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A level English Literature: Curriculum and exam overview

English Literature has consistently held its place among the top ten most popular A level subjects from 2001-2021, according to FFT Education. This reflects its lasting popularity and importance in the UK education system. 

Here at The Profs, we can give you all the necessary strategies and guidance to earn your A-A*. Our English tutors are experts in supporting you through your A levels and helping you achieve your best grades. 35% of our students achieved an A* in 2023, compared to the national average of 9.8% according to Statista.

Whether you’re a student aiming to enhance your academic performance or a parent seeking support for your child, this brief overview will give you all the necessary information for this course! 

Need tips for how to revise and get top grades? Check out our ‘How to get an A*/A in A level English Literature’ for a comprehensive guide!

A level English Literature: Curriculum overview 

To unlock your full potential during your course and exams, it’s crucial to thoroughly understand your specification inside out. 

Specifications are the ingredients to the recipe for success! It is key to know all of the modules that could come up in the exam because this ensures that there are no surprises during revision or worse, when you’re taking your exams. 

Specifications vary depending on your exam board. Check out the table below for an overview of the A level English Literature specification for different exam boards. Remember, these can vary slightly from year to year, as exam boards often update teaching requirements, so always double-check information according to your A level date.

Exam BoardSpecification 
AQA AAS Level:

  • Love through the ages.

A level:

Core

  • Lobe through the ages. 
  • Texts in shared contexts. 
  • Independent critical study: Texts across time.

Options:

  • Option A: WW1 and its aftermath.
  • Option B: Modern times: literature from 1945 to the present day.
AQA BAS level 

Core

  • Literary genres.

Options:

  • Aspects of tragedy.
  • Aspects of comedy.

A level:

Core 

  • Literary genres.
  • Texts and genres.
  • Theory and independence.

Options:

  • Aspects of tragedy.
  • Aspects of comedy.
  • Elements of crime writing.
  • Elements of political and social protest writing.
Pearson EdexcelAS Level:

Drama – one play from:

  • Les Blancs, Lorraine Hansberry.
  • Doctor Faustus, Christopher Marlowe.
  • The Duchess of Malfi, John Webster.
  • The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde.
  • The Rover, Aphra Behn.
  • A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams.
  • Sweat, Lynn Nottage.
  • Waiting for Godot, Samuel Beckett.

Prose –  two prose texts (including at least one pre-1900) on a chosen theme.

Childhood:

  • Pre-1900: Hard Times, Charles Dickens; What Maisie Knew, Henry James.
  • Post-1900: Atonement, Ian McEwan; The Color Purple, Alice Walker.

Colonisation and its Aftermath:

  • Pre-1900: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain; Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad.
  • Post-1900: Home Fire, Kamila Shamsie; The Lonely Londoners, Sam Selvon.

Crime and Detection:

  • Pre-1900: Lady Audley’s Secret, Mary Elizabeth Braddon; The Moonstone, Wilkie Collins.
  • Post-1900: The Cutting Season, Attica Locke; In Cold Blood, Truman Capote.

Science and Society:

  • Pre-1900: Frankenstein, Mary Shelley; The War of the Worlds, H G Wells.
  • Post-1900: The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood; Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro.

The Supernatural:

  • Pre-1900: Dracula, Bram Stoker; The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde.
  • Post-1900: Beloved, Toni Morrison; The Little Stranger, Sarah Waters.

Women and Society:

  • Pre-1900: Tess of the D’Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy; Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë.
  • Post-1900: Mrs Dalloway, Virginia Woolf; A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini.

A level:

Component 1: Drama

William Shakespeare – A choice of one text from the following:

Tragedy

  • Antony and Cleopatra, Hamlet, King Lear, Othello.

OR

Comedy

  • A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Measure for Measure, The Taming of the Shrew, Twelfth Night.

And

OTHER DRAMA – A choice of one text from the following:

Pre-1900

  • Doctor Faustus, Christopher Marlowe.
  • The Duchess of Malfi, John Webster.
  • The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde.
  • The Rover, Aphra Behn.

Post-1900

  • Les Blancs, Lorraine Hansberry.
  • A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams.
  • Sweat, Lynn Nottage.
  • Waiting for Godot, Samuel Beckett.

Component 2: Prose

Two prose texts (including at least one pre-1900) on a chosen theme.

Childhood:

  • Pre-1900: Hard Times, Charles Dickens; What Maisie Knew, Henry James.
  • Post-1900: Atonement, Ian McEwan; The Color Purple, Alice Walker.

