AQA GCSE English Literature Paper 1, Shakespeare and the 19th-century novel (8702/1), is a closed-book exam lasting 1 hour 45 minutes and worth 64 marks, contributing 40% of the overall GCSE grade. The paper has two sections: Section A asks one question on the studied Shakespeare play, and Section B asks one question on the studied 19th-century novel, and each question asks for detailed writing on a printed extract followed by discussion of the whole text.
It sits alongside Paper 2, Modern Texts and Poetry, which carries the remaining 60% of the GCSE grade, and both papers are compulsory. A school selects one Shakespeare play and one 19th-century novel for the whole class to study, so an individual pupil does not choose the text independently.
What does Paper 1 cover?
Paper 1 covers one Shakespeare play in Section A and one 19th-century novel in Section B, with a single exam question set on each text. Both questions follow the same pattern: the paper prints an extract from the text, the student writes about that extract in detail, and the answer then moves on to discuss the play or novel as a whole. The whole-text part of the answer draws on the entire play or novel, so knowledge of the ending, of characters who appear away from the extract, and of how themes develop matters just as much as knowledge of the printed passage.
Which Shakespeare plays and 19th-century novels does AQA set?
AQA sets six Shakespeare plays for Section A and seven 19th-century novels for Section B, and each set text is studied in full.
A separate guide to the Shakespeare question gives text-level revision guidance once a family knows which play the school has chosen.
- Shakespeare plays: Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, The Merchant of Venice, Much Ado About Nothing, Julius Caesar
- 19th-century novels: The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (Robert Louis Stevenson), A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens), Great Expectations (Charles Dickens), Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brontë), Frankenstein (Mary Shelley), Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen), The Sign of Four (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
How does the extract-then-whole-text question work?
Each Section A and Section B question prints a short extract from the set play or novel, and the student writes about that extract in detail before broadening the answer to the whole text. The extract-based part rewards close reading: picking out quotations and analysing how the writer's language, form and structure create meaning, using subject terminology accurately. The whole-text part asks for evidence drawn from beyond the printed passage, together with relevant context, such as when and why the writer was writing, to support the argument. AQA marks both parts together as one continuous response.
How are the marks and assessment objectives split on Paper 1?
Section A, the Shakespeare question, is marked out of 34: 30 marks for the response itself, plus 4 marks under AO4 for spelling, punctuation, grammar and range of vocabulary and sentence structures. Section B, the 19th-century novel question, is marked out of 30, with no separate AO4 allocation, which brings the paper to 64 marks in total, the same total whichever play and novel a school has chosen to teach.
Across the whole GCSE, AO1 accounts for about 37.5% of marks, AO2 for about 42.5%, AO3 for 15% and AO4 for 5%. On Paper 1 specifically, that works out as AO1 15%, AO2 15%, AO3 7.5% and AO4 2.5% of the total GCSE grade, giving language and structural analysis under AO2 the same weight on this paper as accurate, evidenced reading under AO1.
- AO1: read, understand and respond to texts, using textual references including quotations
- AO2: analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects, using subject terminology
- AO3: show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written
- AO4: use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures with accurate spelling and punctuation
What does closed book mean for revision?
Closed book means no copy of the set Shakespeare play or 19th-century novel is allowed in the exam room, so every quotation used in the answer has to come from memory. Because the printed extract can be taken from any point in the text, revision needs to cover the whole play or novel, including how characters and themes develop from beginning to end. Context, the AO3 element, also needs to be learned in advance: understanding of when and why a text was written, and how that shapes its concerns, has to be secure enough to bring into the answer without notes.
How should a student divide their time across Section A and Section B?
Paper 1 runs for 1 hour 45 minutes across two sections worth 64 marks in total, and a practical approach gives Section A, worth 34 marks, slightly more time than Section B, worth 30 marks, instead of splitting the paper exactly in half. Reading the extract and planning an answer before writing tends to pay off in both sections, since the extract and whole-text parts of each answer are marked together as one developing piece of analysis. Because Section A carries the 4 marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar, leaving a short amount of time at the end of that answer to check accuracy is worth building into a timing plan.
How should a student use AQA's past papers, mark schemes and examiner reports?
AQA publishes past papers, mark schemes and examiner reports for Paper 1, and working through them in that order builds a clear feedback loop: attempt a question under timed conditions, then mark the answer against the published mark scheme line by line, checking what is credited under AO1, AO2, AO3 and, on the Shakespeare question, AO4. Examiner reports, published alongside past papers, describe the differences between higher-scoring and lower-scoring answers, and reading them after marking a practice response helps direct revision at whatever gap the marking has just shown.
Related guides
- AQA GCSE English Literature Paper 2 guide
- GCSE Shakespeare revision guide
- How to get a grade 9 in GCSE English Literature
- GCSE English tutors
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Frequently asked questions
- What grade counts as a pass in GCSE English Literature?
- GCSE grades in England run from 9, the highest, down to 1, and the Department for Education recognises grade 4 and above as a standard pass. This scale applies to the single overall grade for GCSE English Literature, which combines results from both papers into one outcome, so there is no separate pass mark attached to Paper 1 on its own.
- Do students choose their own Shakespeare play and novel for Paper 1, or does the school decide?
- The school decides. AQA sets a fixed list of plays and novels to choose from, and a school teaches one play and one novel from those lists to the whole class, instead of leaving the choice to individual pupils. A parent who wants to know exactly which text their child is preparing needs to check with the English department, since that specific choice sits outside AQA's specification itself.
- Where can parents find AQA's official past papers, mark schemes and examiner reports for Paper 1?
- These materials live on AQA's own GCSE English Literature assessment resources pages, organised by paper and exam series. Because AQA's website is the only source that shows exactly how it credits an answer against AO1 to AO4, checking a practice response against the material published there gives a direct view of the marking behind each mark awarded.
- Is AQA GCSE English Literature tiered, like some other GCSE subjects?
- No. AQA GCSE English Literature, including Paper 1, has no foundation or higher tier, and every student sits the same paper and the same questions regardless of target grade. Preparation therefore focuses on depth of knowledge of the set Shakespeare play and 19th-century novel, since there is no tier choice to factor into a revision plan.
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