A level - English lit, Cambridge Pre U

Has anyone done pre u English? It’s really hard to find someone who has done it. I just want to ask if it’s hard in comparison to other exam boards. And if the jump from GCSE is big?

Hi @Dera101,

I'm currently studying English Literature at Lancaster University and I did Pre-U English Literature at A-Level.

It was a very different course to the other A-Level exam boards that my friends were taking at different schools, but I definitely preferred it, because it is much more aimed at teaching you to write to a university level and to be more independent with your essays. I also preferred it because less texts are studied than other exam boards as it requires much more in-depth consideration of literature and criticism, and a focus on the Personal Investigation.

It is perhaps harder, yes, to get the top grades, and from GCSE, it does take a while to build up good grades. However, this is because it is teaching you valuable research skills, arguments, debates and criticism which were super helpful when I began to study English at university.

If you are looking to studying English or another Humanities-related subject at university (e.g. law, linguistics, history, etc), then I would definitely recommend the course!

If you have any questions about studying English in higher education, I'd be happy to help!

Maria
1st year English Literature, Creative Writing and Practice (placement year)

Thank you so much that was really helpful. I think it has solidified my decision in choosing English because I was worried that the exam board would make it way too hard. I would like to do Economics at university which I think is humanity so this should help me in the essay writing side of it I guess.

I have some other questions please, if you don’t mind answering them?

Where did you find resources to aid with you learning. Because Pre - u isn’t a popular exam board so Seneca learning for example doesn’t include the course in its English exam boards.

Also what is the personal investigation about and how does it work?

Thank you again x

Hi @Dera101,

In terms of the resources for learning, as you said, it is quite limited. I would recommend using the past papers on the Pre-U website and then making up your own questions that are similar to these. Again, you can always try and find questions referring to your texts on different exam boards, and then rewriting them in the style of the exam board

The personal investigation (when I sat the exam, in 2019), is the coursework section of the course, where you write an extended essay on four different texts of your choice, and on a topic/question/theme of your choice. If you have a look on the Pre-U website, it gives you the specification and the different sections of the course in more detail, here.

Hope that helps!

Maria
1st year English Literature, Creative Writing and Practice (placement year)

Thank you again. This does rlly help.

So I’m assuming there are no YouTube channels or websites that cover pre u English?

I didn't use any YouTube channels or websites when I studied the course, but it might well be that there is support or extra information. It's definitely worth having a look!

Maria
1st year English Literature, Creative Writing and Practice (placement year)

Okayyy thank you so much again x