English Literature (A level)

Entry requirements

GCSE English Language Grade 6 or above
GCSE English Literature Grade 6 or above

Course outline

English Literature A Level explores a range of literary writing across all genres: prose, poetry, and drama. The course is designed to develop students’ critical and historicist engagement with texts across the ages and from a diverse range of voices. Students studying English Literature A Level will be equipped with a range of analytical skills, which can be applied to a vast array of post-18 pathways

Course content

Pearson Edexcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in English Literature // 9ET0

Component 1 – Drama 30% Qualification

Section A: Shakespeare – Othello*
Section B: Other Drama – Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe*
Exam: 2hr 15min

Component 2 – Prose 20% Qualification

Theme: Women in Literature – Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte and Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf*
Exam: 1hr 15min

Component 3 – Poetry, 30% Qualification

Section A: Post-2000 Poetry
Section B: Modernist Poetry*
Exam: 2hr 15min

Component 4 – NEA 20% Qualification

Independent Inquiry

*While unlikely, the set texts may be subject to change.

Future opportunities

English A Level is the perfect course, regardless of whether a student has selected it to pursue English and/or other Humanities subjects post-18 or follow a Science based route. From an English and Humanities perspective, the vast range of writing forms that students encounter will empower them to approach any text or evidence based subject with confidence and will stand strong on a university application. Furthermore, students pursuing a Performing Arts route will be enriched by studying English A Level due to the interpretive and psychoanalytical skills developed through our text study, including at least two scripts. Likewise from a Science/Maths pathway perspective, the study of literary criticism alongside literary fiction makes English Literature a perfectly, relevant complementary course for a student engaged with a Science-based pathway who would still like to keep English within their curriculum diet.

Students who study English A Level can go onto any number of courses or careers. Some popular options are careers in journalism (including print, broadcast and digital), publishing, screenwriting, editorial roles, marketing, and law.