nea coursework english literature examples

Get the Reddit app

Verified Discord Partner

A place for sixth formers to speak to others about work, A-levels, results, problems in education and general sixth form life, as well as university applications and UCAS.

I attached pics of my eng NEA. I received 24/25 marks (averaged to 96%)

I remember being in desperate need for help with english lit coursework for A Level and literally coukdnt find a single example. This isn’t perfect of course but it’s pretty decent. I hope it helps anyone doing english lit as one of their A levels!!!

Also if you don’t believe me lmao PM me and I’ll send a pic for proof!

By continuing, you agree to our User Agreement and acknowledge that you understand the Privacy Policy .

Enter the 6-digit code from your authenticator app

You’ve set up two-factor authentication for this account.

Enter a 6-digit backup code

Create your username and password.

Reddit is anonymous, so your username is what you’ll go by here. Choose wisely—because once you get a name, you can’t change it.

Reset your password

Enter your email address or username and we’ll send you a link to reset your password

Check your inbox

An email with a link to reset your password was sent to the email address associated with your account

Choose a Reddit account to continue

This website works best with JavaScript switched on. Please enable JavaScript

• Centre Services
• Associate Extranet
• All About Maths

AS and A-level English Literature A

• Specification
• Planning resources
• Teaching resources
• Assessment resources
• Introduction
• Specification at a glance
• 3.1 Love through the ages
• 4.1 Love through the ages
• 4.2 Texts in shared contexts
• 4.3 Independent critical study: texts across time
• Scheme of assessment

Non-exam assessment administration (A-level only)

• General administration

The non-exam assessment (NEA) for the A-level specification only is 'Independent critical study: texts across time', and consists of one extended essay and a bibliography.

Visit aqa.org.uk/7712 for detailed information about all aspects of NEA administration.

The head of the school or college is responsible for making sure that NEA is conducted in line with our instructions and Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) instructions.

Supervising and authenticating

To meet Ofqual's qualification and subject criteria:

• students must sign the Candidate record form to confirm that the work submitted is their own
• all teachers who have marked a student’s work must sign the declaration of authentication on the Candidate record form. This is to confirm that the work is solely that of the student concerned and was conducted under the conditions laid down by this specification
• teachers must ensure that a Candidate record form is attached to each student’s work.

Students must have sufficient direct supervision to ensure that the work submitted can be confidently authenticated as their own. This means that you must review the progress of the work during research, planning and throughout its production to see how it evolves.

You may provide guidance and support to students so that they are clear about the requirements of the task they need to undertake and the marking criteria on which the work will be judged. You may also provide guidance to students on the suitability of their proposed task, particularly if it means they will not meet the requirements of the marking criteria.

When checking drafts of a student’s work, you must not comment or provide suggestions on how they could improve it. However, you can ask questions about the way they are approaching their work and you can highlight the requirements of the marking criteria.

If a student receives any additional assistance which is acceptable within the further guidance that is provided for this specification, you should award a mark that represents the student’s unaided achievement. Please make a note of the support the student received on the Candidate record form. This will allow the moderator to see whether the student has been awarded an appropriate mark. Please note that you should sign the authentication statement on the Candidate record form. If the statement is not signed, we cannot accept the student’s work for assessment.

Once a student submits work for marking and it has been marked, you cannot return it to the student for improvement, even if they have not received any feedback or are unaware of the marks awarded.

Further guidance on setting, supervising, authenticating and marking work is available on the subject pages of our website and through teacher standardisation.

Avoiding malpractice

Please inform your students of the AQA regulations concerning malpractice. They must not:

• submit work that is not their own
• lend work to other students
• allow other students access to, or use of, their own independently-sourced source material
• include work copied directly from books, the Internet or other sources without acknowledgement
• submit work that is word-processed by a third person without acknowledgement
• include inappropriate, offensive or obscene material.

These actions constitute malpractice and a penalty will be given (for example, disqualification).

If you identify malpractice before the student signs the declaration of authentication, you don’t need to report it to us. Please deal with it in accordance with your school or college’s internal procedures. We expect schools and colleges to treat such cases very seriously.

If you identify malpractice after the student has signed the declaration of authentication, the head of your school or college must submit full details of the case to us at the earliest opportunity. Please complete the form JCQ/M1, available from the JCQ website at jcq.org.uk

You must record details of any work which is not the student’s own on the Candidate record form or other appropriate place.

You should consult your exams officer about these procedures.

Teacher standardisation

We will provide support for using the marking criteria and developing appropriate tasks through teacher standardisation.

