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CCEA GCSE English Literature: complete guide to the units, the skills and the assessment

A complete guide to CCEA GCSE English Literature in Northern Ireland (first teaching 2017). Covers the two written exams and the Shakespeare controlled assessment, the four assessment objectives and their weightings, the prose, drama and poetry skills the exams reward, and how to study each part for the top grades.

Browse guides →Syllabus dot points (29)

CCEA GCSE English Literature (first teaching 2017) is a unitised course set and marked by CCEA in Northern Ireland. It is assessed by two external written exams and one controlled assessment, and it spans prose, drama and poetry, including modern and local writers as well as Shakespeare. One part of the assessment, the nineteenth-century prose extract, is unseen, so the real subject is transferable analytical skill and a literary vocabulary, not memorised notes. This page is the index: below is a map of the units, the skill strands, the assessment objectives, and how to study each part.

The CCEA English Literature units

The specification is built around three units, all of which count towards the grade.

Unit 1, The Study of Prose
A closed-book 1 hour 45 minute external exam worth 30 percent. Section A asks an essay on a studied prose text (20 percent; for example Of Mice and Men or Lord of the Flies); Section B asks for analysis and evaluation of an unseen nineteenth-century prose extract (10 percent), with the first fifteen minutes for reading.
Unit 2, The Study of Drama and Poetry
An open-book (unannotated texts) 2 hour external exam worth 50 percent, the largest unit. Section A asks an essay on a studied modern drama text (25 percent; for example An Inspector Calls or Blood Brothers); Section B asks you to compare two poems from the CCEA anthology (25 percent).
Unit 3, The Study of Shakespeare
Controlled assessment worth 20 percent: an essay on a studied Shakespeare play (for example Macbeth or Romeo and Juliet), responding to a CCEA-set theme or task with a focus on themes, character and context.

The skill strands

Because set texts differ by centre and one part is unseen, this site groups the course into transferable skill strands rather than single texts.

  • The study of prose (Unit 1) - analysing character, theme, language, structure and form in a studied prose text, reading setting and atmosphere, reading an unseen nineteenth-century extract, and structuring the prose essay.
  • The study of drama (Unit 2 Section A) - analysing character and relationships, dramatic methods such as stage directions and structure, themes and ideas, modern dramatic context, and structuring the drama essay.
  • The study of poetry (Unit 2 Section B) - reading a poem for voice and theme, analysing poetic methods, reading form and structure, comparing two anthology poems, and structuring the comparison.
  • The study of Shakespeare (Unit 3) - reading Shakespeare's language, analysing his dramatic methods, analysing character and theme, understanding genre and context, and writing the controlled assessment essay.
  • Exam skills and the assessment objectives - what AO1, AO2, AO3 and AO4 reward and how marks are banded.
  • Literary analysis toolkit - embedding quotations and terminology, writing the method-effect point, analysing imagery, structure and form, and planning and timing your answers.

The assessment objectives

Every mark is awarded against the assessment objectives, so mastering them as skills matters more than any single text.

  • AO1 - respond to texts critically and imaginatively, and select and evaluate relevant textual detail to illustrate and support interpretations.
  • AO2 - explain how language, structure and form contribute to writers' presentation of ideas, themes, characters and settings.
  • AO3 - make comparisons and explain links between texts, evaluating writers' differing ways of expressing meaning and achieving effects.
  • AO4 - relate texts to their social, cultural and historical contexts.

AO2 carries the most marks (45 percent) and AO1 the next (40 percent); AO3 (7 percent) is concentrated in the poetry comparison, and AO4 (8 percent) appears in the drama and Shakespeare units, not in Unit 1.

Assessment structure

English Literature is assessed by two written exams and one controlled assessment, and the written units are tiered.

  • Unit 1, The Study of Prose - closed book, 1 hour 45 minutes, 30 percent. A studied-prose essay (AO1, AO2) and an unseen nineteenth-century prose analysis (AO1, AO2).
  • Unit 2, The Study of Drama and Poetry - open book, 2 hours, 50 percent. A studied-drama essay (AO1, AO2, AO4) and a comparison of two anthology poems (AO1, AO2, AO3).
  • Unit 3, The Study of Shakespeare - controlled assessment, 20 percent. An essay on a studied play (AO1, AO2, AO4).

How to study English Literature

This subject rewards analytical skill and a literary vocabulary over memorised plot, because the questions test interpretation and one part is unseen.

