Free GCSE English Posters - Typical Features of Narrative and Creative Writing

Here is a set of 3 A3 posters that you can download for free. They are designed to inform students about typical features of creative (or narrative) writing, specifically for GCSE English.  Having said that, they can be used for any exam board, or even if you are not teaching GCSE English.  I hope that they brighten up your classroom and your students enjoy them.

The posters reflect new information that the AQA exam board will be putting in the mark scheme for Paper 1 Question 5, starting with the June 2026 exam series.  Although these are typical features, they shouldn’t be used as a checklist (although that’s not a particularly bad idea!).  Rather they are intended to visually guide your students towards improving their creative writing by giving them some instructions which are easy to take in and remember.

Above is an example of one of the posters.  Please don’t use this, though – follow thislink and you will be able to download the original PowerPoint slides – the software I used to create the posters.  The posters include tips about twelve typical features of creative writing – perspective, characters, vocabulary, setting, ideas, sequence, shifts, structure, pace, mood, style and sentences. Phew!