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Co-teaching guide: Love through the ages

Our AS and A-level English Literature courses provide strong stand-alone qualifications that are fully co-teachable, so you can choose the approach that best suits your and your students’ needs.

The features that make them so co-teachable include:
  • the same Assessment objectives (AOs) across AS and A-level
  • a common mark scheme across all components of AS and A-level
  • A-level texts available to students at AS
  • AS content mirrors that of A-level Paper 1.

Love through the ages

Below, we outline how to co-teach the 'Love through the ages' content for both AS and A-level English Literature A.

AS paper/ section AS assessment A-level paper/ section A-level assessment Additional guidance

Paper 1

Section A

Study of one Shakespeare play.

Choice of:

  • Othello
  • Taming of the Shrew
  • Measure for Measure
  • The Winter’s Tale

Students are required to write about a passage from the play (passage printed in paper), and open out to wider play.

Paper 1 Section A Students are required to write about a passage from the play (passage printed in paper), and open out to wider play.

The same Shakespeare play can be taught to both AS and A-level students.

Both AS/A-level assessments include a question which focuses on a passage and which invites links to the wider play so all students can be prepared in the same way.

The necessary difference in demand in the assessment between AS/A-level lies in the increased complexity of the given view at A-level and in the provision of a stepped question at AS.

The stepped AS questions can also be used as a starting point for A-level students before they move onto questions without this scaffolding .

Paper 1

Section B

Students respond to question on a poem from their choice of poetry anthologies (Pre/post-1900). The poem is printed in the paper. Paper 1 Section B Students respond to two unseen poems.

The poetry anthologies can be used to prepare A-level students for the unseen poetry in Paper 1, Section B.

A choice of both anthologies is available as the compulsory poetry text for A-level, Paper 1, Section C comparison.

Paper 2

Section A

Students respond to one unseen prose extract.

Paper 1

Section C

Students compare two texts, one prose and one poetry (minimum two poems).

AS preparation for unseen prose is useful for A-level students who will approach unseen prose in Paper 2, Section B.

Both AS and A-level students will be learning the required skills of comparison.

AS students can select prose texts from the same set text list as A-level students.

The additional prose text required at AS can be used as wider reading for A-level students and provides them with choice of prose text for comparison on Paper 1, Section C.

A-level students can study one of the two additional prose texts which appear on the AS set text list only for use in NEA.

Paper 2

Section B

Students compare two set prose texts.