Spark something powerful
Ignite a love for literature with diverse texts.
Influence change with our modern texts
You’ve called for greater inclusivity in our set texts — and we’ve listened. With three powerful new additions and a fresh poetry cluster, our offer is now more inclusive and representative than ever. Each text has been selected to’ spark curiosity, thought, and inspire every student who opens the page.
Announcing our partnership with Penguin Books UK
In partnership with Penguin Books UK, AQA is dedicated to making the English Literature curriculum more diverse. We believe students should engage with literature from a wide range of voices, reflecting today’s society and allowing them to explore different experiences - including their own. As the UK’s leading choice for GCSE English, with 70% of schools using our specifications, we’re helping bring greater diversity to classrooms nationwide.
Our new texts and poetry
Introducing these great works of literature offers rich opportunities to engage with issues and ideas that your students can relate to.
Explore our inspirational new texts and poetry cluster:
Worlds and lives
A third poetry cluster
An exciting, modern collection of poems that include some well-known, familiar names as well as new, current voices. The collection is both personal and political and explores concerns about the world we live in.
Princess & The Hustler
Writer: Chinonyerem Odimba
A heart-warming play about the world of a 10-year old girl and her family living in 1960s Bristol. Set against the backdrop of the Bristol bus boycott, the play brings a previously untold, yet significant chapter in Black British history into the spotlight.
Leave Taking
Writer: Winsome Pinnock
A funny and moving play about the lives and relationships of a mother and her two daughters living in North London. It centres around the three women all searching to settle their own sense of identity in very different ways.
My Name is Leon
Writer: Kit de Waal
This coming-of-age story follows a loving and loyal 9-year old boy who is on a mission to reunite his family, after becoming separated from his mother. The novel is inspirational and empowering and positively explores foster care in the 1980s.
Want a free poetry anthology?
Get your free copy of our new Worlds and lives poetry anthology when you register your interest.
Support and resources
We're here to support you throughout all of your assessments, so whatever texts you choose to teach, we’ll be with you every step of the way, continuing to build up our resource offer.
What you need, when you need it
Discover resources and sample assessment materials to help support you with teaching.
Lesson plans: Leave Taking and Poetry – Worlds and lives
We've created lesson plans that include an interactive PowerPoint with detailed teacher notes and a resource booklet.
Teaching resources
We've created a selection of third-party links to discover more about the new texts.
Sample assessment materials
Updated sample assessment materials (SAMs) covering the new texts are now available in Centre Services.
Our vision is to provide a diverse and inclusive English curriculum that reflects the lives of young people. Our new GCSE literature texts have enabled us to introduce more great writers to our specification, including writers of colour and greater female representation. Yet, this is just the beginning of our journey as we look to offer opportunities to explore the full range of human experience and EDI in the widest sense.”
Joanne Stanway | Subject Lead
Online events
We’ve created a free, on-demand e-Learning module to explain the changes in more detail.
Support from experts you can trust
Looking for support, inspiration, or a chance to connect with others shaping the subject? Meet Team English. From expert guidance to the latest updates on how we're helping shape the future of English, we're here to support teachers every step of the way.
Join the conversation
Updates and support 9:30am-3:30pm, Monday-Friday.
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