The Cambridge AS & A Level English Language (9093) May/June 2026 papers and mark schemes are out, and they’re free. All four papers, 9093/12 to 9093/42, can be downloaded and printed on the Tutopiya Learning Portal. Below is a breakdown of the texts and tasks on each paper and how the mark scheme gave marks, taken from the papers themselves.

Key points from the 2026 9093 papers

• Every question is levelled. There were no point marks anywhere on the 2026 papers. Each answer gets a level for each assessment objective (AO), and the marks are added.
• The AO split changes from question to question. The same 25 marks were weighted towards analysis on Paper 1, writing on Paper 2, data on the Paper 3 language change question and theory on the Paper 3 child language question.
• Sustainability linked the AS papers: sustainable jewellery on Paper 1 and a review of a documentary about plastic waste on Paper 2.
• Paper 3 rewarded using all the data. The language change question gave its top AO5 band only to answers that drew on all three texts, including a corpus table and an n-gram graph.
• Paper 4 was about identity and power: a backlash against English at northern European universities, and gendered language and how it shapes the way people see each other.

All May/June 2026 9093 papers

Paper	Code	Duration	Marks	What it tests
Paper 1 Reading	9093/12	2 hours 15 minutes	50	Directed response and text analysis (AS)
Paper 2 Writing	9093/22	2 hours	50	A short piece with commentary, plus one extended piece (AS)
Paper 3 Language Analysis	9093/32	2 hours 15 minutes	50	Language change and child language acquisition (A Level)
Paper 4 Language Topics	9093/42	2 hours 15 minutes	50	English in the world and language and the self (A Level)

Timings and marks are taken from the front cover of each 2026 paper. All four papers are answered in an answer booklet, and dictionaries are not allowed. In the published Paper 1 and Paper 4, most of each source text has been removed for copyright reasons, so the task wording and the mark scheme’s notes are your main guide to those texts. For the full syllabus content, see the Cambridge International AS & A Level English Language 9093 syllabus.

Which variant is this? Cambridge sets different versions of each paper (variants) for different time zones. The papers here are variant 2: 9093/12, /22, /32 and /42. All variants cover the same syllabus at the same difficulty, so variant 2 is just as good for practice as the one your school sat.

Download the 9093 May/June 2026 papers →

What came up in 9093 Paper 1 (Reading), May/June 2026?

Paper 1 had two compulsory questions worth 50 marks.

Question	Text and task	Marks
1(a)	Section A, Directed response. An online newspaper article about startups making jewellery from waste such as old electronics and recycled leather. Write a 150 to 200-word advertisement for a local magazine, promoting a craft fair featuring sustainable jewellery	10
1(b)	Compare your advertisement with the article, analysing form, structure and language	15
2	Section B, Text analysis. Sections from a food website article on pastel de nata: its history, how it is made and tips for baking it. Analyse form, structure and language	25

What made it hard: in the jewellery article, the mark scheme pointed to statistics, named designers and luxury vocabulary used to make recycled jewellery sound as special as new. Your advertisement had to sell the fair, and your comparison then had to explain how its direct address differed from the article’s more objective stance.

What came up in 9093 Paper 2 (Writing)?

You answer Question 1 and one question from Section B.

Question	Task	Marks
1(a)	Section A. The opening of a story that starts with a set sentence about a character, John, hesitating at a slowly opening door. No more than 400 words, creating drama and suspense	15
1(b)	A reflective commentary on how your linguistic choices meet the task	10
2 (option)	Section B. A review, for an environmental website, of a TV documentary about the problems caused by plastic waste (600 to 900 words)	25
3 (option)	A descriptive piece called “Departures”, set in a busy airport departure lounge, focusing on sound, movement and colour (600 to 900 words)	25
4 (option)	A school magazine article on whether children should be taught about money at school (600 to 900 words)	25

What came up in 9093 Paper 3 (Language Analysis)?

Paper 3 had two compulsory questions worth 25 marks each.

