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9275 · Version 5.1, for exams May and June 2018 onwards

OxfordAQA International GCSE English Literature

Oxford AQA International

Mapped from the board's own specification and signed off on 23 August 2026 by Lee Woods. May and June, and November. Graded 9 to 1.

Two specifications are live at once

Components, marks, routes and objectives are unchanged. Prose, drama, the short story anthology and one poem change Teaching on the revised specification starts September 2026, with first exams May 2028, and the outgoing one runs to June 2027.

Teaching starts September 2026, so a Year 10 starting now needs the 2028 lists, not the 2027 ones. Every 9275 order must name the cohort before a text package is built

  • Prose: Never Let Me Go and The Book Thief out; Klara and the Sun and The Woman in Black in
  • Drama: Julius Caesar and The Crucible out; A Midsummer Night's Dream and DNA in
  • Short stories: The Fly in the Ointment and The Rain Horse out; The Darkness Out There, My Polish Teacher's Tie and The Lumber Room in
  • Poetry: In a London Drawing Room out; Cold Knap Lake in
  • No change to question stems, command words or generic mark schemes
9275Paper 1: Prose and drama2 sections · 60 marks · 40%Route A, Paper 2a: Poetry and unseen texts3 sections · 90 marks · 60%Route B, Paper 2b: Poetry, plus the non-exam assess…3 sections · 90 marks · 60%
every component mapped before a word is written
Component
Topic15 in Paper 1: Prose and drama
Order
  • Full scheme of work, lesson by lesson
  • Lesson decks in the house template
  • Knowledge organiser
  • Retrieval grids
  • Assessment pack with mark schemes
This topicGreat Expectations£12.99
The whole paperPaper 1: Prose and drama, 2 topicsSave 20%£20.78
The full curriculumEvery topic in 9275, 5 packages, Route A, Paper 2a: Poetry and unseen texts routeSave 30%£45.47
Complete package: built for the texts and options you choose, delivered within 24 hours of confirmation.View basket

This specification offers alternative routes, marked route above, and a candidate is entered for one of them. The full curriculum price follows the route you pick: 5 topics on this one. Change the route and the price changes with it.

Structure

ComponentTimeMarksWeightingAssessed
Paper 1: Prose and dramaClosed book1h 306040%Externally assessed
Route A, Paper 2a: Poetry and unseen textsOpen book2h 159060%Externally assessed
Route B, Paper 2b: Poetry, plus the non-exam assessmentPaper 2b open book1h 309060%Paper 2b externally assessed; the project teacher assessed and board moderated

150 raw marks, no scaling: every component is exactly proportional to its weighting. Alternative routes are shown indented; a candidate takes one of them, not both.

Assessment objectives

ObjectivePaper 1Route A Paper 2a, or Route B Paper 2b plus the non-exam assessmentOverall
AO1 Themes, ideas and contextsShow understanding of, and engagement with, themes, ideas and contexts162440
AO2 Meanings and effectsAnalyse how writers create meanings and effects162440
AO3 Informed personal responseExpress informed personal responses to literary texts, using appropriate terminology and accurate writing81220

The board's own tables disagree. None. Route B's paper and project figures add to Route A's single paper figures exactly. The map carries the combined second component figures, which are identical on both routes

Component by component

Paper 1: Prose and drama

1h 30 · 60 marks · 40 per cent · Externally assessed · Closed book

Section A: Prose fiction30 marks

One essay or passage based question on the chosen prose set text

one from two on the chosen set text essay or passageassesses AO1, AO2, AO3
  • Great ExpectationsCharles Dickenspublic domain
  • To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee
  • Purple HibiscusChimamanda Ngozi Adichie
  • Never Let Me GoKazuo Ishigurooutgoing cohort only
  • The Book ThiefMarkus Zusakoutgoing cohort only
  • Klara and the SunKazuo Ishiguronew cohort only
  • The Woman in BlackSusan Hillnew cohort only
  • OxfordAQA Exams Short Stories AnthologyBoard anthology

Section B: Drama30 marks

One essay or passage based question on the chosen drama set text

one from two on the chosen set text essay or passageassesses AO1, AO2, AO3
  • Julius CaesarWilliam Shakespeareoutgoing cohort onlypublic domain
  • MacbethWilliam Shakespearepublic domain
  • An Inspector CallsJ B Priestley
  • The CrucibleArthur Milleroutgoing cohort only
  • A Raisin in the SunLorraine Hansberry
  • A Midsummer Night's DreamWilliam Shakespearenew cohort onlypublic domain
  • DNADennis Kellynew cohort only