For further information about teacher standardisation visit our website at aqa.org.uk/7712

In the following situations teacher standardisation is essential. We will send you an invitation to complete teacher standardisation if:

• moderation from the previous year indicates a serious misinterpretation of the requirements
• a significant adjustment was made to the marks in the previous year
• your school or college is new to this specification.

For further support and advice please speak to your adviser. Email your subject team at [email protected] for details of your adviser.

Internal standardisation

You must ensure that you have consistent marking standards for all students. One person must manage this process and they must sign the Centre declaration sheet to confirm that internal standardisation has taken place.

Internal standardisation may involve:

• all teachers marking some sample pieces of work to identify differences in marking standards
• discussing any differences in marking at a training meeting for all teachers involved
• referring to reference and archive material, such as previous work or examples from our teacher standardisation.

To meet Ofqual’s qualification and subject criteria, you must show clearly how marks have been awarded against the marking criteria in this specification.

Your annotation will help the moderator see, as precisely as possible, where you think the students have met the marking criteria.

Work can be annotated using either or both of the following methods:

• flagging evidence in the margins or in the text
• summative comments, referencing precise sections in the work.

Submitting marks

You should check that the correct marks for each of the marking criteria are written on the Candidate record form and that the total mark is correct.

The deadline for submitting the total mark for each student is given at aqa.org.uk/keydates

Factors affecting individual students

For advice and guidance about arrangements for any of your students, please email us as early as possible at [email protected]

Occasional absence: you should be able to accept the occasional absence of students by making sure they have the chance to make up what they have missed. You may organise an alternative supervised session for students who were absent at the time you originally arranged.

Lost work: if work is lost you must tell us how and when it was lost and who was responsible, using our special consideration online service at aqa.org.uk/eaqa

Special help: where students need special help which goes beyond normal learning support, please use the Candidate record form to tell us so that this help can be taken into account during moderation.

Students who move schools: students who move from one school or college to another during the course sometimes need additional help to meet the requirements. How you deal with this depends on when the move takes place. If it happens early in the course, the new school or college should be responsible for the work. If it happens late in the course, it may be possible to arrange for the moderator to assess the work as a student who was ‘Educated Elsewhere’.

Keeping students' work

Students’ work must be kept under secure conditions from the time that it is marked, with Candidate record forms attached. After the moderation period and the deadline for Enquiries about Results (or once any enquiry is resolved) you may return the work to students.

You must send all your students' marks to us by the date given at aqa.org.uk/deadlines . You will be asked to send a sample of your students' NEA evidence to your moderator.

You must show clearly how marks have been awarded against the assessment criteria in this specification. Your comments must help the moderator see, as precisely as possible, where you think the students have met the assessment criteria. You must:

• record your comments on the Candidate Record Form (CRF)
• check that the correct marks are written on the CRF and that the total is correct.

The moderator re-marks a sample of the evidence and compares this with the marks you have provided to check whether any changes are needed to bring the marking in line with our agreed standards. Any changes to marks will normally keep your rank order but, where major inconsistencies are found, we reserve the right to change the rank order.

School and college consortia

If you are in a consortium of schools or colleges with joint teaching arrangements (where students from different schools and colleges have been taught together but entered through the school or college at which they are on roll), you must let us know by:

• filling in the Application for Centre Consortium Arrangements for centre-assessed work , which is available from the JCQ website jcq.org.uk
• appointing a consortium co-ordinator who can speak to us on behalf of all schools and colleges in the consortium. If there are different co-ordinators for different specifications, a copy of the form must be sent in for each specification.

We will allocate the same moderator to all schools and colleges in the consortium and treat the students as a single group for moderation.

After moderation

We will return your students’ work to you after the exams. You will also receive a report when the results are issued, which will give feedback on the appropriateness of the tasks set, interpretation of the marking criteria and how students performed in general.

We will give you the final marks when the results are issued.

To meet Ofqual requirements, as well as for awarding, archiving or standardisation purposes, we may need to keep some of your students’ work. We will let you know if we need to do this.

Task 2: How To Get Full Marks ( OCR A Level English Literature )

Revision note.

Task 2: How To Get Full Marks

Regardless of which texts you choose, the type of question set for the comparative essay task should always prompt you to compare or contrast how the writers present a key concern in their texts.

It is tempting to jump straight in and start writing immediately. However, following this guide will ensure you answer the question in the way the examiners are looking for.

Below you will find sections on:

What skills are required

Steps for success.

This task for the NEA is unusual as there is no dominant Assessment Objective. All five objectives are assessed and are equally weighted. For a detailed exploration of the skills required for AO1 (presenting a response) and AO2 (critical analysis), please see our notes on  How To Get Full Marks  in Task 1.