Question 1, Language change (25 marks). Text A was extracts from an 1834 book about sports and pastimes, describing early football and “goff” (golf). Text B was a corpus table of the top nouns used after obtain, comparing 1470s to 1690s texts with 2000 to 2010. Text C was an n-gram graph of in vogue and trending from 1800 to 2020. You had to analyse how Text A shows the ways English has changed, using all three texts and your wider study.

Question 2, Child language acquisition (25 marks). A transcript of Bartek, aged 5, talking with his grandfather at home about a school play he had sung in. You had to analyse how both speakers use language, with reference to your wider study.

Watch for: the mark scheme’s notes for Question 1 covered lexis, grammar, spelling and layout. For example, it pointed to formal nouns where today we would say “teams” or “opponents”, the hyphen in foot-ball, and the extra spaces before colons and semicolons. In Question 2 it expected theory to be integrated with specific lines, such as Bartek’s over-regularised past tense understanded.

What came up in 9093 Paper 4 (Language Topics)?

Paper 4 had two compulsory questions worth 25 marks each, each based on the opening of an article.

Question	Topic and text	Marks
1	English in the world. A 2023 article from The Economist on the backlash against English-taught university courses in Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway. Discuss the causes and effects of the spread of English	25
2	Language and the self. A 2024 Psychology Today article on gendered language and whether language can be more gender-neutral. Discuss how language shapes and reflects how people think about themselves and each other	25

What this means for you: the scheme’s notes for Question 1 included domain loss, the dominance of English in academic life and the effect of university rankings. For Question 2 they included gendered diminutives, pronoun use and how changing language might reduce bias. Both questions also asked for examples from your wider study, not just the article.

How the 9093 May/June 2026 mark scheme gives marks

Every 9093 question is marked with a level grid, one column per assessment objective. Each grid has five levels plus zero. The examiner places your answer in a level for each AO separately, then adds the marks. Here’s how the 2026 grids worked.

1. The AOs are fixed for each paper. AO1 is understanding the text, AO2 is your own writing, AO3 is analysing form, structure and language, AO4 is linguistic concepts and theory, and AO5 is analysing and synthesising data. The 2026 splits were:

Question	AO1	AO2	AO3	AO4	AO5
Paper 1 Q1(a)	5	5
Paper 1 Q1(b)	5		10
Paper 1 Q2	5		20
Paper 2 Q1(a)		15
Paper 2 Q1(b)			10
Paper 2 Q2 to 4		25
Paper 3 Q1 (language change)		5		5	15
Paper 3 Q2 (child language)	5			15	5
Paper 4 Q1 and Q2	10	5		10

2. On Paper 1 Question 2, analysis is worth four times understanding. AO3 carries 20 of the 25 marks. Level 5 (17 to 20) needs sophisticated, coherent analysis, an insightful choice of features, awareness of how style relates to audience, and precise language linking evidence to comment. Level 4 (13 to 16) is the same quality at “detailed” and “effective”. For the pastel de nata text, the scheme’s notes included the subheadings, imperatives guiding the reader, repeated should signalling how carefully the tarts must be made, and Portuguese terms adding authenticity.

3. In Question 1(b), comparison is marked under both AOs. AO1 (5 marks) rewards spotting similarities and differences between the two texts. AO3 (10 marks) rewards analysing them. From Level 2 down, the descriptors say comparison is “limited” or “minimal”. If you analyse the two texts separately, you risk being held in the lower levels for both AOs.

4. Word limits are judged, not penalised. For Paper 1 Question 1(a) (150 to 200 words), Paper 2 Question 1(a) (400 words) and Paper 2 Section B (600 to 900 words), the schemes say there is no direct penalty. But word count is assessed as part of relevance to purpose or achievement of task in AO2. Writing well over or under the limit can count against you.

5. Paper 2 Section B is all writing. The 25 marks are AO2 only, in bands of 21 to 25, 16 to 20, 11 to 15, 6 to 10 and 1 to 5. The top band needs a wide range of language with complex structures and less common lexis, a high level of accuracy, fully achieved task and a fully engaged audience. The next band down allows a few minor errors and an engaged (not fully engaged) audience. The 1(b) commentary is the opposite: 10 marks, all for analysing your own choices.

