How long is the MYP English Language and Literature eAssessment?

The examination lasts two hours, or 120 minutes. Students complete all analytical and writing tasks within that single session. The total includes time for reading sources, viewing multimedia material, planning, drafting, and checking responses. There is no separate additional writing period, so candidates must manage their own pace carefully. Full two-hour on-screen practice is the best way to develop a realistic personal timing plan.

How many tasks are in the MYP English Language and Literature eAssessment?

The detailed blueprint contains three numbered tasks: analysing, producing a literary text, and producing a non-literary text. Task 1 has two distinct parts, consisting of shorter analytical questions and an extended comparison. Candidates therefore complete four recognizable response blocks across the examination. Some older summaries describe two broad categories by combining the two production tasks into one 50-mark writing category. Students and coordinators should follow the current detailed blueprint available through official school channels.

What texts appear in the MYP English Language and Literature eAssessment?

Task 1 uses two unseen extracts, normally including one written text and one multimedia text. These may require students to examine verbal, visual, structural, audio, or cinematic choices. Task 2 provides two static images as stimuli for literary writing. Task 3 gives a non-literary writing situation connected to the examination session's prescribed global context. Because the exact materials are unseen, preparation should emphasize transferable analysis and writing skills rather than memorized interpretations.

How are the four MYP Language and Literature criteria weighted in the eAssessment?

Criteria A, B, C, and D are equally represented, with each contributing up to 20 of the examination's 80 raw marks. Criterion A is assessed through the short analysis and extended comparison. Criterion B appears in the comparison and non-literary writing task. Criterion C is assessed through both production tasks, while Criterion D covers language use in those two writing tasks. Equal weighting means that sustained weakness in any one criterion can significantly limit the final result.

What are the MYP English Language and Literature eAssessment grade boundaries?

There is no permanent raw-mark boundary table that students can safely use for every examination session. The IB establishes subject-specific boundaries after marking, using expert judgment, candidate work, and statistical evidence. These boundaries convert the raw mark out of 80 into a final grade from 1 to 7. They may shift when the difficulty of a paper differs from that of an earlier session. The familiar classroom conversion from a criterion total out of 32 should therefore not be applied directly to external eAssessment marks.

Does the global context affect every part of the English eAssessment?

A prescribed global context informs the overall examination session, but its most explicit role in Language and Literature is normally the non-literary production task. The context gives students a broad conceptual lens rather than a narrow topic to memorize. Teachers can incorporate it into units after the IB announces it before the session. Students should practise connecting the context to varied issues, audiences, purposes, and text types. A memorized essay is risky because the actual prompt and communication situation remain unseen until the examination.

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MYP English Language and Literature eAssessment Structure

MYP English Language and Literature Assessment MYP IB Grading

• 12 Sept 2026•10

MYP English Language and Literature eAssessment Structure

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MYP English Language and Literature eAssessment… | RevisionDojo

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MYP English Language and Literature eAssessment Structure

MYP English Language and Literature Assessment MYP IB Grading

• 12 Sept 2026•10

The MYP English Language and Literature eAssessment structure is a two-hour on-screen examination worth 80 raw marks. It contains three numbered tasks covering unseen-text analysis, literary writing, and non-literary writing. Across the paper, Criteria A, B, C, and D each contribute 20 marks.

This guide explains each task, how marks become a grade from 1 to 7, and how to prepare effectively. Schools should confirm the applicable blueprint and session instructions through the IB Programme Resource Centre because operational details may be updated.

MYP English Language and Literature eAssessment at a glance

The examination is available to eligible MYP Year 5 students registered by their schools. It is externally marked by IB-appointed examiners and may contribute to MYP course results or the full MYP Certificate.

The IB's overview of MYP on-screen examinations confirms that Language and Literature uses a two-hour digital examination. Students respond to unfamiliar written, visual, and multimedia material rather than questions about one prescribed literary work.

Examination component	Main activity	Criteria	Marks
Task 1, shorter responses	Analyse unseen written and multimedia texts	A	10
Task 1, extended comparison	Compare the two unseen texts	A and B	20
Task 2	Produce a literary text from visual stimuli	C and D	20
Task 3	Produce a non-literary text linked to the global context	B, C, and D	30
Total	Three numbered tasks	A, B, C, and D	80

The complete paper gives 20 marks each to Analysing, Organizing, Producing text, and Using language. This balance means fluent writing cannot fully compensate for weak analysis, while strong ideas may still lose marks if organization or language control is poor.

Task 1: Analysing unseen texts

Task 1 begins with shorter questions about one written text and one multimedia text. Students may analyse language, structure, imagery, sound, editing, camera choices, body language, tone, and other deliberate creator choices.

These questions are worth 10 marks under Criterion A. Command terms matter: identify requires a concise selection, whereas explain and analyse require developed reasoning. Strong responses connect precise evidence to its effect, meaning, purpose, or influence on the audience.

