After a U in ZIMSEC English: What Repeating Candidates Really Need
From a U to Reconstruction: Repairing a Weak English Foundation Recently, a learner came to me. They had written ZIMSEC English last year and received a U . They are now preparing to resit. When I read their composition, I did not see laziness. I saw broken sentences . I saw tense confusion . I saw fear . And this is common. What a U Grade Script Often Reveals Failure in English is rarely about intelligence. It is usually about foundation . Under exam pressure, weak foundations collapse. Most "U" scripts struggle with: Subject-Verb Agreement – The basic logic of the sentence fails. Incomplete Sentences – Ideas are left hanging. Tense Shifting – Jumping between past and present. Paragraphing – Lack of clear structure. The Repair Plan: Rebuilding Slowly For a repeating candidate, we do not jump straight into full compositions. We rebuild brick by brick. 1. Stabilise the Sentence A sentence must have a subject, a verb, and a complete idea. ...