The following sections explore the other skills you will need to demonstrate mastery of in more detail:

Incorporating context (AO3)

Making comparisons (AO4)

Exploring interpretations (AO5)

It is important to remember that incorporating context does not mean memorising large chunks of historical material and reproducing this in your answer. Instead, contextual exploration must be woven into your comparative analysis in an integrated manner, and must always be linked to both the texts and the focus of the question. “Context” can be understood in a variety of ways.

It is a good idea to start your answer by giving the examiner a working definition of the key focus in the question. This means demonstrating to the examiner that you understand what the key focus means. For example, if the proposition asks you to compare the presentation of immoral behaviour, then start your response by demonstrating to the examiner that you understand what immoral behaviour means in the context of both texts.

You should also set out from the start which texts you are going to use for your comparison and your position in relation to the proposition.

Literary context

Depending on your chosen texts, you may wish to consider conventions “typical” to that type of text, but again with the caveat that concentrating on a pre-prepared list of “features” typical to the genre will not gain extra credit unless you remain specifically focused on the question.

For example, here are some typical genre features and contextual considerations for the following forms of text. This list is by no means exhaustive:

Epic Poem (poetry)

Tragedy (drama)

Comedic play (drama)

Epistolary novel (prose)

Social, political and historical contexts

When considering the social, political and historical context of a text you might consider:

The political context in which it was produced

The social context in which it was produced

The ways in which the text would have been transmitted, performed or read

The biographical circumstances of the writer

Attitudes of readers or audiences at the time of first production

AO3 asks you to consider and explore the contexts in which literary texts are written and understood. You might therefore find the following questions useful to consider:

Context also applies to criticism. As you read criticism of your texts, you need to understand the context of criticism, since each critic is from their own era and is influenced by assumptions and attitudes of that era. Each of these critics has to be viewed as being influenced by a range of contexts, changing philosophical/intellectual attitudes, and changing methods of transmission (such as conventions of theatrical performance, or ways of writing/printing or producing texts).

AO4 requires an integrated comparative analysis of the relationships between texts. This means that you are required to explore contrasts, connections and comparisons between your different literary texts, including the ways in which the texts relate both to one another and to literary traditions, movements and genres. The best responses pick up on the prompt words within the task and then select material accordingly. In this way, by sustaining a coherent, question-focused argument throughout, comparison becomes a technique through which the texts can be used to shed light on each other, both in terms of similarities and differences.

The example below shows how you might begin to approach comparing A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams and Tender Is The Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald, based on the following task:

Interpretations (AO5)

An exploration of different interpretations should always be woven into your comparison, never set apart from it or added as an after-thought. Different interpretations could include:

Reference to recognised critics

Different theatrical interpretations of drama (in which you discuss different directors’ presentations or different actors’ portrayals)

Exploring a text in relation to concepts of the genre (such as tragedy)

Developing a theoretical approach to the study of the text (feminist, Marxist, etc.)

Different interpretations of texts produced through rewriting or television/film adaptations

You can also develop your argument by  linking your points :

Think of a point of comparison between your texts

Next, come up with a personal and creative response to the comparison

Then inform or support your response with different interpretations (AO5)

O5 is often the most limited in candidate responses. To achieve a confident response, it is important that you are able to challenge different views of texts, or balance different readings against each other, in order to explore their implications in relation to the focus of the task. Alternatively, you might select your own range of references from the text that support a critic’s view, and then develop it. For example, you might use a critic’s comment on a writer as the foundation for your discussion, and then back this up with an exploration of a film or theatrical adaptation. These approaches are much more successful than just inserting a quotation from a critic, especially at the end of a paragraph as a substitute for argument.

To do well in this task, you need to be extremely familiar and confident with both of the texts, and have done your research thoroughly in preparation for your essay. Completing the steps below first will ensure you complete this task in the way that examiners are looking for:

Do your research:

OCR have an online Text and Task tool that students are able to use in the research stage of the NEA

It can be useful to see what other candidates have written about in order to help you formulate your own work

Your teacher is able to make amendments or additions to any text or task submission until the deadline of 31st January (in the year of examination)

Decide on which two texts you are going to compare and collaborate with your teacher on the wording of the task:

This may be dictated by your centre, although the exam board do encourage independence and creativity in your choice of text

The task should be kept simple, but should clearly set out what is expected, focusing on the “writing” of the texts

Plan and draft your response:

Give yourself plenty of time for this

Do not leave this until the last minute and without any time for amendments or improvements

Begin your essay with an initial overview of the texts related directly to the task, indicating the reasons for comparison