  1. Learn texts as evidence, not stories. Know characters, themes and key moments with short, usable quotations, so you can prove an interpretation rather than retell the plot.
  2. Always link method to meaning. Naming a device earns little; explaining how language, structure or form creates meaning and effect is what AO2, the most heavily weighted objective, rewards.
  3. Build the unseen habit. Drill annotating a fresh nineteenth-century prose extract quickly, then writing method-effect points under time pressure.
  4. Practise comparison. For poetry, rehearse comparing two anthology poems on a shared theme, balancing both and comparing like with like, because AO3 lives here.
  5. Prepare Shakespeare and context early. Build the controlled assessment essay around themes, character and the social, cultural and historical context, which AO4 rewards in the drama and Shakespeare units.

The skill strands, dot point by dot point

Each strand has skill-level answer pages with practice questions and cross-links, plus a deep-dive overview guide and a quiz. Browse the full set at /ccea-gcse/english-literature/syllabus, or start from a strand overview:

For the official specification

CCEA publishes the full specification, past papers and mark schemes at ccea.org.uk. Always revise from the current CCEA specification and CCEA's own past papers, because question wording and mark schemes are board-specific.

English Literature guides

In-depth written guides with paired practice quizzes.

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English Literature practice quizzes

Multiple-choice drills with worked answer explanations. Your scores stay on this device.

The CCEA-GCSE system, explained

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Common questions about English Literature

How is CCEA GCSE English Literature structured?
CCEA GCSE English Literature is a unitised course assessed by two external written exams and one controlled assessment. Unit 1, The Study of Prose, is a closed-book 1 hour 45 minute exam worth 30 percent: Section A is an essay on a studied prose text (20 percent) and Section B is an unseen nineteenth-century prose extract (10 percent). Unit 2, The Study of Drama and Poetry, is an open-book 2 hour exam worth 50 percent: Section A is a studied modern drama text (25 percent) and Section B is the CCEA poetry anthology, comparing two poems (25 percent). Unit 3, The Study of Shakespeare, is controlled assessment worth 20 percent.
What are the CCEA GCSE English Literature assessment objectives?
There are four. AO1 is responding to texts critically and imaginatively and selecting and evaluating relevant textual detail to illustrate and support interpretations. AO2 is explaining how language, structure and form contribute to writers' presentation of ideas, themes, characters and settings. AO3 is making comparisons and explaining links between texts, evaluating writers' differing ways of expressing meaning and achieving effects. AO4 is relating texts to their social, cultural and historical contexts. Across the qualification AO2 carries the most marks at 45 percent and AO1 the next at 40 percent, with AO3 at 7 percent and AO4 at 8 percent.
What set texts does CCEA GCSE English Literature use?
Centres choose set texts from CCEA's lists. Prose options for Unit 1 include Of Mice and Men, Lord of the Flies, Animal Farm, To Kill a Mockingbird, About a Boy, How Many Miles to Babylon? and Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha. Drama options for Unit 2 include An Inspector Calls, Blood Brothers, Juno and the Paycock, Philadelphia Here I Come!, Journey's End and Our Town. Shakespeare options for Unit 3 include Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing, The Tempest, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Richard III. Because texts differ by centre, this site teaches transferable analysis rather than one text.
What is the unseen part of CCEA GCSE English Literature?
The unseen text is a prose extract, not a poem. Unit 1 Section B gives an unseen nineteenth-century prose extract to analyse and evaluate, testing AO1 and AO2 on a text you have not studied; you are advised to spend the first fifteen minutes reading it. The poetry section in Unit 2 is on the studied CCEA anthology and asks you to compare two anthology poems, so it is not unseen. Because the prose extract is unseen, you revise the analytical skill and a literary vocabulary, not memorised notes.
Is CCEA GCSE English Literature tiered, and how is it graded?
The written units are tiered, offered at Foundation Tier and Higher Tier, so a centre enters each candidate for the tier that suits them. CCEA grades GCSE English Literature on the A* to G scale, which includes a C* grade between C and B following the 2019 realignment, rather than the 9 to 1 scale used by some English boards. Higher Tier targets the top grades and Foundation Tier the middle and lower grades, with overlap in the middle.
How should I revise CCEA GCSE English Literature?
Revise the analytical habit, not just plot. For set texts, learn characters, themes and key moments with short quotations, and rehearse analysing how language, structure and form create meaning and effect. For the unseen prose extract, drill annotating a fresh nineteenth-century text quickly and writing method-effect points. For poetry, practise comparing two anthology poems on a shared theme, because AO3 lives here. Prepare the Shakespeare controlled assessment early, focusing on themes, character and context. Work CCEA past papers and mark schemes to time, because question wording and banding are board-specific.