A Level English Literature

English Literature is a well-established, popular course with good pass rates. The Year 12 course will cater both for students aiming to progress to A2 Level and also for those wishing to gain an AS qualification. Each group will be taught by two tutors. There are three units of assessment at each level involving both written examination and coursework tasks.

The course is designed to encourage students to read widely and independently, to explore literary texts for their own intrinsic interest and significance and to set them within their appropriate literary, cultural and historical contexts. Students will become able to discuss literary texts critically and with an awareness of the range of interpretations provoked in different readers at different times.

Assessment

At AS level students will study a minimum of four texts: at least one text from the genres of poetry, prose and drama. This will include a play by Shakespeare and one other text written before 1900. There is a coursework element which requires the production of a folder of approximately 2500 words. This consists of two items of critical analysis based on a single text, chosen by the candidates in consultation with their teachers.

During the A2 course, students will study poetry, drama and a modern prose text. The culmination of the course is the Comparative and Contextual Study where students have the opportunity to undertake a detailed exploration of a wide variety of texts linked to a particular topic area.

The Future

This qualification enables candidates to progress from the standard already reached at GCSE through Advanced Subsidiary GCE and Advanced GCE to a level where, if they wish, they would be able to pursue English Studies at degree or equivalent level.

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