I wrote this guide because every year my Year 10s would ask the same questions about their Devising logs: “How much do I write?”, “What do they actually want in Section 2?”, “Is this enough detail?” This is everything I tell my students, all in one place.

The log is worth 60 marks, which is 30% of the GCSE, so it’s worth getting right. The guide goes through each of the three sections step by step and explains what the mark scheme is really looking for in plain English. It also includes a full model log written to a top-band standard, with notes on every paragraph so students can see exactly why it works.

Inside you’ll find:

• An overview of Component 2: marks, word limits, formats, and what Band 4 actually means
• Section 1 (Response to a Stimulus): a clear structure, a checklist, model paragraphs and sentence starters
• Section 2 (Development and Collaboration): how to show refinement, use feedback and write properly about practitioners (no more “we used Frantic Assembly” with nothing after it!)
• Section 3 (Analysis and Evaluation): how to analyse key moments, and how to be critical without being negative, including areas for further development
• A complete annotated model log (Stanislavski and Frantic Assembly)
• A before-and-after table showing how a draft became top band
• A technique bank for Stanislavski, Frantic Assembly, Brecht, Complicité, Artaud, Kneehigh and Berkoff, plus a skills vocabulary list
• The ten mistakes I see most often in draft logs
• Write-in planners for each section and a final checklist before they hand it in

It’s a 39-page A4 PDF. I use it with Year 10 and 11 in lessons, for homework and for intervention, and it works with any stimulus or devising scheme of work.