English Language and Literature A-level
Overview
English allows you to explore the power of language — how it shapes meaning, tells stories, and expresses ideas. This course is perfect for students who enjoyed creative writing at GCSE and want to take their skills further.
You’ll have the chance to develop your own voice, experiment with different styles, and analyse how writers craft their work. If you love playing with words, thinking deeply about texts, and exploring how language influences thought and culture, this course will inspire and challenge you.
Cedars Martin Sixth Form follows the AQA English Language and Literature specification (7707) which we feels allows students to branch out from classical literature of the far past and engage with a more modern range of texts.
Topics studied in the syllabus include:
- Remembered Places: a thematic anthology of non-fiction texts about Paris.
- Imagined Worlds: explore the dystopian speculative fiction text ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ by Margaret Atwood.
- Poetic Voices: immerse yourself in the Irish lyricism of Seamus Heaney’s poetry collection.
- Writing about Society: create your own text in response to the classic modern tragic text ‘The Great Gatsby’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
- Dramatic Encounters: engage with the dramatic tragedy ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ by Tennessee Williams.
- Independent Study (NEA): this coursework unit offers an independent thematic investigation of your own choice of literary and non-literary texts.
Why choose this course?
If you love reading, debating, and thinking deeply about human experiences, this course is for you. You’ll have the freedom to explore texts that interest you, develop your own interpretations, and grow as a confident, independent thinker and writer.
Potential future pathways:
Students of English go on to perhaps the widest variety of careers of any A-Level. Previous students have gone on to careers in everything from speech therapy, copy-editing, law, medicine, journalism, marketing, theatre and academia. The transferable skills of critical interpretation and essay writing are sought after by employers.
Extra-Curricular Opportunities:
- Theatre trips to The Globe, National Theatre, and RSC
- Opportunities to explore literature beyond the classroom