Colonisation and its Aftermath:

  • Pre-1900: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain; Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad.
  • Post-1900: Home Fire, Kamila Shamsie; The Lonely Londoners, Sam Selvon.

Crime and Detection:

  • Pre-1900: Lady Audley’s Secret, Mary Elizabeth Braddon; The Moonstone, Wilkie Collins.
  • Post-1900: The Cutting Season, Attica Locke; In Cold Blood, Truman Capote.

Science and Society:

  • Pre-1900: Frankenstein, Mary Shelley; The War of the Worlds, H G Wells.
  • Post-1900: The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood; Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro.

The Supernatural:

  • Pre-1900: Dracula, Bram Stoker; The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde.
  • Post-1900: Beloved, Toni Morrison; The Little Stranger, Sarah Waters.

Women and Society:

  • Pre-1900: Tess of the D’Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy; Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë.
  • Post-1900: Mrs Dalloway, Virginia Woolf; A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hossein.

Component 3: Poetry

Post-2000 Specified Poetry:

  • Selection of modern poetry from Poems of the Decade: An Anthology of the Forward Books of Poetry 2002–2011.

Specified Poetry Pre- or Post-1900:

  • EITHER selected poems from the named text OR the named poet.

These will all be chosen by your school. So, no need to panic about choosing them.

OCRAS level:

Component 1:

Shakespeare (one play):

  • Coriolanus.
  • Hamlet.
  • Measure for Measure.
  • Richard III.
  • The Tempest.
  • Twelfth Night.

 Poetry pre-1900 (one poetry text):

  • Geoffrey Chaucer: The Merchant’s Prologue and Tale.
  • John Milton: Paradise Lost Books 9 & 10.
  • Samuel Taylor Coleridge: Selected Poems.
  • Alfred, Lord Tennyson: Maud.
  • Christina Rossetti: Selected Poems.

Component 2:

Drama post-1900 (one drama text):

  • Noel Coward: Private Lives.
  • Tennessee Williams: A Streetcar Named Desire.
  • Harold Pinter: The Homecoming.
  • Alan Bennett: The History Boys.
  •  Polly Stenham: That Face.
  • Jez Butterworth: Jerusalem.

Prose post-1900 (one text):

  • F Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby.
  • Angela Carter: The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories.
  • George Orwell: Nineteen Eighty-Four.
  • Virginia Woolf: Mrs Dalloway.
  • Mohsin Hamid: The Reluctant Fundamentalist.

A level: 

Component 1:

Shakespeare (one play):

  • Coriolanus.
  • Hamlet.
  • Measure for Measure.
  • Richard III.
  • The Tempest.
  • Twelfth Night.

Drama and poetry pre-1900:

One drama:

  • Christopher Marlowe: Edward II.
  • John Webster: The Duchess of Malfi.
  • Oliver Goldsmith: She Stoops to Conquer.
  • Henrik Ibsen: A Doll’s House.
  • Oscar Wilde: An Ideal Husband.

One poetry text:

  • Geoffrey Chaucer: The Merchant’s Prologue and Tale.
  • John Milton: Paradise Lost Books 9 & 10.
  • Samuel Taylor Coleridge: Selected Poems.
  • Alfred, Lord Tennyson: Maud.
  • Christina Rossetti: Selected Poems.

Component 02:

 Close reading in a chosen topic area:

  • American Literature 1880–1940.
  • The Gothic.
  • Dystopia.
  • Women in Literature.
  • The Immigrant Experience.

Comparative and contextual study from chosen topic area – two whole texts, at least one from the list.

American Literature 1880–1940:

  • F Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby.
  • John Steinbeck: The Grapes of Wrath.

The Gothic:

  • Angela Carter: The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories.
  • Bram Stoker: Dracula.

Dystopia:

  • Margaret Atwood: The Handmaid’s Tale.
  • George Orwell: Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Women in Literature:

  • Jane Austen: Sense and Sensibility.
  • Virginia Woolf: Mrs Dalloway.

The Immigrant Experience:

  • Mohsin Hamid: The Reluctant Fundamentalist.
  • Henry Roth: Call It Sleep.

Component 03:

  • Close reading OR re-creative writing piece with commentary.
  • Comparative essay.

 

Need help understanding your specification for A level English Literature? Connect with our expert A level English Literature tutors. From syllabus content and practice tests to revision tips, we’ve got your back!

