English Literature - A Level

Head of Department: Jo Britton

Email: jo.britton@qmc.ac.uk

Fact File
• This is a 2 year A Level course.
• 80% exam, 20% coursework.
• You will study 8 books over the 2 years, which will be a mixture of prose (novels), poetry
and drama.
• You need to have achieved a grade 5 or above in GCSE English Language and English
Literature to qualify for this course.
• Universities and employers like this course because of the skills in reading, writing and
analysis which you will develop.

Specific entry requirements

You will need at least a grade 5 or above in GCSE English Language and grade 5 or above in
English Literature. You will need to have a love of reading and a strong ability to express your
ideas in writing.

Course Summary
In this 2 year course, you will study 8 texts which will be a mixture of novels, plays and
poetry. You will study works written over 600 years ago and those written within the last few
years. You will read and discuss these texts, looking not only at how they were written and
what they are about, but also how they reflect the time in which they were written, and how
our view of them has changed over time as attitudes and values have changed.

Progression skills and opportunities

This course is all about communication – how writers communicate with us and how we
communicate ideas about what we read, both in writing (essays) and orally through
discussion. The expertise in communication that you will develop through this course is
highly valued by employers for a wide range of jobs and careers.

This is also an extremely useful skill for studying any subject at university, so universities
value this A Level even if you are not going on to study for an English degree. English
Literature is one of the 8 subjects on the Russell Group Universities’ list of ‘facilitating
subjects’ (i.e. desirable subjects).
 How is the course assessed?
For this course, you will take 2 exams at the end of 2 years which will account for 80% of the
marks. These 2 exams will require you to write about 6 of the 8 texts you have studied. In
each exam, you will also have to analyse some poetry and prose which you will not have
seen before.

What topics will I be studying?

(NB: These texts may be subject to change.)
Paper 1: Love Through The Ages.
• Section A - Shakespeare: 1 question on OTHELLO. Closed Book.
• Section B - Unseen Poetry: 1 question comparing and contrasting 2 unseen poems.
• Section C - Comparing texts: 1 question comparing and contrasting TESS OF THE
D’URBERVILLES (novel, Thomas Hardy) and an anthology of POST-1900 POETRY. Open Book.

Paper 2: Literature from 1945 to the Present Day.

• Section A - 1 question on A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (play, Tennesee Williams). Open book.
• Section B - 1 question comparing and contrasting THE HANDMAID’S TALE (novel, Margaret
Atwood) and FEMININE GOSPELS (poetry, Carol Ann Duffy). Open book.
• Section C - Analysis of an unseen prose extract in this section.

Paper 3: Independent Critical Study – Texts Across Time (Coursework).

• Non-Examined Assessment: comparing and contrasting THE MILLER’S TALE (poetry,
Chaucer) and 1 other text which you choose from a list of 4. You will write 1 essay of 2500
words. You will do this during the summer term of your first year.

Will I need any specialist materials or equipment?

You will need your own copies of the texts we study but we will buy these for you and you
pay for them as part of your course costs.

Cliddesden Road, Basingstoke, Hants, RG21 3HF Tel: 01256 417500 Email: info@qmc.ac.uk www.qmc.ac.uk