IGCSE English Literature

Exam board: Cambridge International (CIE)

A programme developing close reading, critical analysis and informed personal response across poetry, prose and drama – from Shakespeare to contemporary voices.

We use an active-learning approach that encourages students to read widely, argue confidently and enjoy literature for its own sake. Skills are developed through discussion, debate and sustained written response, structured around three parallel strands: Poetry and Prose (Paper 1), Drama (Paper 2) and the close reading of unseen texts. Throughout, students learn to support ideas with well-chosen quotation, to explore how writers achieve their effects, and to develop a personal voice in their critical writing.

Year 10

Term & Topic	Strand knowledge & skills
AutumnReading Like a Critic	Unseen Every text is built – and this unit is about learning to take one apart. Working with unseen poems and prose extracts, students develop the habits of close reading: noticing language, imagery, form and structure, asking what effect each choice has, and learning to write about it with precision and evidence.	Poetry An introduction to the set poetry selection [anthology / poet]. The focus is on reading poems aloud and in depth, tracing how tone, voice and sound work together, making connections between poems, and building the analytical vocabulary that a poetry essay demands.
SpringCharacter & Conflict	Drama The set play [play title] takes the stage. Students explore how dramatists create character, tension and meaning through dialogue, staging and structure – reading, performing and debating key scenes, and learning to write about a play as something designed to be seen, not just read.	Poetry Deeper into the anthology. Work turns to thematic groupings and comparison, exploring how different poets treat shared subjects, and to the craft of the poetry essay: developing an argument, integrating quotation and responding to the question set.
SummerNarrative & Voice	Prose The set prose text [novel / short stories] is introduced. Students consider narrative voice, setting, characterisation and structure, tracking how a writer shapes the reader’s sympathies and builds meaning across a whole text, and practising both passage-based and whole-text responses.	Exam Prep Everything so far, sharpened. A practical walkthrough of the Paper 1 question types – passage-based and general essay questions on poetry and prose – looking at what the examiners reward: knowledge of the text, understanding of writers’ methods and a genuinely personal response.

Term & Topic

Strand knowledge & skills

AutumnReading Like a Critic

Unseen

Every text is built – and this unit is about learning to take one apart. Working with unseen poems and prose extracts, students develop the habits of close reading: noticing language, imagery, form and structure, asking what effect each choice has, and learning to write about it with precision and evidence.

Poetry

An introduction to the set poetry selection [anthology / poet]. The focus is on reading poems aloud and in depth, tracing how tone, voice and sound work together, making connections between poems, and building the analytical vocabulary that a poetry essay demands.

SpringCharacter & Conflict

Drama

The set play [play title] takes the stage. Students explore how dramatists create character, tension and meaning through dialogue, staging and structure – reading, performing and debating key scenes, and learning to write about a play as something designed to be seen, not just read.

Poetry

Deeper into the anthology. Work turns to thematic groupings and comparison, exploring how different poets treat shared subjects, and to the craft of the poetry essay: developing an argument, integrating quotation and responding to the question set.

SummerNarrative & Voice

Prose

The set prose text [novel / short stories] is introduced. Students consider narrative voice, setting, characterisation and structure, tracking how a writer shapes the reader’s sympathies and builds meaning across a whole text, and practising both passage-based and whole-text responses.

Exam Prep

Everything so far, sharpened. A practical walkthrough of the Paper 1 question types – passage-based and general essay questions on poetry and prose – looking at what the examiners reward: knowledge of the text, understanding of writers’ methods and a genuinely personal response.

Year 11

Term & Topic	Strand knowledge & skills
AutumnWhole-Text Mastery	Prose The set prose text completed and consolidated. Students trace themes, motifs and character development from beginning to end, evaluate different critical readings, and refine the skill of selecting the most telling evidence from a long text under time pressure.	Drama A return to the set play with fresh eyes. Work revisits key scenes and turning points, examines how the dramatist uses structure, stagecraft and language to create meaning, and builds the extended essay skills needed for the Paper 2 passage-based and discursive questions.
SpringArgument & Interpretation	Poetry The set poems revisited as a whole. Students make connections across the selection, test their interpretations against one another in discussion, and practise planning and writing complete poetry essays to the standard the top bands require.	Exam Preparation Precision, confidence, timing. Both papers are worked through under exam conditions – unpicking question wording, planning quickly, handling passage-based and general questions, and using quotation economically – with detailed feedback on every response.
Summer	Exam Preparation & Exams

Term & Topic

Strand knowledge & skills

AutumnWhole-Text Mastery

Prose

The set prose text completed and consolidated. Students trace themes, motifs and character development from beginning to end, evaluate different critical readings, and refine the skill of selecting the most telling evidence from a long text under time pressure.

Drama

A return to the set play with fresh eyes. Work revisits key scenes and turning points, examines how the dramatist uses structure, stagecraft and language to create meaning, and builds the extended essay skills needed for the Paper 2 passage-based and discursive questions.

SpringArgument & Interpretation

Poetry

The set poems revisited as a whole. Students make connections across the selection, test their interpretations against one another in discussion, and practise planning and writing complete poetry essays to the standard the top bands require.

Exam Preparation

Precision, confidence, timing. Both papers are worked through under exam conditions – unpicking question wording, planning quickly, handling passage-based and general questions, and using quotation economically – with detailed feedback on every response.

Summer

Exam Preparation & Exams

End of Course Exams

All candidates sit two externally assessed IGCSE exam papers at the end of Year 11 and are eligible for grades 9-1. Both are closed-book papers.

Paper 1: Poetry & Prose

1h 30mDuration

50Marks

50%of Grade

Two essay questions: one on poetry, one on prose

Set poetry selection and set prose text
Choice of passage-based or general essay question for each
Rewards textual knowledge, understanding of writers’ methods and personal response

Paper 2: Drama

1h 30mDuration

50Marks

50%of Grade

Two essay questions on the set play(s)

Passage-based question on a printed extract
General essay question on the whole text
Focus on character, theme, language and stagecraft

Coursework option

For students who thrive on independent, in-depth study, there is an alternative route. In agreement with their teacher, students may replace the Drama examination with a coursework portfolio – two extended critical essays on texts studied in class, developed over time with the freedom to redraft and refine – sitting a shorter Unseen paper alongside Paper 1. It suits readers who want to pursue an interpretation further than an exam allows and to produce work they are proud to call their own.