GCSE English Literature past papers: AQA, Edexcel, OCR and Eduqas papers, texts and marks

Key takeaways

• →Use papers from your own board: AQA (8702), Pearson Edexcel (1ET0), OCR (J352) or WJEC Eduqas (C720QS). All four are closed book, and each holds its newest papers back for teachers.
• →AQA has two papers of 64 and 96 marks. Pearson Edexcel and OCR have two 80-mark papers. Eduqas has an 80-mark paper and a 120-mark paper.
• →On all four boards, Paper 1 is on Wednesday 12 May 2027 and Paper 2 on Wednesday 19 May. From 1 November, the first is just over 27 weeks away.
• →You answer only on the texts you studied, so practise by text: do your own play, novel, modern text and poem questions from each past paper, to time.

1. GCSE English Literature past papers: get the real ones from your exam board

The best GCSE English Literature past papers are the ones your own exam board publishes, with their mark schemes. Each board offers different set texts, so the board matters more than in most subjects. Ask your school which one you are entered for, and check the code on the front of the paper.

AQA: code 8702. Use its Find past papers and mark schemes page. You choose a subject and a qualification, and it shows past papers, mark schemes and examiner reports.^[8]

Pearson Edexcel: code 1ET0. Use its Past papers page. You narrow the list by qualification family, subject and exam series.^[12]

OCR: code J352. Use its past papers materials finder, which has drop-downs for type of qualification, qualification and level.^[17]

WJEC Eduqas: code C720QS. Open the GCSE English Literature page on the Eduqas website and use its Past Papers / Mark Schemes tab.^[21]

Every board holds its newest papers back for teachers, so schools can use them as mocks. Get full papers from the board’s own site. The sections below give the dates.

2. Where each text sits on the four boards

Every board has two papers, but they split the texts differently. Only OCR puts Shakespeare on its second paper.^[15]

3. AQA (8702): papers, texts and marks

Paper 1 is 1 hour 45 minutes and 64 marks. Section A is Shakespeare and Section B is the 19th-century novel. In each you answer one question on your text, writing about an extract first and then about the whole text.^[1]

You choose one of six plays and one of seven novels.^[2]

On the June 2023 paper, Section A is 30 marks plus 4 for spelling, punctuation, grammar and sentence structure. Section B is 30.^[4]

Paper 2 is 2 hours 15 minutes and 96 marks. Section A is one essay on a modern prose or drama text, from a choice of two questions. Section B compares a named poem, printed on the paper, with another from your cluster. Section C is unseen poetry, with two questions.^[1]

Students choose one of 12 modern texts, and one of three clusters of 15 poems in the anthology Poems Past and Present: Love and Relationships, Power and Conflict, and Worlds and Lives.^[3]

On the June 2023 paper, Section A is 30 marks plus 4, Section B is 30 and Section C is 32 (24 and 8).^[5]

AQA lists the summer 2026 papers, mark schemes and reports for its public website on 9 July 2027. Most papers stay online for three years. Teachers get the newest ones earlier through Centre Services.^[7]

AQA’s revision page describes its finder as free digital copies of past papers and mark schemes.^[9]

Our AQA English Literature Paper 1 and Paper 2 guides go deeper.

4. Pearson Edexcel (1ET0): papers, texts and marks

Paper 1 (1ET0/01) is 1 hour 45 minutes and 80 marks. Section A is Shakespeare, 40 marks, on one of six plays. Part a (20 marks) is close analysis of an extract of about 30 lines. Part b (20 marks) is about a theme from the extract elsewhere in the play.^[10]

Section B is a post-1914 British play or novel, 40 marks: one of 12 texts, and one essay from two questions, each with a short quotation. Spelling, punctuation and grammar are rewarded here: 5% of the GCSE, or 8 marks.^[10]

Paper 2 (1ET0/02) is 2 hours 15 minutes and 80 marks. Section A is the 19th-century novel, 40 marks, on one of seven. Part 1 (20 marks) is an extract of about 400 words. Part 2 (20 marks) is an essay on the whole novel.^[10]

Section B is poetry since 1789, 40 marks, from one Pearson anthology collection: Relationships, Conflict, Time and Place or Belonging. Part 1 (20 marks) compares a named poem, printed in the paper, with another you choose. Part 2 (20 marks) compares two unseen contemporary poems. Both papers are closed book.^[10]

Pearson says its past papers are free to teachers and students, but only teachers can open papers from the last 12 months. One note on the page says nine, so ask your teacher.^[12]

Pearson’s publication policy (version 2.3, August 2026) agrees: 12 months, then open to everyone.^[13]

