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AQA GCSE English Literature set texts 2027

The texts students choose from for AQA GCSE English Literature exams in 2027, paper by paper, read from the board's specification. The school picks which ones its students study, so ask the English department which your child has.

8702/1Shakespeare and the 19th-century novel

Shakespeare (study one)

  • Macbeth, William Shakespeare
  • Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare
  • The Tempest, William Shakespeare
  • The Merchant of Venice, William Shakespeare
  • Much Ado About Nothing, William Shakespeare
  • Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare

19th-century novel (study one)

  • The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson
  • A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
  • Great Expectations, Charles Dickens1867 text
  • Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
  • Frankenstein, Mary Shelley1831 text
  • Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
  • The Sign of Four, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

8702/2Modern texts and poetry

Modern texts: drama (study one modern text (drama or prose))

  • An Inspector Calls, JB Priestley
  • Blood Brothers, Willy RussellMusical version
  • DNA, Dennis Kelly
  • A Taste of Honey, Shelagh Delaney
  • Princess & The Hustler, Chinonyerem Odimba
  • Leave Taking, Winsome Pinnock

Modern texts: prose (study one modern text (drama or prose))

  • Lord of the Flies, William Golding
  • Telling Tales, AQA Anthology
  • Animal Farm, George Orwell
  • Anita and Me, Meera Syal
  • Pigeon English, Stephen Kelman
  • My Name is Leon, Kit de Waal

Poetry anthology cluster (Poems Past and Present) (study one)

  • Love and Relationships
  • Power and Conflict
  • Worlds and Lives

Texts marked with a last exam of 2024 are no longer set. AQA's 8702 specification web pages and the PDF they link (checked 2026-09-26) are the same Version 1.3. Read from the specification (Version 1.3, 28 September 2022), pp. 11-13, on Saturday 26 September 2026.

Also: past papers, grade calculator, and other boards' GCSE set texts.

cookie is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any exam board. The lists are facts read from each board's own specification, last checked on Saturday 26 September 2026; the specification is the final word.