A level English Literature: Exam overview 

It is crucial to understand the layout of your exam very well so that when you sit your exams, it feels like second nature.

Have a look at the below for detailed information on the exam papers by each exam board: 

AQA A

AS level: 

Paper 1: Love through the ages: Shakespeare and poetry

  • Study of two texts: one Shakespeare play and one AQA anthology of love poetry through the ages (pre-1900 or post-1900).
  • Closed book.
  • 50% of AS level.

Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes.

Questions: Section A: Shakespeare. One passage-based question with a linked essay (25 marks). Section B: Poetry. One question on a printed poem (25 marks).

Marks: 50 marks.

Paper 2: Love through the ages: Prose

  • Study of two prose texts. Examination will include an unseen prose extract.
  • open book.

Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes

Questions: Section A: Unseen prose. One compulsory question on unseen prose extract (25 marks). Section B: Comparing prose texts. One comparative question on two prose texts (25 marks).

Marks: 50 marks.

A level: 

Paper 1: Love through the ages

  • 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.
  • Open book in Section C only.
  • 40% of A level.
  • Written exam.

Duration: 3 hours.

Questions: Section A: Shakespeare. One passage-based question with a 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).

Marks: 75 marks.

Paper 2: Texts in shared contexts. 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.
  • Open book.
  • 40% of A level.
  • Written exam.

Duration: 2 hours 30 minutes.

Questions: Section A: Set texts. One essay question on set text (25 marks). Section B: Contextual linking one compulsory question on an unseen extract (25 marks)

one essay question linking two texts (25 marks).

Marks: 75 marks.

Non-exam assessment: Independent critical study, texts across time

  • 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.
  • 20% of A level.

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Marks: 50 marks

AQA B

AS level:

Paper 1: Literary genres, drama

  • Study of one Shakespeare play and one further drama text.
  • Written exam.
  • Closed book.
  • 50% of AS level.

Choice of two options:

  • Option 1A: Aspects of tragedy.
  • Option 1B: Aspects of comedy.

Duration:1 hour 30 minutes.

Questions: Section A: one passage-based question on a Shakespeare text (25 marks). Section B: one essay question on a drama set text (25 marks).

Marks: 50 marks.

Paper 2: Literary genres, prose and poetry

  • Study of one prose text and one poetry text.
  • Written exam.
  • Open book.
  • 50% of AS level.

Choice of two options:

  • Option 2A: Aspects of tragedy.
  • Option 2B: Aspects of comedy.

Duration:1 hour 30 minutes.

Questions: Section A: one essay question on poetry set text (25 marks). Section B: one essay question on prose set text (25 marks).

Marks: 50 marks.

A level:

Paper 1: Literary genres

  • Study of three texts: one Shakespeare text; a second drama text and one further text, of which one must be pre-1900.
  • Written exam.
  • Closed book.
  • 40% of A level.

Choice of two options

  • Option 1A: Aspects of tragedy.
  • Option 1B: Aspects of comedy.

Duration: 2 hours 30 minutes.

Questions: Section A: one passage-based question on set Shakespeare text (25 marks). Section B: one essay question on set Shakespeare text (25 marks). Section C: one essay question linking two texts (25 marks).

Marks: 75 marks.

Paper 2: Texts and genres

  • Study of three texts: one post-2000 prose text; one poetry and one further text, one of which must be written pre-1900.
  • Written exam.
  • Open book.
  • 40% of A level.
  • Examination will include an unseen passage.

Choice of two options:

  • Option 2A: Elements of crime writing.
  • Option 2B: Elements of political and social protest writing.

Duration: 3 hours.

Questions: Section A: one compulsory question on an unseen passage (25 marks). Section B: one essay question on set text (25 marks). Section C: one essay question which connects two texts (25 marks).

Marks: 75 marks.

Non-exam assessment: Theory and independence

  • Study of two texts: one poetry and one prose text, informed by study of the Critical Anthology.
  • Two essays of 1250–1500 words, each responding to a different text and linking to a different aspect of the Critical anthology.
  • One essay can be re-creative; the re-creative piece will be accompanied by a commentary.
  • 20% of A level.
  • Assessed by teachers. Moderated by AQA.

Marks: 50 marks

Pearsons Edexcel

AS level:

Component 1: Poetry and Drama 

  • Written examination consisting of two sections. Open book examination – clean copies of the prescribed texts can be taken into the examination.

