AS and A-level English Literature A specification for first teaching in 2025
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A-level English Literature A7712
New optional additional texts for A-level English Literature
We have updated our (7712) specification for first exams in 2027. View the updated specification.
2.0 Specification at a glance
These qualifications are 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.
2.1 A-level
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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