Power and Conflict poems: all 15 AQA poems, pairings and how the exam works

Key takeaways

• →AQA’s Power and Conflict cluster has 15 poems, from 1789 to the present day. You study all 15 and should be ready to write about any of them.
• →In Paper 2, Section B (30 marks) prints one named poem and you compare it with one other poem from the cluster. Section C is two unseen poetry questions worth 32 marks.
• →AQA’s June 2025 report says the choice of second poem can make or break an answer. Pick pairs that share a big idea, such as power, war or identity.
• →We found no AQA notice changing the poems for 2027. AQA’s September 2026 notice on layout changes does not mention the anthology.

1. The 15 Power and Conflict poems

Power and Conflict is one of three clusters in AQA’s poetry anthology. You study one cluster of 15 poems, written between 1789 and the present day, and should be ready to write about any of them.^[1]

The table gives AQA’s list, in the order printed in its June 2023 Paper 2.^[3]

AQA does not issue the anthology digitally, because of copyright, and its pages give no dates. We show a date only where a published source gave one.^[7]

Poets.org gives 1818 for Ozymandias.^[10]

The Poetry Foundation dates Blake’s Songs of Experience, which includes London, to 1794.^[12]

It says Wordsworth’s final version of The Prelude came out in 1850, after his death.^[13]

Browning’s My Last Duchess first appeared in 1842, in Dramatic Lyrics.^[14]

The Poetry Foundation dates The Charge of the Light Brigade to 1854.^[17]

Owen was killed in November 1918.^[18]

Oak National Academy dates Storm on the Island to 1966.^[20]

It says Dharker published Tissue in her 2006 collection The Terrorist at My Table.^[21]

The Poetry Archive lists Checking Out Me History in Agard’s Half-Caste and Other Poems, published in 2004.^[22]

We found no AQA notice changing the poems for 2027. AQA’s 22 September 2026 news item covers question-paper layout and does not mention the anthology.^[8]

2. The six older poems: themes and pairings

These summaries and pairings are our own. Short quotes come from public-domain texts.

Ozymandias: a traveller describes a broken statue in the desert. The ruler’s boast, “Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”, is mocked by the empty sand around it. Themes: the limits of power, pride and time. Pair with London, My Last Duchess or Tissue.^[10]

London: a speaker walks London’s streets and hears suffering in every voice, and “mind-forg’d manacles”, ways of thinking that trap people. He links this to powerful institutions such as the Church and the palace. Themes: oppression, poverty, lost freedom. Pair with Ozymandias, Checking Out Me History or Tissue.^[11]

Extract from The Prelude: a young Wordsworth takes a small boat onto a lake at night. A huge mountain seems to rise up and follow him, and he rows back frightened. Themes: the power of nature, guilt, human smallness. Pair with Storm on the Island or Ozymandias.

My Last Duchess: a duke shows a visitor a portrait of his dead wife. We see he was jealous and controlling, and he hints that he put a stop to her smiles. The opening line, “That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall”, treats her as an object. Themes: control, jealousy, abuse of power. Pair with Ozymandias, London or Checking Out Me History.^[15]

AQA’s June 2023 report says some students wrongly read the Duke as grieving. Read his tone with care.^[5]

The Charge of the Light Brigade: 600 cavalrymen ride into heavy fire in the Crimean War. Tennyson praises their courage and obedience (“Theirs not to reason why”), yet the poem also says “Someone had blundered.” Themes: duty, bravery, the cost of war. Pair with Bayonet Charge, Exposure or Kamikaze.^[16]

Exposure: First World War soldiers endure a freezing night on watch. The weather seems the real enemy, and the refrain “But nothing happens.” shows the dull, hopeless waiting. Themes: suffering, futility, nature. Pair with Bayonet Charge or Remains.^[19]

AQA’s June 2025 paper printed Exposure. Its report says strong answers began with a big idea, such as the horror of trench warfare, while weaker ones mainly discussed the weather. Pairing it with Storm on the Island often led to weather-focused writing.^[6]

3. The nine modern poems: themes and pairings

These nine are in copyright, so we describe them and do not quote them. Learn short phrases from your own anthology.