Section A: Poetry

  • One comparative essay question from a choice of two of your studied texts. You will draw on your knowledge of poetic form, language, and conventions (AO1, AO2, AO4 assessed).

Section B: Drama

  • One essay question from a choice of two on your studied drama text (AO1, AO2, AO3, AO5 assessed).

Duration: The assessment is 2 hours.

Questions: The assessment consists of 18 questions. Students answer two

of these questions.

Marks: The assessment consists of 72 marks – 24 marks for Section A

and 48 marks for Section B.

Component 2: Prose 

  • Written examination consisting of one section. Open book examination – clean copies of the prescribed prose texts can be taken into the examination.
  • You will answer one comparative essay question from a choice of two studied themes (AO1, AO2, AO3, AO4 assessed).

Duration: The assessment length is 1 hour 15 minutes.

Questions: The assessment consists of 12 questions. Students answer one

of these questions.

Marks: The assessment consists of 44 marks.

A level:

Component 1: Drama 

  • 30% of the total qualification.
  •  Open book – clean copies of the drama texts can be taken into the examination. The Critical Anthology must not be taken into the examination.
  • Two sections: students answer one question from a choice of two on their studied text for both Section A and Section B.
  • Section A – Shakespeare: one essay question, incorporating ideas from wider critical reading (AO1, AO2, AO3, AO5 assessed).
  • Section B – Other Drama: one essay question (AO1, AO2, AO3 assessed).

Duration: Written examination, lasting 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Questions: 35 marks for Section A and 25 marks for

Section B.

Marks: Total of 60 marks available.

Component 2: Prose 

  • 20% of the total qualification.
  • Two prose texts from a chosen theme. At least one of the prose texts must be Pre-1900.
  • Open book.

Duration: Written examination, lasting 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Questions: Students answer one comparative essay question from a choice of two on

their studied theme (AO1, AO2, AO3, AO4 assessed).

Marks: Total of 40 marks are available.

Component 3: Poetry 

  • 30% of the total qualification.
  • Open book.
  • Section A – Post-2000 Specified Poetry: One comparative essay question on an unseen modern poem written post-2000 and one named poem from the studied contemporary text (AO1, AO2, AO4 assessed).
  • Section B – Specified Poetry Pre- or Post-1900: One essay question (AO1, AO2, AO3 assessed).

Duration: Written examination, lasting 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Questions: Two sections: students answer one question from a choice of two, comparing an unseen poem with a named poem from their studied contemporary text and one question from a choice of two on their studied movement/poet. 30 marks for Section A and 30 marks for Section B.

Marks: Total of 60 marks are available.

Non-examination assessment 

  • Internally assessed, externally moderated.
  • 20% of the total qualification.

Overview of content

  • Students have a free choice of two texts to study.

Chosen texts:

  • Must be different from those studied in Components 1, 2 and 3.
  • Must be complete texts and may be linked by theme, movement, author or period.
  • May be selected from poetry, drama, prose or literary non-fiction.

Overview of assessment

Students produce one assignment:

  • One extended comparative essay referring to two texts (AO1, AO2, AO3, AO4, AO5 assessed).
  • Advisory total word count is 2500–3000 words.
  • Total of 60 marks available.

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OCR

AS level

Paper 1 (component 1): Shakespeare and poetry pre-1900

  • Closed text.
  • Written paper.
  • 50% of total AS level.

Marks: 60 marks.

Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes.

Paper 2 (component 2): Drama and prose post-1900

  • Closed text.
  • Written paper.
  • 50% of total AS level.

Marks: 60 marks.

Duration: 1 hour 45 minutes.

A level

Paper 1 (component 1): Drama and poetry pre-1900

  • Closed text.
  • Written paper.
  • 40% of total A level.

Marks: 60 marks.

Duration: 2 hours 30 minutes.

Paper 2 (component 2): Comparative and contextual study

  • Closed text.
  • Written paper.
  • 40% of total A level.

Marks: 60 marks

Duration: 2 hours 30 minutes

Component 3: Literature post-1900

  • Non-exam assessment.
  • Close reading OR re-creative writing piece with commentary.
  • Comparative essay.
  • 20% of total A level.

Marks: 40 marks.

It is important to bear in mind that many schools no longer offer AS level. They may examine students with their own exam papers. Make sure you check with your school for the most relevant information!

Do you need extra help familiarising yourself with your A level English Literature exam format? Connect with our expert English Literature Tutors who can clarify the different papers and topics, as well as offer you tailored exam preparation.

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