your child's school calendar in Qatar time (UTC+3): lessons after school between Sunday and Thursday, timed papers on a Friday or Saturday, and Ramadan hours fixed once each year's official timings are out.
Step 1
Your child shares the school's list of works and bodies of work. With the tutor, they sketch which could carry the oral, the HL essay and Paper 2, because the IB lets each work serve one component only.
Step 2
An early lesson includes one passage written under Paper 1 timing. The tutor marks it against the four criteria and names the single habit costing most marks, such as retelling or drifting from the guiding question.
Step 3
Short passages go on screen for annotation. Your child forms an argument and writes paragraphs that link a technique to its effect; the tutor questions, models a sentence when needed, then hands the writing back.
Step 4
The real oral is recorded for IB moderation, so rehearsing on Microsoft Teams, Google Meet or Zoom is close practice: ten timed minutes on two clean extracts, followed by five minutes of unscripted questions.
Step 5
Ahead of school deadlines and mocks, the tutor sets a timed Paper 1 or a closed-book Paper 2, compares the result with earlier attempts, and sends parents a short note on progress and next steps.
Explanations can switch to Arabic at any step; all writing and speaking practice stays in English.
The exam
Both English A courses share one assessment shape: two written papers and an individual oral, plus an essay at HL. Figures come from the IB guides first assessed in 2021.
Exam board
International Baccalaureate (IB)
Sets and marks the papers, moderates the oral, and offers Language and Literature in 17 languages and Literature in 55.
| Paper | Tier | Duration | Marks | Weighting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1: guided analysis | SL and HL | SL 1 h 15 min · HL 2 h 15 min | SL 20 · HL 40 | 35% at both levels |
Two unseen passages, each with a guiding question: non-literary in Language and Literature, literary in Literature. SL analyses one, HL both. How a tutor helps Timed practice on fresh passages across many text types or literary forms, marked on the four criteria. HL students also practise dividing 2 hours 15 minutes fairly between two analyses. | ||||
| Paper 2: comparative essay | SL and HL | 1 h 45 min | 30 | SL 35% · HL 25% |
One of four general questions, answered by comparing two literary works from memory; the same paper serves both courses. How a tutor helps Your child picks two reliable pairs of works kept free of other components, then practises planning a thesis that holds both works together from the opening paragraph, backed by detailed references to each. | ||||
| Individual oral | SL and HL | 15 min: 10 min talk, 5 min questions | 40 | SL 30% · HL 20% |
A prepared talk on a global issue, supported by two extracts of up to 40 lines each; marked by the teacher, moderated by the IB. How a tutor helps Rehearsals copy the real recording: a timed ten-minute talk, then questions. The tutor checks that each extract shows the issue clearly and that the talk reaches beyond the extract to the whole work. | ||||
| HL essay | HL only | Coursework, 1,200 to 1,500 words | 20 | 20% |
A formal essay on a line of inquiry about one studied work, or a body of work in Language and Literature. How a tutor helps The tutor asks questions that sharpen the line of inquiry and advises on structure, citation and a writing timeline. Under IB rules, every sentence of the essay stays your child's own. | ||||
Two unseen passages, each with a guiding question: non-literary in Language and Literature, literary in Literature. SL analyses one, HL both.
How a tutor helps
Timed practice on fresh passages across many text types or literary forms, marked on the four criteria. HL students also practise dividing 2 hours 15 minutes fairly between two analyses.
One of four general questions, answered by comparing two literary works from memory; the same paper serves both courses.
How a tutor helps
Your child picks two reliable pairs of works kept free of other components, then practises planning a thesis that holds both works together from the opening paragraph, backed by detailed references to each.
A prepared talk on a global issue, supported by two extracts of up to 40 lines each; marked by the teacher, moderated by the IB.
How a tutor helps
Rehearsals copy the real recording: a timed ten-minute talk, then questions. The tutor checks that each extract shows the issue clearly and that the talk reaches beyond the extract to the whole work.
A formal essay on a line of inquiry about one studied work, or a body of work in Language and Literature.
How a tutor helps
The tutor asks questions that sharpen the line of inquiry and advises on structure, citation and a writing timeline. Under IB rules, every sentence of the essay stays your child's own.
English A papers can be sat in the IB's May or November session, and your school's DP coordinator confirms which applies to your child. The oral and the HL essay are finished during the course, before any written paper.
English A ends in one grade on the IB's 1 to 7 scale, drawn from every component at your child's level. SL and HL carry equal points toward the diploma total.
What we look for in a tutor
Standards every English A tutor meets before we match them.
Confident with poetry, drama, prose and non-literary texts such as speeches, advertisements and photographs, and able to analyse each at DP depth.
Works from the 2021 assessment model: the criteria for each component, the 40-line extract limit and the rule of one work per component.
Has taught IB English or marked practice work against IB criteria, and turns each mark into a step your child can act on.
Asks questions and gives feedback on skills, and never writes, edits or rewrites a student's oral notes or HL essay.
Models an analysis aloud, then hands the pen back, and can explain a difficult idea in Arabic while the work itself stays in English.
Follows safeguarding practice for learners under 18, welcomes a parent in lessons, and writes short progress notes the family can read quickly.
Common difficulties
Five common difficulties in IB English A, each with a tutor's response.
Under time pressure, summary feels safe, and an unseen passage offers no class notes to lean on.
How a tutor helps
The tutor practises a short planning routine built on the guiding question, then checks every paragraph for a named technique, its effect and a clear link back to the question.
A broad theme such as identity or power is too wide for ten minutes, and the IB asks for one specific issue.
How a tutor helps
Together they narrow the theme to one specific issue that crosses borders, touches daily life and shows plainly in both extracts, then test it aloud against each extract.
The essay comes from memory, so thin knowledge of structure, key moments and technique shows quickly.
How a tutor helps
The tutor helps your child build a one-page revision sheet for each chosen work, then sets timed comparisons on varied general questions within the full 1 hour 45 minutes.
A work used in the oral or HL essay is barred from Paper 2, and late switches waste revision time.
How a tutor helps
Early in the course, your child maps every studied work to one component while the tutor asks questions, keeping the two strongest comparison pairs in reserve for Paper 2.
A line of inquiry that starts too wide slides into a summary of the whole work.
How a tutor helps
The tutor asks questions that narrow the line of inquiry and helps plan stages up to the school deadline, leaving the writing of every sentence to your child.
Questions learners and parents ask
Tell us the course, the level and the next deadline. Someone on our team reads each enquiry personally and writes back with a suggested tutor.