English Literature set texts: what is new for 2027

The shape of GCSE English Literature has not changed: every board still asks for a Shakespeare play, a nineteenth-century novel, poetry, and modern fiction or drama. What changes from time to time is the list of texts inside that shape. Three changes are examined for the first time in summer 2027.

Eduqas GCSE: a new poetry anthology

Eduqas has replaced its GCSE poetry anthology. The new anthology was first taught in September 2025 and is examined for the first time in summer 2027; the old one was examined for the last time in 2026. It is shorter, with fifteen poems instead of eighteen.

• —William Blake, ‘The Schoolboy’
• —William Wordsworth, ‘I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud’
• —Christina Rossetti, ‘Cousin Kate’
• —Elizabeth Barrett Browning, ‘Sonnet 29’
• —Thomas Hardy, ‘Drummer Hodge’
• —Wilfred Owen, ‘Disabled’
• —Claude McKay, ‘I Shall Return’
• —Zulfikar Ghose, ‘Decomposition’
• —Gillian Clarke, ‘Catrin’
• —Seamus Heaney, ‘Blackberry-Picking’
• —Beatrice Garland, ‘Kamikaze’
• —Carol Ann Duffy, ‘War Photographer’
• —Jackie Kay, ‘Dusting the Phone’
• —Simon Armitage, ‘Remains’
• —Bryony Ewing, ‘Origin Story’

The practical point: published revision guides and older model answers may cover poems that are no longer on the paper, so check any resource against the new list before your child spends time on it.

AQA A-Level: new optional texts

AQA has added five new optional novels to its A-Level English Literature specifications, examined from summer 2027. Nothing has been removed, so a school may or may not choose them.

• —Specification A: Elif Shafak, The Island of Missing Trees; Anna Hope, Wake; Bernardine Evaristo, Mr Loverman.
• —Specification B: Colin Walsh, Kala; V. V. Ganeshananthan, Brotherless Night.

OCR A-Level: new Shakespeare plays

On OCR’s A-Level English Literature, Othello, The Taming of the Shrew, and King Lear replace Coriolanus, Twelfth Night, and Measure for Measure. The old plays were examined for the last time in 2026 and the new ones for the first time in 2027.

Everything else

We have found no changes to AQA’s GCSE English Literature texts for 2027 or 2028, and none to the GCSE English Language specifications on any board. English Language is due for a proper reform following the curriculum review, but not before 2029 at the earliest.

Boards publish these changes to schools, and your child’s teachers will know which texts they are studying. If you are unsure, the set texts and the board are the first two things to ask.

Leah