The Student Room Group

Considering English Literature/Language GCSE or A Level? Read our FAQ here!

English Literature and Language are compulsory at GCSE, but read below to see what to expect and whether you might like to take them at A Level!

What's the difference between two?


What skills are required?


GCSE

What is the workload like?


What topics will be studied?


How will it be assessed?


What is it useful for post-GCSE?


A LEVEL
At A Level, you don't have to take English however you may choose to take one or both of them. They're quite different at A Level so we'll look at them separately.

English Literature


English Language

(edited 6 years ago)
I take English Lit and lang as a combined course if anyone has any questions :smile:

But to anyone considering taking it rather than just one English course, don't worry about it not being 'respected' many if not most -including Cambridge- accepts Lit/Lang as an A level if you want to take an essay based degree.
(edited 6 years ago)
Original post by CinnamonSmol
I take English Lit and lang as a combined course if anyone has any questions :smile:

But to anyone considering taking it rather than just one English course, don't worry about it not being 'respected' many if not most -including Cambridge- accepts Lit/Lang as an A level if you want to take an essay based degree.



I have a question! Until recently I haven’t really enjoyed English lit (GCSE) but I feel like I’m finally getting the hang of it. I’ve always enjoyed reading and I did analysis pretty interesting. I prefer language to lit though; I love creative writing and think the ideas explored, in terms of language acquisition and development, would be fascinating.

I have an empty slot for a fourth A-Level which I may or may not drop at some point; do you think this is something I should go for?
Original post by Jezzikarr
I have a question! Until recently I haven’t really enjoyed English lit (GCSE) but I feel like I’m finally getting the hang of it. I’ve always enjoyed reading and I did analysis pretty interesting. I prefer language to lit though; I love creative writing and think the ideas explored, in terms of language acquisition and development, would be fascinating.

I have an empty slot for a fourth A-Level which I may or may not drop at some point; do you think this is something I should go for?


I think you should definitely attend any taster days that potential colleges may be offering but from the sounds of it you have a lean towards language. Whilst we don't learn about language acquisition and how children develop speech, etc, etc, we still learn theories surrounding conversatiions, such as face-threatening acts, positive/negative politeness and how certain linguistic features can imply certain meanings. For me, (I'm doing AQA) I love this because I used to pride myself on creative writing and Lit/lang is great because you find a technique, and you sometimes have to be creative in talking about how it impacts a text, etc.

what are your other subjects? I must confess that I personaly find the AQA English Lit/Lang AS is somewhat difficult as you have to learn different skills quickly to do well (whilst the full alevel is great as the skills you learn in year 12 really help you for year 13) :smile:
Reply 4
thanks this is so useful! I’ve been considering english lit as an A level, but it puts me off with the fact that there’s no wrong and right answers and that it’s all perspective, so many that could damage my mark, vs maths when you know you’re doing it completely right. As much as I enjoy lit, that’s the main thing that puts me off- any advice?
Ok, thank you! This is really helpful, particularly as the exam board I will/would be doing is also AQA. Other subjects I'm taking would be Chemistry, Biology, and French (I'm hoping to do medicine at uni). My first choice for fourth subject was German, but this particular sixth form doesn't do German, and although maths seemed like to obvious second choice, I reeaaally don't want to do that! This school encourages taking four A-Levels for people with predicted grades totalling more than 54, but I'm unsure about doing four full A-Levels as it seems like an awful lot of work and some school actively discourage it (hence why I may or may not drop the subject). I actually first decided on medicine when I was about 8, because I really wanted to be an author, and my dad told me I'd make a lot of money from being a doctor. I'm a bit more realistic now so more focused on medicine, but still really enjoy creative writing so that part of the course sounds great!Thanks very much for your advice; I've decided to give it a go and save maths for an absolute emergency!
Reply 6
Original post by Jezzikarr
I have a question! Until recently I haven’t really enjoyed English lit (GCSE) but I feel like I’m finally getting the hang of it. I’ve always enjoyed reading and I did analysis pretty interesting. I prefer language to lit though; I love creative writing and think the ideas explored, in terms of language acquisition and development, would be fascinating.

I have an empty slot for a fourth A-Level which I may or may not drop at some point; do you think this is something I should go for?


You must think it through carefully. I took GCSE English language, but its A-level counterpart is like a completely different beast. The ability to write creatively is almost rendered useless in the presence of the A-level syllabus. You should also like psychology to a reasonable extent, as there is quite a bit that seems to overlap (or so I heard) with child language acquisition.
(edited 5 years ago)
Is there an oral exam for GCSE English? If so,what is going to be asked or what should we prepare about. Also do it count into my final grade of GCSE
English. I actually have stage fear and I do English very well but when the thing comes to reading out or speaking in front of the class I get scared, I
literally start shivering (but with my friends I cannot stop talking )so, if its going add its going to be bad
Original post by deekshita24
Is there an oral exam for GCSE English? If so,what is going to be asked or what should we prepare about. Also do it count into my final grade of GCSE
English. I actually have stage fear and I do English very well but when the thing comes to reading out or speaking in front of the class I get scared, I
literally start shivering (but with my friends I cannot stop talking )so, if its going add its going to be bad


hii, for me we had to do a speech on a topic we wanted to talk about. a lot of people had really bad anxiety but explained their situation to my teacher who let them do it in private. im sure if you spoke to your teacher and made somw of you friends tag along it wont be too bad :smile:
Original post by CinnamonSmol
hii, for me we had to do a speech on a topic we wanted to talk about. a lot of people had really bad anxiety but explained their situation to my teacher who let them do it in private. im sure if you spoke to your teacher and made somw of you friends tag along it wont be too bad :smile:


thanks a lot i would definitely ask my teacher also if i could do it in private. this helped me a lot
Original post by deekshita24
thanks a lot i would definitely ask my teacher also if i could do it in private. this helped me a lot

hope it goes well! :smile:
hi ,,, taking english literature for alevels here. never took eng lit in gcse but was accepted in alevels due to getting an A in my gcse english. ive heard alot of people saying it's difficult and so i'm kind of scared but at the same time curious on how ill be doing. starting my year 12 next month so i still have time to change my subject. do you think not doing eng lit gcse will give me a disadvantages for alevels?
Original post by CinnamonSmol
I take English Lit and lang as a combined course if anyone has any questions :smile:

But to anyone considering taking it rather than just one English course, don't worry about it not being 'respected' many if not most -including Cambridge- accepts Lit/Lang as an A level if you want to take an essay based degree.

Hey, I am a bit late
But can you help me?:biggrin:

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