All students in Year 11 take GCSEs in both English Language and English Literature.

Our girls are naturally interested in communication. We nurture this interest, supporting it with technical skills and a wider appreciation of literature. In Years 7 to 9 students learn how to use a variety of writing styles, look at text in different media; consider poetry, prose and theatre writing, and hone their own skills in a range of speaking and listening activities. Taking an active part in class is essential. Most of our students are voracious readers and many are gifted writers. We encourage them to share their ideas with each other and continue to expand their fiction and no-fiction reading tastes.

Students in Years 7-9 can expect to study the following:

English Language (AQA 8700)

Paper 1: Explorations in Creative Reading and Writing – reading questions based on an unseen passage from a literature text and a descriptive or narrative based writing task. 1hr 45min exam (50% of the total marks)

Paper 2: Writers’ Viewpoints and Perspectives – reading questions based upon one unseen non-fiction and one unseen literary non-fiction text and a piece of writing to express a viewpoint. 1hr 45 min (50% of the total marks)

Non-Exam Assessment: Spoken Language – students will be asked to deliver a presentation to an audience and respond effectively to questioning using Standard English. This non-examined assessment will take place at the end of Year 9.

English Literature (AQA 8702)

Paper 1: Shakespeare and the 19th- century novel – students will write two extended essays based upon extracts from one Shakespeare text and one 19th-century novel. 1hr 45min (40% of the total marks)

Paper 2: Modern Texts and Poetry – students will write one essay on a modern prose or drama text, followed by a comparative essay based upon anthology poetry and a response to an unseen poem. 2hr 15 min (60% of marks)

An outline of the course is as follows:

Love English? Consider English Language and English Literature A-levels .