Include a brief reference to relevant contexts

Note down the relevant points of comparison you will be making and the different interpretations you will be exploring – these should become your paragraph topic sentences

Demonstrate your understanding of the texts through the careful selection of key references and quotations

Balance your paragraphs between the two texts

Challenge different views of the texts, or balance different readings against each other, in order to explore implications

Take time to carefully proofread and refine your work

Re-read, refine and improve:

Use feedback to make changes and improve the strength of your response

Re-read and check your work for overall sense and accuracy before final submission (AO1)

You've read 0 of your 10 free revision notes

Get unlimited access.

to absolutely everything:

• Downloadable PDFs
• Unlimited Revision Notes
• Topic Questions
• Past Papers
• Model Answers
• Videos (Maths and Science)

Join the 100,000 + Students that ❤️ Save My Exams

the (exam) results speak for themselves:

Did this page help you?

Author: Deb Orrock

Deb is a graduate of Lancaster University and The University of Wolverhampton. After some time travelling and a successful career in the travel industry, she re-trained in education, specialising in literacy. She has over 16 years’ experience of working in education, teaching English Literature, English Language, Functional Skills English, ESOL and on Access to HE courses. She has also held curriculum and quality manager roles, and worked with organisations on embedding literacy and numeracy into vocational curriculums. She most recently managed a post-16 English curriculum as well as writing educational content and resources.

English Literature - NEA coursework

Quick Reply

Related discussions.

• Nea aqa english lit coursework
• OCR A Level English Literature 2022
• A-Level English Lit. Coursework
• Appealing NEA
• English Lit vs Politics vs History A-Level
• I failed my English Literature Coursework
• English Literature NEA coursework
• NEA English Lit
• I did badly in my English literature coursework (edexcel)
• A-level English Literature NEA course work help
• AQA English Literature NEA Help!!!
• english literature coursework
• A-level literature coursework
• Edexcel english literature a level coursework panic
• Help (ALEVEL history NEA)
• English literature coursework NEA
• Would I be able to get another teacher to verify my NEA?
• alevel english lit or english lang? pls help
• 2019 A-Level English Lit Grade Boundaries 7712B?

Last reply 12 hours ago

Last reply 16 hours ago

Last reply 1 day ago

Last reply 4 days ago

Last reply 5 days ago

Last reply 1 week ago

Last reply 2 weeks ago

Last reply 1 month ago

Last reply 2 months ago

Articles for you

Students react after GCSE English Literature Paper 2 on 20 May 2024

Students react after GCSE English Literature Paper 1 on 13 May 2024

Students react after A-level English Literature Paper 3 on 14 June 2024

Students react after A-level English Literature Paper 2 on 5 June 2024

• International
• Education Jobs
• Schools directory
• Resources Education Jobs Schools directory News Search

English Literature, A Level, A* FULL MARKS Coursework - 'The Handmaid's Tale & Atonement'

Subject: English

Age range: 16+

Resource type: Unit of work

Last updated

16 January 2024

• Share through email
• Share through twitter
• Share through linkedin
• Share through facebook
• Share through pinterest

A* exemplar full marks, 80/80 A Level WJEC Eduqas English Literature coursework .

• Comparision essay between Atwood’s ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ and McEwan’s ‘Atonement’. Pre and post 2000’s texts comparison.
• Bibliography included alongside full references.
• Both texts are explored in large detail, covering all assessment objectives, including quotations and analysis, comparison, contextual points and critic quotes/ evaluation.
• Resource would be **invaluble **for studying either texts, or for an example of Eduqas’ A level coursework NEA component.

3,667 word essay, exploring question ‘In both texts, women are portrayed as intrinsically destructive.’ To what extent could you apply this view of the representation of women and power to both Atonement and A Handmaid’s Tale?

Tes paid licence How can I reuse this?

Your rating is required to reflect your happiness.

It's good to leave some feedback.

Something went wrong, please try again later.

This resource hasn't been reviewed yet

To ensure quality for our reviews, only customers who have purchased this resource can review it

Report this resource to let us know if it violates our terms and conditions. Our customer service team will review your report and will be in touch.

Not quite what you were looking for? Search by keyword to find the right resource:

OCR homepage

Administration

• Active Results
• Interchange
• Submit for Assessment
• Teach Cambridge
• ExamBuilder
• Online Support Centre

Main navigation

Summer 2022 nea: a level english literature.

