Key Stage 5
English Language (GCE A Level)
Introduction
The English Language A Level course is designed to enable you to develop and apply your understanding of the concepts and methods appropriate for the analysis and study of the English language. You will develop your own skills as producers and interpreters of language.
You will have the opportunity for independent investigation work related to language in use from a range of contexts. You will study the changes in English Language from the past to the present day; children’s acquisition of language; the use of language in different regions and groups and the way language might be used to assert power and shape social groups. You will look at both written and spoken language and some multi-modal language.
Progression Opportunities
English Language A level provides a basis for further specific study in higher education or provides a qualification that can be used to support other qualifications for access to other areas of study. Many of our students use English Language A-Level as a qualification for entry into higher education. Career routes that may follow from the study of English Language include: journalism and the media; childcare and teaching; publishing; advertising; legal work and any job where there is an emphasis on communication.
Programme of Study
First Year Units
Language Diversity: this unit studies the way different groups in society use language in different ways. These groups might be regional, social, occupational or gender groups.
Language and the Individual: this unit studies the way that language can be used to represent different people or groups and the ways that individuals use language to express themselves.
Both units teach you terminology and concepts about language use that you can apply to texts.
Second Year Units
Units in the second year are the same topics as those in the first year but with additional concepts and content built on. For example, language change over time, child language acquisition and your own journalistic writing are studied in Year 13 as well as undertaking a language investigation into a topic of your choice.
Study methods
A wide range of learning and study methods will be employed ranging from direct teaching; group work; discussion and independent investigative work. Teaching is shared between two members of the department.
Method of Assessment
The course is 80% exam and 20% coursework.
Entry Recommendations
You should have achieved a sound GCSE in English: C minimum but ideally at grade B or higher
Qualification
GCE A Level English Language
Awarding Body
AQA
English Literature (GCE A Level)
Introduction
The English Literature A Level course is designed to enable you to develop awareness and appreciation of a range of literary forms, genres and texts. If you have enjoyed the study and analysis of English Literature in the past and enjoy reading widely then this subject is likely to be for you. You will have the opportunity for independent investigation work on novels, poetry and drama. You will extend your ideas through reading in breadth and depth and through writing, presentations and discussion. You will develop your own skills in analysing and comparing texts and their contexts. You will investigate texts of different genres or periods.
Progression Opportunities
English Literature A-level is a facilitating subject and provides a basis for further specific study in higher education or provides a qualification that can be used to support other qualifications for access to other areas of study. Many of our students use English Literature A-Level as a qualification for entry into higher education. Career routes that may follow from the study of English Literature include: journalism and the media; teaching; publishing; advertising; legal work and any job where there is an emphasis on reading background materials and interpreting them. It is highly respected as a subject by many academic institutions.
Programme of Study
First Year Units –
Literary genres: this unit studies several texts from the genre of tragedy or comedy, looking at what the common features of this genre are and how writers from different periods and in different contexts have interpreted and created works in this genre. You will study a Shakespeare play, another drama and either a novel or poetry.
You will analyse the techniques used by writers and the effects they create as well as their intended themes and ideas as well as the ways that the contexts they write in have shaped their work. You will develop the skills to confidently interpret literary works and the technical knowledge of how they are constructed.
Second Year Units
The second year units build on the ones studied in Year 12 by adding further content to them and introducing a coursework element.
Elements of crime or elements of political and social protest: this unit looks at one of these genres, studying several forms and texts. You will explore the ways in which writers have shaped the genre and used literature for political means.
Coursework: wider reading about critical theory is used here to interpret chosen texts through the lens of feminist, Marxist or other literary criticism.
Study methods
A wide range of learning and study methods will be employed, ranging from direct teaching; group work; discussion and independent investigative work. Teaching is shared between two members of the department.
Method of Assessment
80% exam and 20% coursework
Entry Recommendations
You should have achieved a sound GCSE in English Language. A minimum of a C but ideally a grade B or higher and also have your GCSE in English Literature
Qualification
GCE A Level English Literature
Awarding Body
AQA
Media Studies (GCE A Level)
Introduction
Most of the information we receive from the world is mediated – it is selected and organised in particular ways before it is re-presented to us. A large proportion of this information comes from the mass media: television, radio, the Internet, the press and many other forms, many of which have developed rapidly over the last few years due to the boom in digital technology. In Media Studies you learn to read media texts across this broad range, and understand the real messages behind these varied products, and the reasons why they have been produced this way.
The Media Studies course develops creative and practical skills; students produce media texts using video, photography and desktop publishing technology. However, it is also an academic subject with written analytical essay answers and an independently researched topical essay in Year 13. It is a theoretical and analytical subject covering political, social and current affairs so this will aid a range of other subjects and careers where insight, critical analysis and hypothesising, as well as reading and extended written communication are involved.
Progression Opportunities
As well as providing a grounding for students who wish to enter a career in media areas such as television, radio, film or web production, Media Studies is excellent for developing critical, analytical and creative skills. It is therefore a good choice for students who wish to study Drama, Art or English Literature courses at university, as well as courses directly linked to the media such as journalism or film studies. Moreover, as the course requires students to look in depth at the factors influencing how media texts precisely target their audiences, it is a useful choice for students who wish to enter a career in business or marketing.
Programme of Study
First Year Units – AS Qualifications
MEST 1: Exam based unit in which you watch or read an unseen media text, analysing the way it has been constructed and the underlying messages it sends. You also undertake a broad case study on one area of the media for example documentaries, reality TV or crime drama.
MEST 2: Practical coursework unit in which you have to produce two or three media products using your own technical and creative skills. You must also write an analysis of the practical work, evaluating its strengths and weaknesses.
AS Level
MEST 3: Exam based unit in which you answer questions comparing two unseen media texts and then answer a question about either identities and the media, or the impact of new technology and digital media. This unit requires a broad knowledge of the media industry, a range of forms and genres as well as current affairs.
MEST 4: Coursework unit in which students produce an independent essay investigation into a media area or issue of your own choice, for example the debate about privacy laws or the ways a genre has reinvented itself. Following this you produce a linked practical production piece of your own choice.
Study methods
A range of study methods are used from independent research and presentations, to discussion, group work and written responses. Practical skills are built by presenting learning in practical ways as well as traditional essays.
Method of Assessment
50% exam and 50% coursework in both years. Exams are essay based.
Entry Recommendations
A minimum of grade C in GCSE English Language.
Qualification
GCE A Level English Literature
Awarding Body AQA