Our home study A-level English literature course will give you a wide appreciation of and enthusiasm for some of the greatest literature, both poetry and prose, ever written. 

Key Aims

The course aims to provide you with: the ability to write clearly and effectively; skills in developing arguments; skills in researching and managing information; the ability to analyse complex texts in different forms and styles. From the range of texts prescribed by Cambridge we have chosen the following:

AS level

Poetry and Prose

Thomas Hardy, Selected Poems; Songs of Ourselves (Cambridge Verse Anthology).

Stories of Ourselves (Cambridge Prose Anthology); Tsitsi Dangarembga, Nervous Conditions.

Drama

William Shakespeare, The Winters Tale; Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar named Desire.

A-level

Shakespeare and other pre-20th Century texts

William Shakespeare, Hamlet; Jane Austen, Mansfield Park; Charles Dickens, Hard Times;

20th Century Writing

Fleur Adcock, from Collected Poems; Brian Friel, Translations.

The Syllabus

This course prepares you for the Cambridge A-level syllabus 9695. The full Advanced Level qualification comprises AS and A-level.

Assessment at AS level is by two written 2 hour examination papers and A-level likewise. We have chosen this syllabus as it is the most suitable for distance learners.

The Home Study Course

Your core study text, (which we will send), is Leading Questions, Course in Literary Appreciation and your online learning file will contain everything you need to start studying right away.  But you will need to acquire the set texts, listed above, yourself. The course is designed specifically to cover the above syllabus. So you can be confident that you will learn everything you need to achieve a high grade in the examination.

Your Tutor and your Assignments 

Your tutor is your online personal learning coach whom you can email at any time, and  to whom you can also talk via Skype.  He or she will give you detailed feedback on your learning assignments, and plenty of advice and encouragement throughout your course. 

You will have assignments with exam type questions to complete at regular intervals during the course. These are a key part of your learning process. They will prepare you thoroughly for your exam and will enable you and your tutor to gauge your progress throughout. Completing the course assignments will greatly increase your chances of a good exam grade.   

When you’ve finished each assignment, you email it to your tutor for assessment via your online file. Your tutor will provide you with rapid and detailed feedback, so you'll see your skills and knowledge developing month by month. 

See fees for Adults or for Homeschoolers.

Course fees include:

• All the required course books.  There are no extra charges for books, other than for postage outside the UK. 
• Assessment and feedback on all assignments within 5 working days.
• Access to your personal tutors via email and Skype.
• Access to all online resources through WHOLE (Wolsey Hall Online Learning Environment)

Course fees do NOT include examination fees, which are payable to the examination centre.