Assessment overview
Students must complete both components (01 and 02) to be awarded the OCR GCSE (9-1) in English Literature.
| Component |
Marks |
Duration |
Weighting |
insert text |
Exploring modern and literary heritage texts (01)
|
80 |
2 hours |
50% |
This is in two sections. Section A focuses on one modern prose or drama set text. Section B focuses on one 19th century prose set text. |
Exploring poetry and Shakespeare (02)
|
80 |
2 hours |
50% |
This is in two sections. Section A focuses on a themed poetry cluster from the OCR set poetry anthology. Section B focuses on one set Shakespeare play. |
Content overview
Students will study texts which include one Shakespeare play, a selection of poetry post-1789, one 19th century novel, and one modern prose or drama text from the British Isles. They will develop skills in how to critically read and evaluate literature, as well as articulating informed, independent responses to texts. Students have to make connections between a set text extract and a thematically-linked unseen extract in each exam.
The set texts will be reviewed after three years and may be subject to change. Centres will be notified of any changes one year in advance.
Component 01: Exploring modern and literary heritage texts
Students study a choice of one modern prose or drama text (Section A) and one 19th century novel (Section B).
Section A set texts
Select one from:
- Anita and Me - Meera Syal
- Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro
- Animal Farm - George Orwell
- An Inspector Calls - J. B. Priestley
- My Mother Said I Never Should - Charlotte Keatley
- DNA - Dennis Kelly
Section B set texts
Select one from:
- Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
- A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
- Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
- The War of the Worlds - H. G. Wells
- The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson
- Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë
Component 02: Exploring poetry and Shakespeare
In Section A students study one themed poetry cluster from a choice of three in the OCR Poetry Anthology. Each themed poetry cluster comprises fifteen poems carefully selected to provide a balanced and diverse collection for study. In Section B they study one Shakespeare play.
Section A set texts
Select one of the flowing three themed clusters in the OCR Poetry Anthology, Towards a World Unknown:
- Love and Relationships
- Conflict
- Youth and Age.
Section B set texts
One of:
- Romeo and Juliet
- The Merchant of Venice
- Macbeth
- Much Ado About Nothing.