If you are studying at Havering Sixth Form:
This A Level invites you to engage with powerful texts from the Elizabethan era to the 21st century, exploring how historical, social and cultural contexts shape literature. You’ll build original, well-argued interpretations, sharpening close reading, research, and written and verbal communication.
Key strands include literary presentations of gender across time and the relationship between social and political power and the individual. George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four anchors study of dystopia, oppression and surveillance. Assessment includes two coursework tasks, with one option for original creative writing. English Literature is a demanding but rewarding facilitating subject valued by universities and employers, and it pairs well with subjects such as History, Drama, Film, Psychology, Religious Studies, Philosophy and Sociology.
The course is demanding yet rewarding and will occupy at least five hours of independent study per week. English Literature is regarded as a facilitating subject and is held in high esteem by universities and employers.
English Literature is studied alongside two other A Levels or one other A Level and a Level 3 single BTEC. Courses that combine well include History, Drama, Film Studies, Psychology, Religious Studies, Philosophy and Sociology.
Exam board is OCR.
If you are studying at Attlee Academy:
This course offers a broad, integrated study of plays, prose and poetry with an emphasis on thematic exploration and close textual analysis. You will learn how writers use form, structure and language to shape meaning, and you’ll develop your own interpretations through discussion, wider reading and structured essay writing.
Assessment combines coursework with examinations on set texts and unseen materials, encouraging you to apply concepts and terminology confidently across a range of literature.
