Have you ever wanted to pull your hair out over General Paper (GP) essays, wondering why you need to write about a whole array of topics you are remotely interested in? Or have you felt like your eyes were glazing over your GP comprehension passage as the question rings loud in your head: Why do I even need to study GP?
Why General Paper is important
There’s really an entire spectrum of reasons why GP is crucial in the A Level syllabus. Teachers may tell you about how it develops your critical thinking skills, argumentative skills, and writing skills, but you may have trouble seeing how that is relevant to you now. On a more practical note, GP is also going to play a bigger role in your overall A Level rank points – with Project Work now becoming a Pass/Fail subject (starting from the 2026 A Level). Let’s dive a bit deeper into these reasons on why General Paper is important below:
General Paper teaches you higher order thinking skills
Critical thinking is about evaluating and justifying the validity of someone’s claims. For example, you don’t simply believe anything you read and take it at face value. Thinking critically means that you are able to analyse if someone’s perspective is valid – taking into account the evidence they present (or failed to present), the logical flow of what they say, any opposing views, and so on. The recent changes in the GP syllabus also reflects the increased emphasis on critical thinking and cross-referencing skills.
Higher order thinking skills are especially relevant today given the boom of information at our fingertips. We need to think critically to engage with global affairs, discern if the news is biased or objective, and examine claims made by companies and politicians.
General Paper has increased in weightage in the A Levels
If you haven’t heard: the A Level rank point system is changing from 2026 onwards, and Project Work is no longer counted in the overall rank points. The H1 contrasting subject and H1 Mother tongue are optionally counted – only included if they pull up the rank points.
As the number of subjects included in the rank points has decreased, the weightage of each subject that IS included has become heavier. GP is now the only H1 subject that is compulsorily included in the rank point calculation, worth up to 14% of the rank points, up from 12% (if PW is included) and 11% (if PW and MTL are included).
General Paper prepares you for university
Studying in university is quite different from studying in primary school, secondary school, and JC. In higher education, research, analysis, and argumentation are key skills any student needs to thrive. Professors and lecturers won’t always be telling you the right answers – because in emerging research fields, there may be no right answer (yet). You need to find your own answer and defend it logically using the evidence you can find.
In university, you will also need to write lots of essays to communicate your points across. If you are a science student for A Levels, GP is probably your only exposure to argumentative essay writing – so cherish this avenue to develop your skills early!
Conclusion
GP is a valuable subject that prepares you for university and beyond. Compared to the past years, students will also feel the heavier impact of GP on their grades due to the change in rank point calculation from 2026 onwards. So, if you haven’t been taking GP seriously, now is seriously the time to do so!
Thankfully, you don’t have to tear your hair out over how to get better at GP – because we have GP tutors who will help you! With a focus on building up relevant skills, providing individualised feedback about your writing, and plenty of opportunities for practice and discussions, our GP tuition classes are the perfect environment for developing your confidence in GP.
Take charge of your learning today with Future Academy’s A Level tuition, while rediscovering the love for learning. Check our class timetable and book a class to get started!