Topic study hub
Qualification and assessment structure
Paper 1 and Paper 2 are each worth 40 percent and the independent critical study is worth 20 percent.
0
Objectives
10
Flashcards
10
Questions
90 min
Study time
AqaA LevelEnglish Literature AQualification structure and assessment objectives
Choose a revision tool
Start revising Qualification and assessment structure
Syllabus checklist
What you need to know
0 objective pages available
Updated specification boundary3 objectives
- Identify this curriculum source as the updated AQA 7712 specification for first assessment in 2027.
- Keep 2027 optional-text additions separate from the final-2026 specification version.
- Distinguish A-level English Literature A 7712 from AS English Literature A 7711.
Historicist course design4 objectives
- Explain the difference between diachronic and synchronic literary study.
- Connect texts to the contexts in which they are written, received and understood.
- Develop autonomous interpretations through comparison, wider reading and critical debate.
- Distinguish literary context from biography and unsupported historical background.
Paper 1 assessment4 objectives
- Describe Paper 1 as a three-hour examination worth 75 marks and 40 percent of the A-level.
- Explain that students study one Shakespeare play, one prose text and one poetry text, with one comparative text written pre-1900.
- Distinguish the Shakespeare passage-linked essay, unseen-poetry comparison and set-text comparison sections.
- Apply the open-book rule only to the comparative prose and poetry section.
Paper 2 assessment4 objectives
- Describe Paper 2 as a two-hour-thirty-minute open-book examination worth 75 marks and 40 percent of the A-level.
- Distinguish Option 2A WW1 and its aftermath from Option 2B Modern times.
- Explain that students study one prose, one poetry and one drama text, with at least one written post-2000.
- Distinguish the single set-text essay, unseen contextual-linking response and comparative essay.
Non-exam assessment4 objectives
- Describe the non-exam assessment as a comparative critical study of two texts worth 50 marks and 20 percent of the A-level.
- Explain that at least one selected text must be written pre-1900.
- Produce one extended comparative essay of 2500 words and a bibliography.
- Apply all five assessment objectives to the independent critical study.
Key terms
2027AQA 7712specification versiondistinguisha-leveldiachronicsynchronicconnecttextsdevelopinterpretationsliterary
Exam tips
- Updated specification boundary A-Level Literature exam tip 1: Open with a debatable literary argument, not a plot summary. Apply this to identify this curriculum source as the updated AQA 7712 specification for first assessment in 2027..
- Updated specification boundary A-Level Literature exam tip 1: Open with a debatable literary argument, not a plot summary. Apply this to keep 2027 optional-text additions separate from the final-2026 specification version..
Common mistakes
- Updated specification boundary literary-analysis mistake 1: Make an AO1 claim, use accurate textual evidence, analyse a method for AO2, add relevant AO3 context, connect texts for AO4 and test interpretations for AO5 only where the task requires them.
- Updated specification boundary literary-analysis mistake 1: Make an AO1 claim, use accurate textual evidence, analyse a method for AO2, add relevant AO3 context, connect texts for AO4 and test interpretations for AO5 only where the task requires them.
Practice preview
- MCQ focus 1 — specification for first assessment in 2027. Which approach best demonstrates the required literary reasoning within Updated specification boundary for Identify this curriculum source as the updated AQA 7712 specification for first assessment in 2027?
- MCQ focus 2 — specification for first assessment in 2027. Which evidence-led method would produce the strongest AQA 7712 answer to Identify this curriculum source as the updated AQA 7712 specification for first assessment in 2027?
- MCQ focus 3 — specification for first assessment in 2027. Which approach keeps the relevant literary boundaries clear when addressing Identify this curriculum source as the updated AQA 7712 specification for first assessment in 2027?
Continue by objective
Objectives are grouped by subtopic so students can jump straight to the exact skill they want to revise.
Related topics