Literary Texts to Read in Preparation for GCSE English (AQA & Edexcel)

Unless stated otherwise, all the literature texts listed are used by both examination boards.

William Shakespeare

• Macbeth

• Romeo & Juliet

• Much Ado About Nothing

• The Merchant of Venice

• The Tempest

• Julius Caesar | AQA

• Twelfth Night | Edexcel

19th century novels and prose

• Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol

• Charles Dickens - Great Expectations

• Jane Austen - Pride and Prejudice

• Mary Shelley - Frankenstein

• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

• Robert Louis Stevenson - The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde

• Arthur Conan Doyle - The Sign of Four | AQA

• George Eliot - Silas Marner | Edexcel

Modern drama texts

• J.B Priestley - An Inspector Calls

• Willy Russell - Blood Brothers

• Alan Bennett - The History Boys | AQA

• Dennis Kelly - DNA | AQA

• Mark Haddon / Simon Stephens - Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time | AQA

• Shelagh Delaney - A Taste of Honey | AQA

• Tanika Gupta - The Empress | Edexcel

• Benjamin Zephaniah - Refugee Boy (adapted by Lemn Sissay) | Edexcel

• Harold Brighouse - Hobson’s Choice | Edexcel

• RC Sherriff - Journey’s End | Edexcel

Modern prose texts

• William Golding - Lord of the Flies

• George Orwell - Animal Farm

• Meera Syal - Anita & Me

• Kazuo Ishiguro - Never Let Me Go | AQA

• Pigeon English - Stephen Kelman | AQA

• Jamila Gavin - Coram Boy | Edexcel

• Malorie Blackman - Boys Don’t Cry | Edexcel

• Susan Hill - Woman in Black | Edexcel

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