Remains comes from Armitage’s collection The Not Dead, which Oak National Academy says is based on interviews with soldiers.^[23]

Dharker’s own note on Tissue contrasts solid things, such as stone, with fragile ones, such as tissue paper.^[24]

4. How the anthology question works

Paper 2 lasts 2 hours 15 minutes, is worth 96 marks and counts for 60% of the GCSE. AQA’s assessments are closed book, so you do not have the anthology in the exam.^[2]

Section B asks one question. AQA prints one named poem from the cluster on the paper, and you compare it with one other poem from the same cluster. You choose the second poem.^[2]

In June 2023 the printed poem was My Last Duchess and the question was about the effects of power. It was worth 30 marks.^[3]

The 30 marks are 12 for AO1 (your own argued response, with comparison), 12 for AO2 (how the poets use language, form and structure) and 6 for AO3 (links to context). There are six levels of 5 marks, and Level 6 is 26 to 30.^[4]

A response that does not cover the named poem and one other poem from the cluster can be capped at 10 marks.^[4]

AQA’s paper gives no advice on time for each section. Our suggestion is about 40 minutes for Section B, then a few minutes to check.^[3]

In 2027, Paper 2 is on Wednesday 19 May, in the morning.^[9]

5. The unseen poetry section

Section C is two questions on poems you have not seen. The first, worth 24 marks, is about one unseen poem. The second, worth 8, asks you to compare the methods the two poets use.^[3]

The 8-mark question is marked on AO2 only, which is about methods and their effects, in four levels of 2 marks. Comparison is the whole task.^[4]

AQA’s June 2025 report warns against technique spotting, which means naming features such as alliteration without exploring their effect.^[6]

The June 2023 report says some students spent too long on the 8-mark question.^[5]

6. Comparison tips

The choice of second poem is critical, says AQA’s June 2025 report. Know your poems well enough to pick one with a real link, and know from the start how they are alike or different.^[6]

In June 2023 around 80% of candidates answered the Power and Conflict question, and Ozymandias and London were the most popular second poems. Some chose less common pairings, such as Kamikaze and Storm on the Island.^[5]

You do not have to compare in every paragraph. AQA’s 2023 report says treating each poem separately, with a link at the start and end, often did as well as or better than forced integrated essays.^[5]

The June 2025 report agrees.^[6]

Keep context short and tied to the question. AQA’s 2023 report says it should not be a long biographical or historical section.^[5]

Quotations are not required, says the same report. Well-chosen references or paraphrase are acceptable.^[5]

A simple shape: Open with one sentence on what links your two poems. Write a paragraph on each, with short evidence and its effect. Finish with how they agree or differ.

7. A six-week revision plan

For each poem, read it aloud twice. Then write a three-line summary from memory, list three short phrases from your anthology, and note one idea each phrase shows.

Week 1: Ozymandias, London, My Last Duchess (rulers and control). Week 2: The Prelude, Storm on the Island, Exposure (nature). Week 3: The Charge of the Light Brigade, Bayonet Charge, Remains (soldiers). Week 4: Poppies, War Photographer, Kamikaze (families and those left behind). Week 5: Tissue, The Emigrée, Checking Out Me History (identity and place).

Week 6: timed comparisons and unseen poems. For an unseen poem, read it twice, then ask what it is about, what the speaker feels, which methods the poet uses and what effect they have.

Each week, write one timed Section B answer in about 40 minutes and mark it against the six levels in AQA’s mark scheme. AQA’s June 2023 paper and mark scheme are on its website (see the sources).^[4]

8. How Brainhub can help

Brainhub teaches one-to-one, live online across the UK. Online GCSE lessons start from £30 an hour, and every family starts with a free 45-minute assessment. A qualified teacher with a PGCE costs £10 an hour more. Our GCSE students typically improve by 2 grades over 12 weeks of weekly lessons (Brainhub student records, 2021–2026). That figure comes from our own records, not independent research, and every student is different.

1. 1. How many poems are in AQA’s Power and Conflict cluster, and how many do you write about in Section B?

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2. 2. How are the unseen poetry questions in Section C marked?

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3. 3. Why does your choice of second poem matter?

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Your next steps

• Pick three poem pairings from the tables and write one sentence on what links each pair.
• Write one Section B answer in about 40 minutes, then mark it against AQA’s levels.
• Book a free 45-minute assessment to see which poems and skills need work first.

Subject guides to go with this

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