This page has links to documents which describe the secondary school curriculum for English and Literacy. These include National Curriculum Programmes of Study, the draft National Literacy Strategy framework in Key Stage 3, and syllabuses (now called specifications) and related documents for public examinations at GCSE (the General Certificate of Secondary Education) and GCE (General Certificate of Education) at Advanced (A2) and Advanced Supplementary (AS) level.

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The National Curriculum

The National Curriculum (NC) applies to state schools in England and Wales. It has been revised several times, and is now in its third version. To see the current requirements for English in England, click on the appropriate links below:

• Go to the NC Web site English homepage
• Go to the NC for English as a portable document file (.pdf).
• Go to the NC for English as a .pdf with colour.
• Go to the NC guidance on Language for Learning at Key Stage 3

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The draft National Literacy Strategy framework for KS3

The National Literacy Strategy has been a part of teaching at Key Stages 1 and 2 for several years. It is now to be introduced to Key Stage 3. A draft of the guidance document is now available.

• Go to the draft National Literacy Strategy framework for Key Stage 3

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GCSE English

Since its first appearance the National Curriculum has undergone many radical changes. Whenever this happens, all teachers and some children will be caught in a transition period. For a year or more, they may be teaching the old version to one class and the new version to another. This happened recently for GCSE classes.

In England and Wales there are several exam boards which set exams in English at GCSE. Below you will find links to the specifications for GCSE, along with examiners' reports, exam papers and marking advice, from one such board - the AQA. This is the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance, which is formed by two regional exam boards (the AEB and NEAB). As part of a pilot scheme the AQA/NEAB has placed the 1998 examining materials into the public domain. You will find links below to the relevant documents. The new specifications were examined for the first time in 2004.

• Go to the current AQA specification A for English
• Go to the current AQA specification B for English
• Go to the current AQA mature student specification for English
• Go to the current Edexcel specifications for English and literature
• Go to the current OCR specification for English

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GCSE English literature

Literature is a compulsory part of English, which is a core subject in the National Curriculum - so everyone must take an assessed course (GCSE or other certificate) in English at 16 (It's not called “English language” because it includes this element of literature study). English literature (as a GCSE subject on its own) is optional within the National Curriculum (of course, it may still be part of the compulsory curriculum at any particular school).

• Go to the current AQA specification A for English literature
• Go to the current AQA specification B for English literature
• Go to the current Edexcel specifications for English and literature
• Go to the current OCR specification for English

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GCE Advanced and Advanced Supplementary English language

Below you will find links to a range of specifications and related documents for Advanced (A2) and Advanced Supplementary (AS) qualifications in English language.

• Go to the AQA specification A for English language
• Go to the AQA specification B for English language
• Go to the AQA examiners' reports for English language A
• Go to the AQA examiners' reports for English language B
• Go to Edexcel's GCE English language materials
• Go to OCR's GCE English language materials
• Go to WJEC's GCE English language materials

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GCE Advanced and Advanced Supplementary English literature

Below you will find links to a range of specifications and related documents for Advanced (A2) and Advanced Supplementary (AS) qualifications in English literature.

• Go to the AQA specification A for English literature
• Go to the AQA specification B for English literature
• Go to the AQA examiners' reports for English literature A
• Go to the AQA examiners' reports for English literature B
• Go to Edexcel's GCE English literature materials
• Go to OCR's GCE English literature materials
• Go to WJEC's GCE English literature materials

GCE combined language and literature courses

Below you will find links to a range of specifications and related documents for Advanced (A2) and Advanced Supplementary (AS) qualifications in English language and literature.

• Go to the AQA specification A for English language and literature
• Go to the AQA specification B for English language and literature
• Go to the AQA examiners' reports for English language and literature A
• Go to the AQA examiners' reports for English language and literature B
• Go to Edexcel's GCE English language and literature materials
• Go to OCR's GCE English language and literature materials
• Go to WJEC's GCE English language and literature materials

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Useful Web sites

In order to find up-to-date information about assessed courses, you should consult the Web sites of the relevant bodies. Broadly these can be split into public and government organizations, and examining boards, which are private companies or charities.

Government, public sector and related sites

• Go to www.dfes.gov.uk DfES (formerly DfEE) - Department for Education and Skills
• Go to www.standards.dfee.gov.uk DfES standards site
• Go to www.standards.dfee.gov.uk/literacy National Literacy Strategy
• Go to www.nc.uk.net The National Curriculum Online
• Go to www.ofsted.gov.uk the Office for Standards in Education
• Go to www.qca.org.uk the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority
• Go to www.canteach.gov.uk Teacher Training Agency
• Go to www.vtc.ngfl.gov.uk Virtual Teacher Centre

Examining boards

• Go to www.aqa.org.uk the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA)
• Go to www.edexcel.org.uk Edexcel
• Go to www.ocr.org.uk Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Examinations (OCR)
• Go to www.wjec.co.uk Cyd-Bwyllgor Addysg Cymru (CBAC)
• Go to www.wjec.co.uk the Welsh Joint Education Committee (WJEC)

Reader and viewer software

• Get Adobe Acrobat reader from Adobe Systems
• Get Microsoft Word viewer from www.microsoft.com

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This page has links to various resources which have been placed in the public domain by the owners of the copyright. The relevant copyright information is asserted by the owners on each document and/or on their Web sites. You may not use these documents for any commercial gain. You should seek the permission of the copyright owners if you wish to distribute or otherwise use these documents.

Please acknowledge my authorship by giving the URL of any pages you use, and/or include the © copyright symbol. Suggestions for improvement are welcome. Thank you.

© Andrew Moore, 2000, 2004; Contact me

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