English Literature A AS and A-level Specification Specifications for first teaching in 2015
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A-level English Literature A7712
Non-exam assessment (NEA) for summer 2025
NEA work samples for this subject are now submitted online using Centre Marks Submission on Centre Services. Read the guidance on submitting NEA.
2.0 Specification at a glance
This qualification is linear. Linear means that students will sit all the AS exams at the end of their AS course and all the A-level exams at the end of their A-level course.
Subject content
Core content:
- 3.1 Love through the ages
- 3.2 Texts in shared contexts
- 3.3 Independent critical study: texts across time
Assessments
| Paper 1: Love through the ages |
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| Study of three texts: one poetry and one prose text, of which one must be written pre-1900, and one Shakespeare play. Examination will include two unseen poems |
Assessed
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Questions Section A: Shakespeare: one passage-based question with linked essay (25 marks) Section B: Unseen poetry: compulsory essay question on two unseen poems (25 marks) Section C: Comparing texts: one essay question linking two texts (25 marks) |
| Paper 2: Texts in shared contexts |
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Choice of two options: Option 2A: WW1 and its aftermath Option 2B: Modern times: literature from 1945 to the present day Study of three texts: one prose, one poetry, and one drama, of which one must be written post-2000 Examination will include an unseen prose extract |
Assessed
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Questions Section A: Set texts. One essay question on set text (25 marks) Section B: Contextual linking
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| Non-exam assessment: Independent critical study: texts across time |
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Comparative critical study of two texts, at least one of which must have been written pre-1900 One extended essay (2500 words) and a bibliography |
Assessed
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