WJEC A-Level English Language and Literature: complete guide to the components and exams

WJEC A-Level English Language and Literature (Wales) is the integrated study of language and literature, assessed by examinations on poetry and Shakespeare and on the comparative analysis of unseen texts, plus a non-exam assessment. This page is the index: below is a map of the components, the integrated method, the assessment objectives, and how to study each one.

The integrated approach

This qualification is built on one idea: language and literature are studied together. You apply linguistic and literary concepts and terminology to analyse and interpret texts, and to produce your own writing. Linguistic precision supplies the evidence and literary insight supplies the interpretation, so every analysis shows how a specific choice creates a specific effect. The language levels (phonology, graphology, lexis and semantics, grammar and morphology, pragmatics and discourse) are the systematic toolkit that makes this analysis precise.

The components

The A level combines examined components with a non-exam assessment.

Poetry and Shakespeare

The Pre-1914 Poetry Anthology and one Shakespeare play, assessed through analysing poetic methods, comparing anthology poems (AO4), and an extract-based Shakespeare question that links the extract to the whole play.

Comparative analysis of texts

A detailed comparison of three unseen texts of different genres and periods, linked by content, theme or style, one of which is spoken language. It foregrounds AO4 and the reading of genre, audience, purpose and viewpoint.

The non-exam assessment

A critical genre study analysing a chosen genre across set and wider reading, plus creative writing in that genre (one literary and one non-literary piece), worth about 20 percent.

The assessment objectives

Five objectives run through every component. AO1 rewards integrated method and accurate terminology; AO2 rewards analysing how meaning is shaped; AO3 rewards context of production and reception; AO4 rewards connections across texts; AO5 rewards multiple interpretations. The higher grades come from integrating these, not ticking them separately.

Exam structure

WJEC A-Level English Language and Literature is assessed by examined components and a non-exam assessment.

• Poetry and Shakespeare - analysing poetic methods, comparing anthology poems (AO4), and an extract-based Shakespeare question linking extract to whole play.
• Comparative analysis of texts - a connective comparison of three unseen texts, one spoken, integrating method and the reading of genre, audience and purpose.
• The language and literary methods - the integrated method, the language levels, prose fiction analysis and context, underpinning every component.
• Non-exam assessment - a critical genre study and two creative writing pieces, informed by wider reading and referenced accurately.

How to study this subject

English Language and Literature rewards precise, integrated analysis tied to the question over description of content.

1. Master the toolkit. Learn the language levels and the integrated method until analysis is automatic.
2. Treat method as meaning. Show what a form, structure, sound or dramatic technique does, never just label it.
3. Compare by point. In the unseen comparison, hold texts together on shared ideas, including the spoken text.
4. Read speech as speech. Analyse transcript features as meaningful, not as errors.
5. Build the NEA early. Read widely, argue a genre thesis, and reference accurately to your centre's brief.

The components and skills, topic by topic

Each component has a topic-level overview with worked exam questions and cross-links, plus dot-point answer pages for each skill and method.

For the official specification

WJEC publishes the full specification, prescribed texts, past papers and mark schemes at wjec.co.uk. Always revise from the current specification and WJEC's own past papers, because task style and set texts are board-specific.