Our offer for GCSE (9-1) English Literature

Balanced and accessible assessment structure. Two papers with equal weighting, the same exam duration and a mirrored assessment structure, to ease the cognitive burden on students.

Choice for students. Students are offered a choice of either an extract-based or a discursive essay question for the 19th century novel and Shakespeare play.

Diversity is key when selecting our GCSE English Literature (9-1) texts. New diverse text options and associated supporting resources for Leave Taking by Winsome Pinnock and 15 new poems added to our Towards a World Unknown Anthology for first assessment 2024.

Developing skills and building confidence. Students are encouraged to enhance their understanding of and engagement with their reading, building confidence in developing and articulating a fresh, individual response to texts including responding to unseen texts.

Creative and accessible approach to treatment of unseen texts and comparison of texts. The unseen is always linked to a familiar taught text, with all relevant texts printed in the exam paper. The studied text provides a springboard for learners to make connections and comparisons with the unseen text.

We offer plenty of support. Practice papers, mark schemes and candidate exemplars, as well as resources for teaching and learning are all available on Teach Cambridge. We also offer subject specialist support to all centres via our subject advisor team.