English Language & Literature A Level & AS Level Courses

English Language and Literature is a broad and demanding subject, which develops a range of skills in reading and writing. Our students acquire a wide variety of linguistic and literary approaches in their interpretation and analysis of texts, which includes language frameworks, varieties of English, language in social contexts, rhetorical devices and metrical analysis. At Westminster Tutors, students are able to choose their own texts according to their personal interests, and they have plenty of opportunity for stimulating discussion with their teachers.

Course outline

AS Level English Language & Literature

Component 1 – Voices in Speech and Writing

  • Creation of voice
  • Comparing voices

Component 2 – Varieties in Language and Literature

  • Prose Fiction Extract
  • Exploring Text and Theme

A Level English Language & Literature

Component 1 – Voices in Speech and Writing

  • Creation of voice
  • Comparing voices

Component 2 – Varieties in Language and Literature

  • Prose Fiction Extract
  • Exploring Text and Theme

Assesment

AS Level English Language & Literature

Component 1

  • 50 marks
  • Closed book
  • 1 hour 30 minutes written paper
  • 50% of total AS level

Component 2

  • 50 marks
  • Open book
  • 1 hour 30 minutes written paper
  • 50% of total AS level

A Level English Literature

Component 1

  • 50 marks
  • Open book
  • 2 hours 30 minutes written paper
  • 40% of total A level

Component 2

  • 50 marks
  • Open book
  • 2 hours 30 minutes written paper
  • 40% of total AS level

Non-examination assessment

  • 60 marks
  • 2500-3250 words
  • 2 assignments
  • 20% of total A level

Set Texts

Comparing Voices

  • Voices in Speech and Writing: An Anthology

Drama Texts

Students study one drama text:

  • All My Sons, Arthur Miller
  • A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams
  • Elmina’s Kitchen, Kwame Kwei-Armah
  • Equus, Peter Shaffer
  • The History Boys, Alan Bennett
  • Top Girls, Caryl Churchill
  • Translations, Brian Friel

Prose Fiction and other Genres

Students study one prose fiction anchor text and one other text from their selected theme. Both anchor texts (indicated in bold) may be studied if desired:

    • Theme: Society and the Individual
      • The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
      • Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
      • The Bone People, Keri Hulme
      • Othello, William Shakespeare
      • A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry
      • The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale, Geoffrey Chaucer
      • The Whitsun Weddings, Philip Larkin
    • Theme: Love and Loss
      • A Single Man, Christopher Isherwood
      • Tess of the D’Ubervilles, Thomas Hardy
      • Enduring Love, Ian McEwan
      • Much Ado About Nothing, William Shakespeare
      • Betrayal, Harold Pinter
      • Metaphysical Poetry, editor Colin Burrow
      • Sylvia Plath Selected Poems, Sylvia Plath
    • Theme: Encounters
      • A Room with a View, E M Forster
      • Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
      • The Bloody Chamber, Angela Carter
      • Hamlet, William Shakespeare
      • Rock ‘N’ Roll, Tom Stoppard
      • The Waste Land and Other Poems, T S Eliot
      • The New Penguin Book of Romantic Poetry, editor Jonathan Wordsworth
    • Theme: Crossing Boundaries
      • Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys
      • Dracula, Bram Stoker
      • The Lowland, Jhumpa Lahiri
      • Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare
      • Oleanna, David Mamet
      • Goblin Market, The Prince’s Progress, and Other Poems, Christina Rossetti
      • North, Seamus Heaney

    Specification

    Teachers will choose the examination board for students joining in Year 12 based on their expertise and specialist knowledge. For Year 13 and retake students, teachers will continue students’ studies with AQA, Edexcel/Pearson, OCR or WJEC/Eduqas. Please note that we do not offer CIE but can more than map to one of the boards listed.

    Teachers

    Benedict Tucker
    BA (Cambridge)

    Richard Searby
    BA (Exeter)

    Sophie Harrold
    BA (Cambridge), MA (King’s), PGCE (Goldsmith’s)

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    Westminster Tutors is one of the oldest and best independent sixth form colleges in London. Established in 1934, our culture of scholastic excellence is deeply embedded and sets the standard for other colleges to follow.