English Literature A-level

APPLICATIONS NOW CLOSED - please apply via the Towers School website

Applications Open: - 11th December 2025

Applications Close: - 13th February 2026

Entry Requirements: - Admission to Towers Sixth Form to study A levels or BTEC equivalent will be awarded on the basis of GCSE performance. Each subject has its own entry requirements.

How to Apply: - Please apply via KentChoices

This course is a delight for those who love reading and discussing literature. Classes are small, lively and enthusiastic with much discussion and debate.

The English Literature specification encourages students to develop their interest in, and enjoyment of, English Literature through reading widely, critically and independently, across centuries, genre and gender, and through experiencing an extensive range of views about texts and how to read them. Each year students will examine prose, poetry and drama, all written in the last 300 years, and study the works of Shakespeare, Bronte, Duffy, Shelley, Wordsworth, Williams and Atwood.

80% examination and 20% NEA (coursework)

Paper 1: Love through the Ages - 3 hour open book exam

Paper 2: Texts in Modern Contexts (1945 to the modern day) - 2.5 hour open book exam.

NEA: 2500 independent study on Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ plus a text of the students’ choice.

Grade 6 in English Literature GCSE. Grade 5 students will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

As a Russell Group Universities facilitating subject, English Literature is highly prized by universities. Successful students go on to study degrees such as English and American studies, law, history, media, film, politics, philosophy and many other humanities subjects at undergraduate and postgraduate level. English Literature opens the doors to a wide range of diverse careers, such as law, media, education, journalism, marketing and politics.

Previous English Literature students have gone on to BA (Hons) English Literature and Creative Writing, BA (Hons) Law, and BSc (Hons) Psychology. Career-wise, they have joined the police, worked at a talent management firm and teach in both primary and secondary schools.