English Literature A level (AQA)

Applications Open: 27/11/25

Applications Close: 31/01/26

Entry Requirements: 4 GCSE passes at grade 6 or above including grade 5s in Maths and either English Literature or Language.

How to Apply: Online application using Applicca - https://rochestergrammarschool.applicaa.com/applicaa.com/Year12

English Literature A-level’s historicist approach to the study of literature rests upon reading texts within a shared context. Working from the belief that no text exists in isolation, but is the product of the time in which it was produced, the English Literature A-level encourages students to explore the relationships that exist between texts and the contexts within which they are written, received and understood. Across the course, students will study texts both diachronically (produced across a very broad time period) and synchronically (produced within a clearly defined time period).

The course consists of two categories of study: ‘Love through the Ages’ and ‘Modern Times: Literature from 1945 to the present day’. In the first category, students will study the following texts:

• ‘Othello’ by William Shakespeare

• ‘The Great Gatsby’ by F Scott Fitzgerald

• AQA Pre-19th century poetry anthology

In the second category they will study the following:

• ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ by Tennessee Williams

• ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ by Margaret Atwood

• ‘Feminine Gospels’ poetry collection by Carol Ann Duffy.

Students will also study ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ by William Shakespeare as part of an independent critical study.

Paper 1: Love through the Ages Section A: Shakespeare ‘Othello’: 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: ‘Gatsby’ with pre-1900 poetry anthology. One essay question linking two texts (25 marks) Written exam

3 hours

Open book in Section C only

75 marks

40% of A-level

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Paper 2: Option 2B: Modern times: Literature from 1945 to the present day Option 2: Section A answering on Drama core text; Section B comparing prose with poetry

Section A: Set texts. One essay question on set text (25 marks): ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ by Tennessee Williams

Section B: Contextual linking

• One compulsory question on an unseen extract (25 marks)

• One essay question linking two texts (25 marks): ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ by Margaret Atwood and ‘Feminine Gospels’ by Carol Ann Duffy

Written exam

2 hours 30 minutes

Open book

75 marks

40% of A-level

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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

50 marks

20% of A-level

Assessed by teachers

Moderated by AQA

GCSE Grade 6 in English Literature