Changes to English GCSE Curriculum Explained: A guide for pupils and parents

04/09/17

Changes to English GCSE Curriculum Explained:

A guide for pupils and parents

You’ll by now be aware that the GCSE syllabus is changing, and that maths and English are leading the way, with the last year’s year 11’s the first to sit the new exams in June 2017. However, information on the new syllabus has been sparse. So if you’re still wondering how best to support your child (and whether Of Mice and Men is still on the syllabus), read on.

At a glance

GCSE English Literature, and GSCE English Language (along with all other subjects) have been redesigned to become more demanding, bringing the UK’s 16 year old school-leavers up to par with international standards.

If you’ve read our post on Attainment 8, you’ll hopefully understand that your child’s GCSE English results will count for a whopping 30% of their entire KS4 score, and as such you should expect your school to assign a fairly large portion of teaching time to these subjects.

There are changes to both the English Language and English Literature courses, as we’ll discuss below…

English Language GCSE (9-1)

Firstly, there are no set texts for the new English Language syllabus; pupils are expected to read a “wide range of texts” from the 19th, 20th and 21st century (a timely reminder to ensure that your child is reading for pleasure at home, from the earliest age possible!)

The reading assessment will comprise 50% of the new exam, and will be based on unseen texts from the past three centuries, both fiction and non-fiction. Pupils will be expected to evaluate the writer’s choice of vocabulary, form and structural features.

The writing assessment makes up the second 50%, with pupils expected to write clear and coherent texts. A weighty 20% of the marks for this exam are awarded for range of vocabulary and sentence structures, spelling and punctuation (an extension of the previous SPaG marks – spelling, punctuation and grammar).

There will continue to be a speaking and listening examination, however the results for this will be reported separately, and will not directly count towards GCSE marks.

English Literature GCSE (9-1)

The new English Literature syllabus focuses on ‘classic literature’ and ‘substantial whole texts in detail’, taken from the following categories:

Shakespeare
19th century novel
Selection of poetry since 1789, including Romantic poetry
Fiction or drama from the British Isles from 1914 onwards

Students will be examined in two key components:

Reading

Literal and inferential comprehension:

Pupils will be expected to read ‘beyond’ the text, and spot differences between what is stated, and what is potentially meant. They will also be required to understand what is perhaps implied by a word in the context that it is used.

Critical reading:

Again, pupils need to look beyond what is written to pull deeper meaning from texts — perhaps by understanding the writer’s social/historical context to inform evaluation. Pupils will also need to support / oppose a point of view, or make an informed personal response by referring to evidence in the given text.

Evaluation of a writer’s choice of vocabulary:

Pupils will need to use linguistic and literary terminology to evaluate grammatical and structural features (such as, but not restricted to, phrase, metaphor, meter, irony and persona, synecdoche and pathetic fallacy)

Comparing texts:

Comparing both seen and unseen texts for theme, characterisation, context, style and literary quality.

Writing

Producing clear and coherent text:

Students will be expected to tailor their writing effectively to suit different purposes or audiences. They may be required to: Describe, narrate, explain, instruct, give and respond to information, and argue

Beyond an imaginative and creative use of language, and the appropriate selection of vocab, grammar, form and structure, pupils also need to be mindful to maintain coherence and consistency throughout their response.

Writing for impact:

Pupils will be expected to select, organise and emphasise key facts and ideas. Where appropriate, they should also cite their sources effectively in order to support their views.

Pupils should again use imaginative, creative and persuasive language (such as rhetorical questions, antithesis and parenthesis) in order to create an emotional impact.

20-25% of the marks in the final exam will include making comparison with unseen texts, again raising the importance for pupils to be in reading and analysing texts (is your child reading for pleasure yet?!)

A slightly less weighty 5% of marks will be awarded for vocabulary, sentence structures, spelling and punctuation.

