SubjectsEnglish

At KS5 we offer a choice of two A Levels as well as facilitating English GCSE retakes for those who need to do them.

English Language

English Language A Level gives individuals the opportunity to understand how their language is formed and has changed over time. Having a greater understanding of what makes up and influences one’s language gives students a greater understanding of themselves as an individual and as part of various communities. English Language at A Level will develop transactional writing and analysis of non-fiction texts introduced at GCSE and give students the chance to explore the skills of language acquisition. English A Level also gives students the prospect of exploring the rich culture of the English Language by understanding the varying accents and dialects within our society and celebrating the differences within them. The Non-Exam Assessment element is research-based and gives students the autonomy to investigate an aspect of interest to them in detail.

Course Outline

Component One: Language, the Individual and Society. Section A is an analysis of Textual Variations and Representations and Section B is Children’s Language Development.

Component Two: Language Diversity and Change. Section A is Diversity and Change and Section B is Language Discourses.

Component Three: 3,500-word response in total over 2 tasks: a language investigation and a piece of original writing and commentary.

English Literature

They say that English Literature examines three things: who we are, what we are and why we are. This trinity is known as The Human Condition. English Literature explores The Human Condition in some of the most amazing and beautiful language that has ever been written; it introduces you to some of the most incredible characters that have ever been imagined; sometimes it tells you the saddest and funniest stories within the pages of one book. By studying English Literature, you will not only inherit the wisdom of the ages in your journey to adulthood but also foster deep powers of reflection and analysis in your thinking and your writing. The course will endow you with qualifications far beyond an exam grade that can go on your CV. You may want to know what passion, heroism and villainy can drive people to, or why our lives can take extraordinary twists and turns. Look no further than Literature. The holy grail for some literature students is to become writers, but English can lead to specific careers in journalism, law, publishing, editing, and teaching, as well as equipping you for almost any future profession.

Course Outline

Component One: Drama and Poetry pre-1900 Shakespeare: Hamlet Poetry from Christina Rossetti, A 19th Century play: An Ideal Husband, Oscar Wilde.

Component Two: Gothic Fiction: Dracula, Bram Stoker and The Bloody Chamber, Angela Carter and Unseen Gothic Extracts.

Component Three: Non-exam assessment Close reading piece and Comparative essay.