Mark my GCSE English essay: free AI marking and feedback
Get personalised feedback on your GCSE English Language or Literature essay, with upload steps, a worked example and a guide to AI marking.
You can get a GCSE English essay marked for free today. Upload the question and your essay to Medly as a photo or PDF, or paste in the text, and you'll get a mark with personalised feedback on what to change. Add the mark scheme too and the marking gets more precise. The free plan includes 1 uploaded paper a day. You'll need a free account, but not a card.
Medly covers AQA and Edexcel for GCSE English Language and English Literature.
How to get your GCSE English essay marked for free
- Sign up for free.
- Open Upload & mark and add the essay question.
- Add your essay. A clear photo of handwritten work is fine, and so is a PDF or pasted text.
- Add the mark scheme if you have it, because it makes the marking even more precise.
- Read the feedback point by point, starting with the lowest-scoring part.
- Rewrite your weakest paragraph using the feedback. Putting the feedback into practice can strengthen your next essay and help you pick up more marks.
If you'd rather practise in Medly itself, you can answer exam-style questions by typing or by writing on the canvas, and each answer is marked against the mark scheme for your board. The free plan includes 5 marked questions a day. Our past papers directory has questions to write from, along with mark schemes.
What the marks in GCSE English are for
Feedback makes more sense when you know what each question is testing. Here's how AQA divides the marks in its English Language specification. Both papers last 1 hour 45 minutes and carry 80 marks.
| AQA English Language | Marks | What it tests |
|---|---|---|
| Paper 1, Question 1 | 4 | Finding information (AO1) |
| Paper 1, Questions 2 and 3 | 8 each | How writers use language and structure (AO2) |
| Paper 1, Question 4 | 20 | Evaluating a text (AO4) |
| Paper 1, Question 5 | 40 | Creative writing: 24 for content (AO5) and 16 for technical accuracy (AO6) |
| Paper 2, Question 1 | 4 | Finding information (AO1) |
| Paper 2, Question 2 | 8 | Summarising two texts (AO1) |
| Paper 2, Question 3 | 12 | How writers use language (AO2) |
| Paper 2, Question 4 | 16 | Comparing writers' viewpoints (AO3) |
| Paper 2, Question 5 | 40 | Viewpoint writing: 24 for content (AO5) and 16 for technical accuracy (AO6) |
AQA's English Literature specification has two papers: Shakespeare and the 19th-century novel (1 hour 45 minutes, 64 marks), then modern texts and poetry (2 hours 15 minutes, 96 marks).
Other boards set different questions, but the idea is the same. Each question has its own assessment objectives (AOs), and good feedback tells you which ones you met. For a question-by-question route to a pass, read how to pass GCSE English Language.
GCSE English essay feedback: a Macbeth example
Here's a short paragraph we wrote for this guide, in the style of a mid-grade AQA Literature answer on Macbeth. The notes below it show the kind of feedback to look for from any marker, human or AI.
Shakespeare presents Macbeth as ambitious when he says he has only "vaulting ambition". This shows that he really wants to be king. The word "vaulting" suggests he is jumping too high, which shows he might fall. A Jacobean audience would think killing a king was very bad.
- What's working: there's a clear point, a short quotation and a comment on a single word.
- AO1, your argument: "he really wants to be king" repeats the point. Say what the line adds. Macbeth is admitting he has no good reason to act.
- AO2, your analysis: "jumping too high" is close. Follow the image through. Macbeth pictures a rider leaping at a horse and falling on the other side, so he predicts his own fall while he's still deciding.
- AO3, your context: "very bad" is a statement. Tie it to the play. A king was seen as chosen by God, which is why this murder breaks more than the law.
One rewritten sentence shows the difference:
By admitting he has "no spur" except "vaulting ambition", Macbeth accepts that nothing justifies the murder, and the image of a rider overleaping his horse shows he can already see the fall coming.
Comments like "add more analysis" are hard to act on. Each note should tell you what to do next.
How accurate is AI marking for English?
In our June 2026 study, more than 30,000 answers across five subjects were each marked by two qualified examiners, then by AI models. In English Language, every reasoning model we tested landed inside the range set by the two examiners.
Part of the reason is that English is hard to mark. Two good examiners can give the same essay different marks, so treat any mark, from a person or an AI, as a close estimate. We've reduced the variation in Medly's essay marking and we're still working on it. If a mark looks wrong, compare it with the mark scheme.
GCSE English essay marking options: free and paid
| Option | Cost | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Your teacher | Free | They know your work. Many will mark a practice essay if you ask |
| Medly | 1 uploaded paper a day for free | Typed or handwritten, covering AQA and Edexcel |
| ReMarkAble AI | 3 assessments every 30 days for free, then £9.99 a month | Accepts images, up to 5 pages |
| LitMarker | 1 free mark a week | Covers AQA, Edexcel and Eduqas English Language |
| A private examiner | £30 an essay at one UK service we checked | Annotated by hand, returned within 10 days |
We checked these limits and standard prices on 1 November 2026. You can verify them on ReMarkAble AI's pricing page, LitMarker's GCSE English Language page and our free plan guide.
ChatGPT will also comment on an essay if you ask. You'll get more from it if you paste in the question and the mark scheme, then check what it says against the mark scheme yourself.
Frequently asked questions
Can AI mark handwritten essays?
Yes. Upload a clear photo of your work, or write on Medly's canvas. Our study included more than 5,200 handwritten answers.
Can Medly mark English Literature as well as English Language?
Yes. Medly covers both, for AQA and Edexcel.
Can I get my essay marked without signing up?
Medly needs a free account, so your feedback is saved and you can see how your essays improve over time. Signing up doesn't need a card.
Is it allowed to use AI to mark my essay?
For practice essays and mock preparation, yes. Anything that counts towards a qualification is different, and JCQ's guidance on AI use in assessments says submitted work must be your own. If you're unsure, ask your teacher.
What if I've used up my free marking for the day?
Your allowance resets each day. You can read more about what's free on Medly, and our guide to free AI tutors for GCSE covers other options.