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.  This home study course will enable you to explore wider and universal issues, promoting your better understanding of the world around you.

Key Aims

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.

Syllabus and Assessment

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 May/June or November of each year. 

The texts to be studied include:

• Shakespeare: Much Ado about Nothing (2012 only) or Shakespeare: Julius Caesar (2012 and 2013)
• 14 poems from Songs of Ourselves, a Cambridge anthology of 19th Century and 20th Century verse
• 10 short stories from Stories of Ourselves, a Cambridge anthology of short stories.

The Home Study Course

Your set texts, the literary criticism text, together with the materials in your password protected file (which is online), 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'll learn everything you need, in order to achieve the best possible 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.