English GCSE

Course Structure

We teach the new revised courses for first examinations in June 2018, in which assessments will be shown by numbers from 9-1, replacing the grading by letters A*-G that has operated previously. For Language it will be Specification A (code 4EA1), and for Literature code 4ET1.

Year 10: For English Language, there will be one externally assessed examination, worth 60%, including reading responses to a previously studied non-fiction text from the Anthology plus an unseen extract, and a piece of transactional writing. The rest (40%) will be internally assessed through Coursework involving an essay comparing two poetry or prose texts studied form the Anthology and a piece of imaginative writing. The formal assessment of Speaking and Listening will no longer count towards the total and so we are discontinuing this element in our internal assessment, though of course will still be using whole class, group and individual oral discussions to investigate and analyse within lessons, as we have always done.

For English Literature, there will likewise be one externally assessed examination, worth 60%, involving analytical writing on both an unseen poem and on a comparison of two previously studied poems from the Anthology, plus an essay on the set text of modern prose (likely to be either Of Mice and Men or To Kill a Mockingbird). The remaining 40% will be internally assessed through Coursework, requiring one essay response on a modern drama text (likely to be An Inspector Calls or A View from the Bridge) and another on a text from the Literary Heritage (most likely a Shakespeare play- we are likely to be choosing to study Macbeth or Romeo and Juliet).

Reading and Resources

Year 10: As with the previous specifications, wider reading, both of literary and non-fiction texts, will be of immense value to any student in the development of his or her abilities to respond intelligently to the range of texts in the course, especially with the increased amount of unseen material to be read and analysed. The Library is very well-stocked with books and magazines that can provide such breadth, in addition to what may readily be found through the internet. The Department and the Library issue lists of recommended texts.

Year 11: Wider reading is always actively encouraged, and lists of recommended novels are issued by the department or from the Library, but the main study focuses on one novel (this year either Of Mice and Men or To Kill Mockingbird), one play (either An Inspector Calls or A View from the Bridge) and a series of poems, literary prose and non-fiction extracts all taken from the Edexcel IGCSE Anthology. The Library contains a number of critical and biographical books relevant to these texts, in addition to what can be readily accessed through the internet.