On 1 August 2026 Pearson removed the padlocks from its 2025 papers. The June 2026 papers need a teacher’s Edexcel Online login.^[14]

5. OCR (J352) and WJEC Eduqas (C720QS)

OCR has two 2-hour, closed-text papers of 80 marks, each worth 50%. Paper 01 has modern prose or drama (40 marks) and 19th-century prose (40). Paper 02 has poetry across time (40) and Shakespeare (40). You choose one text per section, and one of three poetry clusters of 15 poems.^[15]

Two OCR sections include an unseen text. In 01 Section A you compare an extract from your text with an unseen modern extract of the same kind. In 02 Section A you compare a named anthology poem with an unseen poem.^[15]

A June series reaches OCR’s public site in early August of the following year, about 14 months after the exam. Teachers get papers sooner on Teach Cambridge.^[18]

OCR’s policy says papers stay online for five years.^[19]

Eduqas Component 1 is 2 hours and 40% of the GCSE. Section A is one Shakespeare play from six, with an extract question and an essay question. Section B is poetry from 1789 to now: one question on a specified anthology poem, then a second poem you choose, compared with the first.^[20]

Component 2 is 2 hours 30 minutes and 60%, in three sections: one post-1914 prose or drama text from ten, one 19th-century text from six, and unseen poetry (two poems, one comparing). Five per cent of all marks are for spelling, punctuation and grammar. You may not take set texts or the anthology into the exam.^[20]

Eduqas’s grade points table gives the two components 80 and 120 marks.^[22]

Eduqas has a new 15-poem anthology for first examination in summer 2027. The old 18-poem anthology was examined for the last time in summer 2026, so older poetry questions may name poems you are not studying.^[25]

Eduqas’s publication policy (effective September 2025) puts June-series papers and mark schemes on its public website in July of the following year, so summer 2026 should appear in July 2027.^[24]

6. When the 2027 papers are

AQA’s timetable (version 1.2) lists both Literature papers as morning papers.^[6]

Pearson’s final timetable has the same two dates, both mornings.^[11]

OCR’s final timetable has them too, both mornings. It names Wednesday 23 June 2027 as a contingency day.^[16]

The Eduqas timetable (final, version 2) has the same two dates. Check its session times on your own timetable.^[23]

AQA names the same contingency day. Stay free until then.^[6]

Dates can move: We checked the boards’ timetables at the end of October 2026. Use your school’s personal timetable nearer the time.

7. How to use past papers by text

All four boards’ Literature exams are closed book. AQA says any material you need is provided with the exam, so plan to learn short quotations for every text.^[1]

A past paper has questions on texts you did not study, so start with your own: your play, novel, modern text and poems. Treat each as timed work. Later, build a full paper from your own questions.

Check your text is in the paper you pick. AQA’s page marks Princess & The Hustler, Leave Taking, My Name is Leon and the Worlds and Lives cluster as first examined in 2025, so few real papers cover them yet. The new Eduqas poems are in the same position.^[3]

Practise comparisons with any two poems from your cluster. Unseen poems from any board’s papers work as practice, but do not compare scores across boards.

Eduqas’s spring 2026 newsletter says students should see a whole paper before the live exam, to practise finding the texts they studied. It reports students treating extracts as unseen.^[25]

Mark with the official mark scheme, and read the report on the exam if the board publishes one. AQA lists reports with its papers.^[7]

In a closed-book exam, the only texts you have are the ones in your head.

Think in marks, not minutes: AQA Paper 1 gives 105 minutes for 64 marks, about 1.6 a mark. Pearson Paper 1 gives 105 for 80, about 1.3. Work out your own board’s rate.

8. A plan from now to May 2027

From 1 November, Paper 1 on Wednesday 12 May is just over 27 weeks away. This plan is our suggestion, not a board rule. If you also take English Language, see our GCSE English Language past papers guide: its Paper 1 is on 24 May.

9. How Brainhub can help

Brainhub teaches one-to-one, live online across the UK. Online GCSE lessons start from £30 an hour, and a qualified teacher with a PGCE costs £10 an hour more. Every family starts with a free 45-minute assessment.

Our GCSE students typically improve by 2 grades over 12 weeks of weekly lessons (Brainhub student records, 2021–2026). That figure is our own data, not independent research, and every student is different.

1. 1. Which GCSE English Literature exams are closed book?

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2. 2. Which board puts Shakespeare on its second paper?

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3. 3. When are the summer 2027 English Literature papers?

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Your next steps

• Check your board, paper code and set texts with your school, then open that board’s own past papers page.
• Put 12 and 19 May 2027 in the calendar and work back from them.
• Book a free 45-minute assessment to see which texts need the most work first.

Subject guides to go with this

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