WACE English study guide
WACE English · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
WACE English (ATAR) is a Western Australian senior-secondary course in the English learning area, administered within the Western Australian Certificate of Education framework by the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (SCSA). It is designed for Year 11 and 12 students in Western Australia who are working towards an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank and who want an English course that carries ATAR status. The course develops students' capacity to read, interpret and analyse a range of texts and to produce written texts of their own; preparation should therefore combine close reading of unfamiliar material with regular extended writing under timed conditions. Students typically prepare by working through the syllabus content their school delivers, completing past ATAR course examination papers that SCSA publishes, and seeking teacher feedback on drafts. Topics on this exam: Reading and comprehension of texts and Production of written texts. The WACE English study guide has 2 sections and about 686 words.
01Reading and Comprehending Texts
Reading comprehension in WACE English rewards precise, evidence-based interpretation, not impressionistic reaction. You must demonstrate command of comprehension (literal meaning), inference (implied meaning), analysis of language and structure , and evaluation of how a text positions its reader . Know the metalanguage: diction, connotation, tone, register, syntax, imagery, motif, juxtaposition, irony, rhetorical question, anecdote, statistic, modality, and narrative voice. Read the questions before a second reading, then annotate the text for purpose, audience, context and form (PACF) .
348 words, about 2 min02Producing Written Texts
This domain assesses your ability to craft controlled, purposeful writing for a specified audience, purpose, context and form . You must sustain a coherent argument or narrative, deploy language deliberately, and demonstrate technical accuracy. Understand structure (introduction, topic sentences, transitions, conclusion), cohesion (connectives, pronoun reference, lexical chains), register (formal, persuasive, reflective, narrative), and sentence variety (simple, compound, complex, and deliberate fragments). Spend a few minutes planning: thesis or central idea, three or four supporting points or narrative beats, and a strong final line.
338 words, about 2 min