English Home Language Past Papers and Memos
Grade 10, 11 & 12 English Home Language past papers and marking guidelines, free and fully offline.
English is the subject learners assume they will pass because they already speak it, and then lose twenty marks on a summary that ran over the word count. The marks are in the technique, not the language.
The Grade 10, 11 & 12 English App carries past papers and memos for all three papers — Language, Literature and Writing — so you can see precisely what a marker rewards before you write a single word of your own.
English Home Language by grade
Grade 10
English past papers
Grade 10 English Home Language past papers and marking guidelines for all three papers.
Grade 11
English past papers
Grade 11 English Home Language past papers and marking guidelines for all three papers.
Grade 12
English past papers
Grade 12 English Home Language past papers and marking guidelines for all three papers, free and offline.
How to actually use a past paper
Downloading papers is not studying. This is the loop that moves a mark.
- 01
Pick a paper you have not seen
Choose a full past paper from a year you have not worked through. Recent papers matter most, but older ones repeat the same question types, so do not skip them.
- 02
Write it under exam conditions
Full time limit, no notes, no phone in reach. A paper you did with the memo open teaches you nothing about what you actually know.
- 03
Mark yourself against the memo
Use the official marking guideline and mark strictly. Method marks matter — mark them the way an examiner would, not the way you wish they would.
- 04
Work through every mistake
For each lost mark, find out why you lost it. Ask the AI tutor in the app to work the question out step by step until you can redo it from a blank page.
- 05
Repeat the question type, not the paper
Find three more questions on the same topic from other years and do those. Papers repeat their patterns — that is the entire reason past papers work.
Frequently asked questions
The Grade 10, 11 & 12 English app carries the official DBE past papers with their marking guidelines, sorted by grade, year and topic. It is free, and every paper can be saved to your phone for offline use.
Paper 1 — Language in Context (70 marks, 2 hours) covers comprehension, summary writing, analysing advertising, analysing cartoons and visual texts. Paper 2 — Literature (80 marks, 2½ hours) covers prescribed poetry — seen and unseen poems, novel — contextual and essay questions, drama — contextual and essay questions. Paper 3 — Writing (100 marks, 2½ hours) covers essay writing (50 marks), longer transactional text (25 marks), shorter transactional text (25 marks).
Paper 1 — Language in Context (70 marks, 2 hours) covers comprehension, summary writing, advertising and visual texts, language structures and conventions. Paper 2 — Literature (70 marks, 2 hours) covers prescribed poetry, novel, drama. Paper 3 — Writing (100 marks, 2½ hours) covers essay writing, longer transactional text, shorter transactional text.
Paper 1 — Language in Context (70 marks, 2 hours) covers comprehension, summary writing, advertising and visual texts, language structures and conventions. Paper 2 — Literature (70 marks, 2 hours) covers prescribed poetry, novel, drama or short stories. Paper 3 — Writing (100 marks, 2½ hours) covers essay writing, longer transactional text, shorter transactional text.
Grade 10, 11 & 12, all inside the same free download.
Every paper. Every memo.
Free, and offline.
A learner shouldn't need airtime, a tutor or a working website to pass.