BGCSE English Language case studies
BGCSE English Language · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE) English Language is the national subject award that records how well a candidate reads, writes and controls written English at the end of senior secondary school. Schools use it for graduation and progression, employers read it as evidence of communication skills, and further-education providers treat it as proof that a candidate can handle academic reading and extended writing. The BGCSE English Language case studies are 5 cases and about 2,975 words.
1The Docker and the Water: Choosing Between Two Readings
Two students are preparing for a comprehension task on this passage: 'Mr Rolle reached the dock at five, as he had every morning for nineteen years. He did not look at the water.
551 words, about 3 min2Five Plan Items, Thirty-Five Minutes
A candidate has 35 minutes and a 350–450 word limit for a discursive essay on the motion 'School students should be paid for good attendance.' Her plan has five items: (1) an anecdote about her cousin, who improved after being promised a phone; (2) three statistics she half-remembers from a news site; (3) a counter-argument about families who cannot afford to reward attendance; (4) a joke about the headteacher's reserved parking space; (5) a proposal that local businesses sponsor the payments. She intends to use all five across four paragraphs, because a teacher once told her that 'more points means more marks'.
696 words, about 3 min3Four Sentences Before the Letter Is Printed
A school secretary has drafted a letter to parents about a trip and asks a colleague to check the sentences before printing: A. 'Students who have not returned their forms by Friday will not be allowed on the trip.' B.
496 words, about 2 min4Gobsmacked, Mega and the Long-Word Trap
A student council is writing to a local hardware business to ask for £300 towards new football kit. The draft opening reads: 'We were basically gobsmacked by how much the last sponsor forked out, and it'd be mega if you could do the same for our kit, which is proper knackered after two seasons.' The council's adviser says the sentence has to change.
523 words, about 3 min5Fifty Words for the Noticeboard
A candidate must cut the following source to a 50-word item for the school noticeboard, read by students and parents: 'The after-school science club has run on Tuesdays since 2019. In the last year, about 40 per cent of members were in Year 10; the register shows 312 of the 800 recorded attendances were Year 10.
709 words, about 4 min