AS Level English General Paper

YEAR 12 and 13

ENGLISH LITERATURE  

At the Cambridge AS level, students can choose to study either Cambridge AS Literature or Cambridge AS English General Paper. The NCEA pathway has been withdrawn. All Year 12 English courses grant University Entrance literacy.

The Cambridge AS Literature course develops students’ critical analysis and interpretation of literature. Students read and engage with a broad range of texts, including poetry, prose, and drama. 

They analyse the themes, stylistic choices, and literary devices authors employ to convey their ideas, and produce well-reasoned, well-structured essays that demonstrate both their understanding and their capacity for literary analysis.

The Cambridge AS English General Paper course, by contrast, develops students’ skills in critical thinking, reading, and writing across a variety of disciplines. The course covers topics ranging from social and political issues to ethical and philosophical debates. Students are expected to engage with these topics critically and thoughtfully, to read widely, to form their own positions, and to express those positions clearly and coherently in writing.

While both courses develop language and critical thinking skills, AS Literature is more closely focused on literary analysis and interpretation, while AS English General Paper is more closely focused on engaging critically with a range of topics and issues.

AS Level 

English General Paper

Prerequisites: IGCSE Language, IGCSE Literature.

Students learn to apply information, read widely, analyse and evaluate data, and write accurately in clear and structured prose.

Assessment consists of a written essay and a comprehension paper, covering a broad range of topics including economic, historical, moral, political, and societal issues, as well as the ethics, history, and principles of science, and literature, language, the arts, crafts, and the media. Candidates are assessed on their use of knowledge, examples, vocabulary, spelling, grammar, punctuation, and structure to communicate their responses.

This course is entirely externally assessed, with two exams weighted at 50% each. 

The first exam consists of a 600 to 700 word essay on broadly studied topics. The second exam requires candidates to explain and interpret provided material, and to write a persuasive text expressing and justifying an opinion. In Section B, candidates demonstrate their ability to read and understand material at a detailed level, including the language features used across different styles and registers.

Students must demonstrate their ability to: 

• Apply information 

• Read widely and deeply 

• Analyse and evaluate data Write in a variety of registers, including academic essays