IGCSE English Literature

The ability to read, interpret and evaluate texts through the study of English Literature will add greatly to your understanding of English language and culture.  It will enable you to explore wider and universal issues, promoting your better understanding of the world around you. 

The course will enable you to:

  • enjoy the experience of reading literature;
  • understand and respond to literary texts in different forms and from different periods and cultures;
  • communicate an informed personal response to what you read;
  • appreciate different ways in which writers achieve their effects;
  • experience literature’s contribution to aesthetic, imaginative and intellectual growth;
  • explore the contribution of literature to an understanding of areas of human concern.
The course is designed to prepare you for the Cambridge (CIE) syllabus 0486. There are two written papers the first of 2 hours and 15 minutes and the second of 45 minutes, and these may be taken in June or November of each year. 

The texts to be studied include:

  • Shakespeare: Much Ado about Nothing
  • 14 poems from Songs of Ourselves, a Cambridge anthology of 19C and 20C verse
  • 10 short stories from Stories of Ourselves, a Cambridge anthology of short stories.
Your study texts and the materials in your online file will contain everything you need to start studying right away. The course is designed specifically to cover the above syllabus -  so you can be confident that you will learn everything you need to achieve the best possible grade in the examination.

Your tutor is your personal learning coach, who will be available throughout your course to provide you with detailed feedback on your learning assignments, and give you advice and encouragement throughout your course. You will complete assignments at regular intervals, which will help to embed your learning, and also enable you and your tutor to gauge your progress.

Completing all your assignments will hugely increase your chances of a good exam grade. When you have completed each assignment, you send it to your tutor through our online learning management system for assessment. Your tutor will provide you with rapid and detailed feedback, so you'll remain motivated throughout the course and see your skills and knowledge improving month by month.