Educerie · IB Diploma · English A: Literature
Paper 1 — Guided literary analysis · mark scheme
Marked by criteria, not points. Award each criterion the band that best fits the response as a whole; a response need not meet every descriptor in a band to be placed there. Do not compensate between criteria — a beautifully written analysis with no argument still scores low on C.
1Criterion A — Understanding and interpretation — 5 marks
| Band | Descriptor | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | A thorough and perceptive understanding. Interpretation is convincing and consistently supported by well-chosen, precise references to the text. Implication is read as readily as statement. | 5 |
| 4 | A good understanding; interpretation is generally convincing and supported by relevant references. | 4 |
| 3 | An adequate understanding; interpretation is mostly valid but references are sometimes general or insufficient. | 3 |
| 2 | Some understanding, but interpretation is superficial or partly inaccurate; references are scarce. | 2 |
| 1 | Little understanding; largely paraphrase; references absent or misused. | 1 |
| 0 | Nothing creditable. | 0 |
For The Long Field, a band 5 response reads what the poem withholds: the speaker insists on not having remembered ("not because I remembered anything") while performing the memory in detail. The final paradox — "which I could not have found / and found immediately" — is the interpretive centre, and a response that does not engage with it cannot reach band 5.
2Criterion B — Analysis and evaluation — 5 marks
| Band | Descriptor | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Insightful and convincing analysis of how stylistic and structural choices create meaning. Effects are consistently linked to their impact on the reader. Devices are never merely named. | 5 |
| 4 | Good analysis of authorial choices; effects are usually explained, though some analysis is asserted. | 4 |
| 3 | Adequate analysis; features are identified and some effects explained, but the response tends toward description. | 3 |
| 2 | Superficial: features are identified with little or no explanation of effect (feature-spotting). | 2 |
| 1 | Features named without analysis, or none identified. | 1 |
| 0 | Nothing creditable. | 0 |
This is the discriminating criterion. A response listing enjambment, repetition and imagery without explaining what each does in this poem cannot exceed band 2, however many features it finds.
Indicative content — the shift from flat declarative ("It was only ever a field") to the extended final sentence running across seven lines without a full stop; the deflating parenthetical qualifications ("not for any reason", "not because I remembered anything") which protest too much; the plain, almost prosaic register refusing elegy; the address to an unnamed "you"; the withheld reason for stopping.
3Criterion C — Focus and organisation — 5 marks
| Band | Descriptor | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | A well-organised, coherently developed argument with a clear thesis. Ideas build; the response addresses the guiding question throughout. | 5 |
| 4 | Organised and mostly coherent; the guiding question is addressed, though development is uneven. | 4 |
| 3 | Adequately organised; some structure, but the argument does not clearly develop. | 3 |
| 2 | Some organisation, but largely a chronological walk through the text; the guiding question is addressed only in passing. | 2 |
| 1 | Little organisation; no discernible argument. | 1 |
| 0 | Nothing creditable. | 0 |
Two specific caps. A response organised stanza by stanza rather than by idea cannot exceed band 3. A response that never addresses the guiding question — here, voice and structure — cannot exceed band 2, however perceptive its other observations.
4Criterion D — Language — 5 marks
| Band | Descriptor | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Clear, precise and varied. Register and style are consistently appropriate to formal literary analysis. Vocabulary and syntax are accurate; literary terminology is used correctly. | 5 |
| 4 | Clear and generally accurate; register appropriate; occasional lapses that do not impede meaning. | 4 |
| 3 | Adequate and mostly clear; errors are present but meaning is rarely obscured; register sometimes informal. | 3 |
| 2 | Frequent errors that sometimes impede meaning; register often inappropriate. | 2 |
| 1 | Errors persistently impede meaning. | 1 |
| 0 | Nothing creditable. | 0 |
Credit tentative critical register — suggests, implies, invites the reader to — as a feature of appropriate style. Persistent overclaiming ("the poet proves that") is a register weakness and should be reflected here, not in criterion B. Misused literary terminology is penalised here and limits criterion B, since a term used wrongly cannot support accurate analysis.
Mark distribution
| Split | Allocation |
|---|---|
| By criterion | A Understanding and interpretation 5 · B Analysis and evaluation 5 · C Focus and organisation 5 · D Language 5 |
| By objective | AO1 knowledge and understanding 5 · AO2 analysis 5 · AO3 organisation and argument 5 · AO4 language 5 |
Total: 20 marks
At higher level, Paper 1 requires two guided analyses in 135 minutes for 40 marks, with the same four criteria applied to each.
Educerie · original mark scheme for an original assessment, written against the published IB Diploma Programme criteria structure for Language A: Literature Paper 1, amended guide, first assessment 2026. Band descriptors are our own wording. Last reviewed 5 September 2026.