GCSE English Literature

How is the course externally examined?

AQA English Literature Paper 1: Shakespeare and 19th Century

• Section A: Shakespeare - students will answer one question on ‘Macbeth’. They will be required to write in detail about an extract from the play, as well as the play as a whole.
• Section B: 19th Century Novel - students will answer one question on ‘A Christmas Carol’. They will be required to write in detail about an extract from the novel, as well as the novel as a whole.
• 64 marks 40% of GCSE

AQA English Literature Paper 2: Modern Texts and Poetry

• Section A: Modern Texts - students will answer one essay question from a choice of two on ‘An Inspector Calls’.
• Section B: Poetry - students will answer one comparative question on one named poem printed on the paper and one other poem from AQA’s ‘Power and Conflict’ anthology cluster.
• Section C: Unseen Poetry - students will answer one question on one unseen poem and one question comparing this poem with a second unseen poem.
• 96 marks 60% of GCSE

The course is graded with GCSE grades 1 to 9.

How is the course internally assessed?

Students in KS4 are prepared for assessments and mock exams by sitting past or replica GCSE questions on a half termly basis. We take a staged approach to GCSE assessment, by assessing students on individual questions initially and building up to full papers when students have studied the full content. Each assessment will test the section of the GCSE Language or Literature course that students have focused on that half term. We revisit Y10 topics in Y11 and re-assess on as many sections of the GCSE as time allows.