Literary Texts to Read in Preparation for GCSE English (AQA & Edexcel)
Updated: Apr 24, 2022
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