6. The language change question is a data question. On Paper 3 Question 1, AO5 carries 15 marks. Level 5 (13 to 15) and Level 4 (10 to 12) both need data from all three sources. Level 3 (7 to 9) needs at least two. The scheme adds that higher marks go to answers that find patterns and explain them, while weaker answers spot single features. Text B (obtain shifting from abstract nouns to documents and permissions) and Text C (trending overtaking in vogue) are there to be used.

7. The child language question is a theory question. On Paper 3 Question 2 the weighting flips: AO4 carries 15 marks and AO5 only 5. The top AO4 band needs insightful reference to the methods of “fully appropriate theorists”. The scheme’s notes linked Chomsky to understanded, Vygotsky to the grandfather offering the words “rehearsals” and “dialogue”, which Bartek ignored, Bruner to the grandfather’s scaffolding questions, and Halliday to the functions of different utterances. Theory needs to be integrated with the transcript, not listed.

8. Indicative content is a guide, not a checklist. Every scheme says the notes are “not exhaustive” and examiners must credit other valid points. Level descriptors are applied as best fit, with each bullet weighed equally. On Paper 4 that means reaching Level 5 for AO4 (9 to 10) by bringing in your own wider study, not just discussing the points in the article.

Which papers should you sit?

• AS Level: Paper 1 and Paper 2.
• Full A Level: Papers 1, 2, 3 and 4.

The only choice on the 2026 papers was in Paper 2 Section B: a review, a descriptive piece or a magazine article. Choose the form whose conventions you know best, because the grid rewards achieving the task for its audience.

How to use the 2026 papers as a mock

1. Keep them for last. Use older 9093 papers for practice and save May/June 2026 for a timed mock close to your exam.
2. Plan the AO split before you write. For each question, check the table above and spend your time where the marks are, for example on data in Paper 3 Question 1 and on theory in Question 2.
3. Count your words. Write the Paper 1 advertisement in 150 to 200 words and the Paper 2 pieces within their limits, then check.
4. Compare as you go. In Paper 1 Question 1(b), make every paragraph cover both texts.
5. Level your own answer. Read each AO column, place yourself in a level for each, then add the marks. Ask a teacher or tutor to do the same and compare.

More A Level English Language resources

• Cambridge A Level English Language 9093: top 10 most frequently tested skills and topics
• Cambridge A Level English 9093: common mistakes
• A Level past papers 2026: all subjects

🔍 Looking for a specific past paper? Use our free Past Paper Finder to search by subject, year and exam board.

Need help with a 9093 topic? Book a free trial lesson with an A Level English Language tutor →

Frequently asked questions

Are the 9093 May/June 2026 past papers free? +

Yes. All four question papers (9093/12, 9093/22, 9093/32 and 9093/42) and their official mark schemes are free to download and print on the Tutopiya Learning Portal.

What texts came up in 9093 Paper 1 May/June 2026? +

Section A used an online newspaper article about designers making sustainable jewellery from waste materials, and asked for an advertisement for a craft fair plus a comparison. Section B was an article from a food website about the Portuguese custard tart, pastel de nata.

What came up in 9093 Paper 3 May/June 2026? +

Section A was language change, based on an 1834 book about sports and pastimes, corpus data on the verb obtain and an n-gram graph comparing in vogue with trending. Section B was child language acquisition, a transcript of a five-year-old talking to his grandfather about a school play.

How is 9093 Paper 3 marked? +

Each 25-mark question uses its own grid. The language change question gives 15 marks to analysing data from all three texts (AO5), while the child language question gives 15 marks to linguistic concepts and theory (AO4). Using only one source in the language change question limits how high you can score.

Why can't I find 9093/11 or 9093/13 for 2026? +

Only variant 2 of the May/June 2026 papers is on the portal at the moment. Cambridge sets different variants for different time zones; variants 1 and 3 test the same syllabus in the same format, so variant 2 prepares you just as well.

When will the October/November 2026 9093 papers be available? +

Cambridge usually releases the October/November papers in the new year. We add them to the Learning Portal once they are published.

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