Selection of Texts

While the exam boards, on the face of it, are providing a large selectinon of texts which the pupils may study, the reality of the situation is that as schools make this selection for the pupils, we can expect to continue to see a fairly universal selection by the majority of teachers, especially of those texts that would have been studied under the old syllabus (would you want to throw away 10 years worth of lesson plans?) We’ve highlighted the most popular choices in the tables below.

Shakespeare
Schools will select one play from the following for students to study

Play title	Edexcel	AQA	OCR
Macbeth	√	√	√
Romeo and Juliet	√	√	√
Much Ado About Nothing	√	√	√
Twelfth Night	√
The Merchant of Venice	√	√	√
Julius Caeser		√
The Tempest	√	√

The 19th Century Novel
Schools will select one novel from the following for students to study

Play title	Edexcel	AQA	OCR
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde – R L Stevenson	√	√	√
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen	√	√	√
Jane Eyre – Charlotte Brontë	√	√	√
Great Expectations – Charles Dickens	√	√	√
A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens	√	√
Silas Marner – George Eliot	√
Frankenstein – Mary Shelley	√	√
The War of the Worlds – H G Wells			√
The Sign of Four – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle		√

Modern Texts

Schools will select one text from the following for students to study

Play title	Edexcel	AQA	OCR
Animal Farm — George Orwell	√	√	√
An Inspector Calls — J B Priestley	√	√	√
Lord of the Flies — William Golding	√	√
Hobson’s Choice — Harold Brighouse	√
Blood Brothers — Willy Russell	√	√
Journey’s End — R C Sherriff	√
Anita and Me — Meera Syal	√	√	√
The Woman in Black — Susan Hill		√
The History Boys — Alan Bennett		√
DNA — Dennis Kelly		√	√
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (play script) — Simon Stephens		√
A Taste of Honey — Shelagh Delaney		√
Telling Tales — AQA Anthology		√
Never Let me Go — Kazuo Ishiguro		√	√
Pigeon English — Stephen Kelman		√
My Mother Said I Never Should — Charlotte Keatley			√

How will this be examined?

As previously discussed, GCSE English Literature and GCSE English Language will between them comprise 30% of a pupil’s GCSE results. Such a large reward doesn’t come without hard work, and as such pupils should expect to sit a whopping 8 hours of English examinations.

English Language is examined by two exams + a standalone speaking and listening examination. For all three exam boards, both exam 1 and exam 2 carry an equal proportion of reading and writing tasks.

Exam 1	Edexcel	AQA	OCR
Title	Fiction and Imaginative Writing	Exploration in Creative Reading and Writing	Communication Information and Ideas
Weighting	40%	50%	50%
Length	1hr 45mins	1hr 45mins	2hrs
Marks	64 marks	80 marks	50%
Exam 2	Edexcel	AQA	OCR
Title	Non-Fiction and Transactional Writing	Non-Fiction and Transactional Writing	Exploring Effects and Impact
Weighting	60%	50%	50%
Length	2hrs	1hr 45mins	2hrs
Marks	96 marks	80 marks	80 marks
Exam 3	Edexcel	AQA	OCR
Title	Speaking and Listening Endorsement
Weighting	0% – Standalone endorsement Pass/Merit/Distinction

English Literature will be examined by two exams as follows.

Exam 1	Edexcel	AQA	OCR
Title	Shakespeare and Post-1914 Literature	Shakespeare and the 19th-century novel	Exploring modern and literary heritage texts
Weighting	50%	40%	50%
Length	1hr 45mins	1hr 45mins	2hrs
Marks	80 marks	64 marks	80 marks
Exam 2	Edexcel	AQA	OCR
Title	19th-century Novel and Poetry since 1789	Modern texts and poetry	Exploring poetry and Shakespeare
Weighting	50%	60%	50%
Length	2hrs 15mins	2hrs 15mins	2hrs
Marks	80 marks	96 marks	80 marks

Time to get studying

Sample papers for the various exam boards can be found below. Furthermore, Teachit have published a vast array of resources for both English Literature and English Language which you may find useful.