Be sure to cater for the needs and tastes of all your International GCSE English Literature students.
This International GCSE qualification takes a skills-based approach to the study of English literature that is consistent across the genres. So whatever your students’ interests, you can be sure that the course will develop skills in independent research and learning and provide invaluable preparation for higher level study.
- Our range of texts has been chosen to cater for the needs of teachers and students in all educational contexts. To inspire, challenge and motivate every student, no matter what their level of ability.
- Rediscover texts that will be familiar to you as well as new ones that will inspire young readers, ensuring there is something to appeal to every teacher and every student.
- The alternative non-exam assessment (NEA) option in Paper 2 gives teachers freedom of choice in texts, allowing them to select those best suited to the interests and needs of their students.
International GCSE English Literature (9275)
ROUTE A
Unit 1: Prose and drama
Unit 2a: Poetry and unseen texts
ROUTE B
Unit 1: Prose and drama
Unit 2b: Poetry
Unit 3: Non-exam assessment
To inspire, challenge and motivate every student, no matter what their level of ability, International GCSE English Literature students can select from the following options:
Unit 1, Prose – choose one of the following:
- Charles Dickens – Great Expectations
- Harper Lee – To Kill a Mockingbird
- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – Purple Hibiscus
- Kazuo Ishiguro – Never Let Me Go
- Markus Zusak – The Book Thief
- OxfordAQA Exams Short Stories Anthology
Unit 1, Drama – choose one of the following:
- William Shakespeare – Julius Caesar
- William Shakespeare – Macbeth
- J B Priestley – An Inspector Calls
- Arthur Miller – The Crucible
- Lorraine Hansberry – A Raisin in the Sun
Unit 2, Poetry:
Students will study the OxfordAQA Poetry Anthology People and Places.
Assessment Objectives:
The International GCSE English Literature exams will measure how students have achieved the following assessment objectives:
• AO1: Understanding of, and engagement with, themes, ideas and contexts.
• AO2: Analysis of how writers create meanings and effects.
• AO3: Express informed, personal responses to literary texts, using appropriate terminology, and coherent, accurate writing.
Find out more on our approach to Fair Assessment.
OxfordAQA provides all the resources and advice you need to teach the International GCSE English Literature specification effectively.
- Download the specification
- View our training courses to help you deliver OxfordAQA International GCSE English Literature
- Approved textbooks and resources published by Oxford University Press
We have too many resources to list here, so please visit our resources area for teachers to see them all, including:
- Schemes of work to allow you to plan how to deliver the specification in a way that will best suit you and your students
- Teaching guidance to outline clearly the scope of teaching and learning
- Topic tests and mock exam analysers to allow you to track your students’ progress throughout the teaching year
This is a linear qualification with two routes through the GCSE.
Route A:
Paper 1 – Prose and Drama:
- Section A – Prose Fiction
- Section B – Drama
- Students answer one question from each section
- Closed-book exam
- 1 hour 30 minutes
- 60 marks
- 40% of GCSE
Paper 2 – Poetry and Unseen Texts:
- Section A – Poetry
- Section B – Unseen Poetry
- Students answer one question from each section
- Open-book exam
- 2 hours 15 minutes
- 90 marks
- 60% of GCSE
Route B:
Paper 1 – Prose and Drama:
- Section A – Prose Fiction
- Section B – Drama
- Students answer one question from each section
- Closed-book exam
- 1 hour 30 minutes
- 60 marks
- 40% of GCSE
Paper 2 – Poetry:
- Section A – Poetry
- Section B – Unseen Poetry
- Students answer one question from each section
- Open-book exam
- 1 hour 30 minutes
- 60 marks
- 40% of GCSE
Non-Exam Assessment (NEA):
- Students complete one extended response to a prose fiction text of their choice
- 30 marks
- 20% of GCSE
Re-sits
- Linear specification; individual components may not be re-sat.
- Candidates can re-take the whole qualification as many times as they wish.
Anthologies for exam use
Anthologies required for exams will be provided as an insert with the question papers.
Registered OxfordAQA teachers can download the International GCSE English Literature anthologies from the Resources page.
Take a look at:
- Our taster video
- Example specimen exam paper and mark scheme
You must be an approved OxfordAQA centre to enter students for our exams. Make sure you become an OxfordAQA centre before you start teaching a course.