The extended comparison is worth another 20 marks:

10 marks for Criterion A, covering analysis and comparison
10 marks for Criterion B, covering organization

Students must establish meaningful similarities and differences between both texts. An integrated structure based on shared ideas, purposes, or techniques is generally clearer than writing two disconnected mini-essays. A useful sequence is comparative claim, evidence from each text, analysis, and comparative judgment; RevisionDojo's guide to improving analysis in MYP English explains this reasoning process further.

Task 2: Producing a literary text

Task 2 is a creative response worth 20 marks. Students receive two static images and use the given instructions to produce a literary text. Criterion C contributes 10 marks for producing text, while Criterion D contributes 10 marks for using language.

An effective response goes beyond describing the image. It develops a deliberate voice, perspective, atmosphere, structure, and selection of detail. Literary techniques should support meaning rather than appear as decorative features.

Criterion D rewards appropriate vocabulary, register, sentence construction, grammar, and punctuation. Advanced vocabulary is not automatically effective if it sounds unnatural or obscures the intended meaning.

Task 3: Producing a non-literary text

Task 3 is worth 30 marks, making it the largest individual section. It assesses Criterion B, Criterion C, and Criterion D for 10 marks each and is connected to the examination session's prescribed global context.

The prompt establishes a text type, audience, purpose, and situation. Possible forms include a speech, article, proposal, report, letter, or webpage, although students should prepare flexibly rather than memorize one template.

Conventions must support communication. A speech might use direct address, repetition, rhetorical questions, and a call to action. A report is more likely to require headings, formal language, findings, and practical recommendations.

The global context is announced before the session, as described in the IB's examination preparation guidance. Students should explore its concepts and vocabulary, but the exact prompt remains unseen, making memorized responses unreliable.

Why some sources describe two tasks

Some older subject summaries present an analysis task worth 30 marks and a combined creative-writing category worth 50 marks. This arrangement groups the two production sections together.

For preparation, the detailed three-task model is more useful: analysis, literary production, and non-literary production. Because Task 1 contains shorter responses and an extended comparison, students complete four recognizable response blocks within three numbered tasks. Coordinators should rely on current session documentation rather than undated summaries or old specimen papers.

How grading works

The external examination is not graded by assigning one classroom achievement level from 0 to 8 to each criterion and then using the familiar 32-point classroom table. Examiners instead award raw marks out of 80 through the authorized markscheme and markbands.

Each criterion contributes up to 20 marks, so the complete calculation is 20 + 20 + 20 + 20 = 80. The IB then applies subject-specific, session-specific grade boundaries to convert the raw total into a final grade from 1 to 7.

For example, a student might earn 15 marks for Criterion A, 16 for B, 14 for C, and 15 for D, producing 60 out of 80. If, purely hypothetically, grade 6 began at 59 in that session, the result would be a 6. Actual boundaries can change between sessions as the IB uses examiner judgment, candidate work, and statistical evidence to maintain comparable standards across papers.

The IB grading and awards guidance confirms the 1-to-7 reporting scale. RevisionDojo's explanation of MYP grade boundaries further clarifies why classroom boundaries should not be applied directly to eAssessment marks.

Timing and preparation

The examination lasts 120 minutes, but the IB does not prescribe how students must divide that time internally. One starting plan is 25 to 30 minutes for analysis, 30 minutes for literary writing, 40 minutes for non-literary writing, and the remaining time for reading, planning, and checking. Students should refine this allocation through timed practice.

Effective preparation includes:

analysing unfamiliar written and multimedia texts
practising integrated comparison rather than separate summaries
writing literary pieces from visual stimuli
rehearsing several non-literary forms and registers
reviewing work against all four criteria
completing full two-hour practices on screen
checking task fulfilment, paragraphing, grammar, and punctuation

Useful support includes the MYP English Language and Literature resources, the MYP eAssessment 30-day study plan, and the MYP Language and Literature criteria guide.

Common structural mistakes

Students commonly lose marks by summarizing instead of analysing, discussing texts separately without direct comparison, ignoring the image in Task 2, or using an unsuitable text type or register in Task 3. Other risks include forcing decorative vocabulary, misapplying classroom boundaries, and spending so long on one response that another remains incomplete.

Before writing, identify the command term, purpose, audience, text type, and relevant criteria. This brief check helps prevent a polished response from answering the wrong question.

Conclusion

The MYP English Language and Literature eAssessment is a two-hour, 80-mark examination covering analysis, literary production, and non-literary production. All four criteria are equally represented, and the raw total is converted to a 1-to-7 grade using session-specific boundaries.

Preparation should therefore balance analytical reasoning, organization, purposeful writing, and language control. RevisionDojo Study Notes and Flashcards can reinforce techniques, while the Questionbank, Jojo AI, and Mock Exams support criteria-focused practice and timed rehearsal.

Sources and referenced URLs

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