english lit coursework grade boundaries

Beyond GCSE Revision

Gcse-grade revision from beyond, powered by twinkl, gcse english literature grade boundaries.

Another year, another set of GCSE English Literature grade boundaries.

You’ve heard it before. Varying paper difficulties means your marks will equate to something different depending on the year. The system aims for fairness but you just need to know what you’re up against!

And so, the following tables provide an easy-to-read breakdown of the grade boundaries for past exams. We’ll even update the newest boundaries for 2023 as soon as the information is available!

Looking for exam papers? We’ve got you covered:

GCSE English Past Papers – Revision for AQA, Edexcel, OCR and Eduqas Exams

So you’ve read up on the GCSE English Literature grade boundaries but you also need the GCSE English Language grade boundaries – find them right here ! And you can find a great range of blogs right  here ! You can also  subscribe to Beyond  for access to thousands of secondary teaching resources. You can  sign up for a free account here  and take a look around  at our free KS3/GCSE Maths resources  before you subscribe too.

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Programmes & Qualifications

Cambridge igcse literature in english (0475).

• Syllabus overview

The syllabus enables learners to read, interpret and evaluate texts through the study of literature in English. Learners develop an understanding of literal meaning, relevant contexts and of the deeper themes or attitudes that may be expressed. Through their studies, they learn to recognise and appreciate the ways in which writers use English to achieve a range of effects, and will be able to present an informed, personal response to the material they have studied.

The syllabus also encourages the exploration of wider and universal issues, promoting learners' better understanding of themselves and of the world around them.

This syllabus replaces Cambridge IGCSE Literature (English) (0486) from 2020 onwards. The only change is the title and the syllabus code. Past papers and other resources for are still largely applicable for teaching Cambridge IGCSE Literature in English (0475).

The last series for Cambridge IGCSE Literature (English) (0486) will be November 2019.

The syllabus year refers to the year in which the examination will be taken.

• -->2023-2025 Syllabus update (PDF, 128KB)
• -->2026 Syllabus (PDF, 820KB)

Syllabus support

• -->Support for Literature in English (PDF, 1MB)

Important notices

Please note that if you make an entry for the A*-G grading scale, it is not then possible to switch to the 9-1 grading scale once the entries deadline has passed. If you find that you have accidentally made an entry for the A*-G syllabus, you must withdraw and re-enter before the entries deadline.

Find out more about our range of English syllabuses to suit every level and ambition.

For some subjects, we publish grade descriptions to help understand the level of performance candidates’ grades represent.

We paused the publication of grade descriptions in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and the temporary changes to the awarding standard in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

As the awarding standard has now returned to the pre-pandemic standard, we are working to produce up-to-date grade descriptions for most of our general qualifications. These will be based on the awarding standards in place from June 2023 onwards.

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Schemes of work

Example responses, past papers, specimen paper answers.

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• Past papers, examiner reports and specimen papers
• Published resources

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AS and A-level English Literature B

• Specification
• Planning resources
• Teaching resources
• Assessment resources
• Introduction
• Specification at a glance
• 3.1 Literary genres
• 4.1 Literary genres
• 4.2 Texts and genres
• 4.3 Theory and independence

Scheme of assessment

• Non-exam assessment administration (A-level only)
• General administration

Find past papers and mark schemes, and specimen papers for new courses, on our website at aqa.org.uk/pastpapers

The AS specification is designed to be taken over one or two years with all assessments taken at the end of the course. The A-level specification is designed to be taken over two years with all assessments taken at the end of the course.

Assessments and certification for the AS specification are available for the first time in May/June 2016 and then every May/June for the life of the specification.

Assessments and certification for the A-level specification are available for the first time in May/June 2017 and then every May/June for the life of the specification.

These are linear qualifications. In order to achieve the award, students must complete all exams in May/June in a single year. All assessments must be taken in the same series.

Our AS and A-level exams in English include questions that allow students to demonstrate their ability to:

• draw together their knowledge, skills and understanding from across the full course of study
• provide extended responses.

All AS and A-level components offer only extended response questions.

All materials are available in English only.

Courses based on these specifications must encourage students to develop their interest in and enjoyment of literature and literary studies as they:

• read widely and independently both set texts and others that they have selected for themselves
• engage critically and creatively with a substantial body of texts and ways of responding to them
• develop and effectively apply their knowledge of literary analysis and evaluation
• explore the contexts of the texts they are reading and others’ interpretations of them.

In addition, A-level specifications must encourage students to develop their interest in and enjoyment of literature and literary studies as they undertake independent and sustained studies to deepen their appreciation and understanding of English literature, including its changing traditions.

Assessment objectives

Assessment objectives (AOs) are set by Ofqual and are the same across all AS and A-level English Literature specifications and all exam boards.

The exams and non-exam assessment will measure to what extent students have achieved the following AOs:

• AO1: Articulate informed, personal and creative responses to literary texts, using associated concepts and terminology, and coherent, accurate written expression.
• AO2: Analyse ways in which meanings are shaped in literary texts.
• AO3: Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received.
• AO4: Explore connections across literary texts.
• AO5: Explore literary texts informed by different interpretations.

Weighting of assessment objectives for AS English Literature B

The specification reflects the belief that the assessment objectives (AOs) work best together, producing a rounded and holistic view of English literature. Students will need to show coverage of all AOs in all tasks. To be specific:

AO1 essentially requires informed and relevant responses which are accurately written and use appropriate concepts and terminology.

AO2 requires students to analyse ways in which meanings are shaped in literary texts, with particular focus on the structures of texts as a form of shaping.

AO3 relates to the many possible contexts which arise out of the text, the specific task and the period being studied.

This specification treats AOs 1, 2 and 3 as broadly equal, given their relative weightings: AO1 has a weighting of 28% whilst AOs 2 and 3 both have a weighting of 24%.

AO4 involves connections across texts and sees possible meanings and interpretations arising not only out of the contexts of the text itself (AO3 above) but also out of the wider and broader contexts which comes from the study of period. Thus even when an individual text is being investigated it should still be seen as being framed by a wider network of texts and contexts to which it connects.

AO5 completes the picture by acknowledging that if work in AOs 2, 3 and 4 had been included in the response to the question then debate and interpretations will arise out of this work showing that the interpretation of texts is not a fixed process but a dynamic one.

AOs 4 and 5 each have a weighting of 12% in all questions.

Weighting of assessment objectives for A-level English Literature B

This specification reflects the belief that the assessment objectives (AOs) work best together, producing a rounded and holistic view of English literature. Students will need to show coverage of all AOs in all tasks. To be specific:

AO5 completes the picture by acknowledging that if work in AOs 2, 3 and 4 had been included in the response to the question then debate and interpretations will arise out of this work showing that the interpretation of texts is not a fixed process but a dynamic one. In non-exam assessment only, discussion of different interpretations must include, on at least one text in a conventional response, consideration of different interpretations of the text(s) over time.

Assessment weightings

The marks awarded on the papers will be scaled to meet the weighting of the components. Students' final marks will be calculated by adding together the scaled marks for each component. Grade boundaries will be set using this total scaled mark. The scaling and total scaled marks are shown in the table below.

Non-exam assessment marking criteria

Weightings for each question are as follows:

AO1: 7 marks

AO2: 6 marks

AO3: 6 marks

AO4: 3 marks

AO5: 3 marks

Conventional tasks

Re-creative tasks.