English Literature A Level

A minimum of 4 subjects at grade 5 or above at GCSE plus English Language at grade 6 or above.

Year One

Paper One: Literary Genres: Drama
Based on Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew and Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest.

Paper Two: Literary Genres: Prose and Poetry
Based on Jane Austen’s Emma and a selection of poetry from the AQA anthology.

Year Two

Paper One: Literary Genres
Based on The Taming of the Shrew, The Importance of Being Earnest and Emma.

Paper Two: Texts and Genres - Political and Social Protest Writing
Based on Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience, Jim Crace’s Harvest and Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House.

Non-examined assessment: Theory and Independence
You will study Cristina Rossetti’s poetry and a novel of your choice alongside AQA’s Critical Anthology. You’ll write two essays exploring the texts from a critical perspective – these include gender, Marxism and post-colonialism.

You will follow the standard A Level model of delivery with three 90-minute lessons a week. Lessons will include activities such as taking notes, class and group discussion, reading and research, essay practice and a chance to improve your own personal writing style.

At the end of Year One assessment is 100% terminal examination, with two papers worth 50% each.

At the end of Year Two there are two terminal examinations (each worth 40% of the final grade). The Non-examined assessment is worth 20% of the final grade.

This course combines well with most A Levels, particularly essay writing subjects such as Modern Languages, History, Psychology, Sociology, Drama & Theatre Studies and Film Studies.

Degree level study in areas such as English, journalism, creative and media industries, public relations, museum work, civil service, law etc. Past students have gone on to study English at Oxford, Cambridge, Newcastle, Birmingham, UEA, Manchester and other top universities.