• Sign up for email updates
• OCR on Twitter
• OCR on Instagram
• OCR on Facebook
• OCR on LinkedIn
• OCR YouTube channel
• Latest OCR blog posts

Isobel Woodger, OCR English Subject Advisor

Here at OCR we’ve had lots of queries from centres in recent weeks about marking coursework, or non-exam assessment (NEA). For A Level English Literature (H472), this means Component 3: Literature post-1900.

There have been questions about how to apply the mark scheme. This isn’t surprising as it hasn’t been assessed for two years, so a larger number of teachers than normal will be submitting marks for moderation for the first time. We’ve also had questions about administrative requirements, and most particularly about whether any allowances should be made when marking for the abnormal and difficult circumstances many students have had to contend with while completing their assignments. 

Regarding that last point, the JCQ (Joint Council for Qualifications) has recently released guidance , which makes it clear that all NEA must be marked in the same way as before the pandemic disruption. This is really important, as it will help ensure that all students’ work is marked to the same standards. 

As the JCQ guidance also says, the 2022 grading process that takes place after marking, when the grade boundaries are set, will provide a safety net. So please don’t think that by marking your students’ work to pre-pandemic standards this year, you are in any way doing them an injustice. (For more on 2022 grading, please see this Ofqual article from September last year.) 

In the light of that recent JCQ announcement, and the queries we’ve had from you, we thought it would be helpful to provide a quick summary of the support available to ensure that you are marking to the correct standard.

Guides to applying the mark scheme

There are several resources that will help you have confidence in your application of the mark scheme for H472:

• A free on-line standardisation course is available on OCR Train . This can be completed in your own time and includes a series of tests designed to ensure that you are correctly allocating levels to pieces of work. 
• We have our Teacher Guide for Literature post-1900 as well as a guide on task setting available on our Assessment page , under the NEA banner. 
• Our examiners’ reports and candidate exemplars are also available on our Assessment page , both of which contain helpful guidance in determining appropriate levels for Tasks 1 and Task 2. 
• Each year we run CPD sessions on marking H472/03, which include additional exemplar scripts as well as advice and guidance. You can access the materials from past courses on the CPD section of our website .

Administrative points to remember

General information on NEA administration is available on our website . There is a candidate cover sheet on the Administration section of our English Language web page. 

For A Level English Language specifically there are a couple of points to remember:

• All titles chosen by students entering H472 this summer needed to be formally approved by us (we ask you to submit them by 31st January). This is done by using the Text and task tool on our website. If you’re preparing for next year’s cohort, a guide to using the tool is available. 
• The two tasks must cover the study of three whole texts: a poetry, prose and drama text . All of these must be first performed or published after 1900, with at least one first performed or published in or after 2000. 
• No core set texts from the specification may be used , even if these are not studied for the exam. (Suggested texts in Component 2 can be used if not being prepared for use in examinations.) Likewise, no texts in translation are permitted . 
• If you are not sure whether you have approval for all your students’ titles this year, please email us at [email protected] and we’ll be happy to check!

Looking forward to next year’s cohort

We hope that your students enjoy researching and writing their investigations for H472. This independent study remains an important part of A Level English Literature, helping to develop important independent study skills, as well as enabling students to study texts of real personal interest. Each year we’re always thrilled to see new texts and combinations that students are passionate about. 

We have written a blog post exploring ways to encourage student independence of text choice and task construction. Additionally, we introduced our Expanding your NEA library resources two years ago which students seem to really have engaged with. We have published three lists so far which you can find on our Assessment page under NEA:

• July 2020 : highlighting 30 texts by Black authors writing in English from around the world. 
• October 2020 : highlighting 15 contemporary texts by authors of colour from the last decade. 
• June 2021 : highlighting 30 texts, 10 alternatives to each of these popular texts: The World’s Wife , A Streetcar Named Desire , and Atonement .

Finally, we will, as always, be offering CPD on H472 in the next school year. Keep an eye on the Professional Development section of our website and be sure to have signed up for English updates (details below) to get details of when these become available.

Stay connected

If you have any questions, you can email us at [email protected] , call us on 01223 553998 or tweet us @OCR_ English . You can also sign up to subject updates and receive information about resources and support.

About the author

Isobel has particular responsibility for the A Level English qualification suite. She previously worked as a classroom teacher in a co-educational state secondary school, with three years as second-in-charge in English with responsibility for Key Stage 5. In addition to teaching all age groups from Key Stage 3 to 5, Isobel worked with the University of Cambridge’s Faculty of Education as a mentor to PGCE trainees. Prior to this, she studied for an MA in film, television and screen media with Birkbeck College, University of London while working as a learning support assistant at a large state comprehensive school.

Related blogs

• A Level English: Expanding your NEA library
• English: Tips and tricks for tackling the A Level Literature NEA