Route A Paper 2a, or Route B Paper 2b plus the non-exam assessment

90 marks · 60 per cent

Every candidate takes Paper 1 and then either Route A Paper 2a, or Route B Paper 2b plus the project

Route B is delivered as two separate assessments, a 60 mark paper and a 30 mark project. They are held in one option group here because together they carry the same 60 per cent as Route A's single paper

Route A, Paper 2a: Poetry and unseen texts2h 15 · 90 marks · Externally assessed · Open book

Section A: Poetry30 marks

One question on the board anthology People and Places

one from two on the board anthologyassesses AO1, AO2, AO3
  • People and Places, the board poetry anthology, 20 poemsBoard anthology

Section B: Unseen poetry30 marks

One question on a previously unseen poem

all compulsoryassesses AO1, AO2, AO3

No set texts. A single teachable unit

Section C: Unseen prose30 marks

One question on a previously unseen prose passage

all compulsoryassesses AO1, AO2, AO3

No set texts. Route A only. This is the section Route B replaces with the project

Route B, Paper 2b: Poetry, plus the non-exam assessment1h 30 · 90 marks · Paper 2b externally assessed; the project teacher assessed and board moderated · Paper 2b open book

Section A: Poetry30 marks

One question on the board anthology People and Places

one from two on the board anthologyassesses AO1, AO2, AO3

Section B: Unseen poetry30 marks

One question on a previously unseen poem

all compulsoryassesses AO1, AO2, AO3

Non-exam assessment30 marks

One extended response to a prose fiction text of the centre's choosing

centre chosen prose text not on the set text listassesses AO1, AO2, AO3

Centre chosen prose text, barred from the set text list. A single commissionable unit, and the text cannot be one we already sell for Paper 1

Prescribed poems and stories

people and places to 202720
  1. LondonWilliam Blake
  2. In a London Drawing RoomGeorge Eliot
  3. At Castle BoterelThomas Hardy
  4. The Road Not TakenRobert Frost
  5. FutilityWilfred Owen
  6. WindTed Hughes
  7. Storm on the IslandSeamus Heaney
  8. Below the Green CorrieNorman MacCaig
  9. The JourneyMary Oliver
  10. Poem at Thirty-NineAlice Walker
  11. The Great StormJo Shapcott
  12. The PlannersKim Cheng Boey
  13. Hurricane Hits EnglandGrace Nichols
  14. HomelandSophia de Mello Breyner
  15. BlessingImtiaz Dharker
  16. The MomentMargaret Atwood
  17. Where I Come FromElizabeth Brewster
  18. Winter SwansOwen Sheers
  19. The DoorMiroslav Holub
  20. This MorningEsther Morgan

Source: OxfordAQA People and Places poetry anthology contents page, Version 1.0 September 2016

Read from the anthology contents page, not from the specification, which names the anthology but not its poems

people and places from 202820
  1. LondonWilliam Blake
  2. Cold Knap LakeGillian Clarke
  3. At Castle BoterelThomas Hardy
  4. The Road Not TakenRobert Frost
  5. FutilityWilfred Owen
  6. WindTed Hughes
  7. Storm on the IslandSeamus Heaney
  8. Below the Green CorrieNorman MacCaig
  9. The JourneyMary Oliver
  10. Poem at Thirty-NineAlice Walker
  11. The Great StormJo Shapcott
  12. The PlannersKim Cheng Boey
  13. Hurricane Hits EnglandGrace Nichols
  14. HomelandSophia de Mello Breyner
  15. BlessingImtiaz Dharker
  16. The MomentMargaret Atwood
  17. Where I Come FromElizabeth Brewster
  18. Winter SwansOwen Sheers
  19. The DoorMiroslav Holub
  20. This MorningEsther Morgan

Source: Derived from the current list and the board summary of changes for cohorts from September 2026

DERIVED, not read from a revised anthology. The changes table prints only the rows it alters: In a London Drawing Room out, Cold Knap Lake in. The other nineteen are assumed unchanged and must be confirmed against the revised anthology when it is published

What this specification changes about the package

  • Route A is two papers; Route B replaces the unseen prose section with a project. The route decides whether a school needs unseen prose material or coursework support, and the two are mutually exclusive
  • The project text must not come from the prescribed set text list. A project package can never reuse a Paper 1 text. It is a genuinely separate build
  • Paper 1 is closed book; Paper 2a and Paper 2b are open book. Memorisation for prose and drama, navigation for poetry, in the same qualification
  • The only prescribed poetry is the board's own anthology, People and Places. A single poetry package covers every candidate, on either route
  • Both routes total 150 marks with a scaling factor of 1 throughout. No route is arithmetically easier, so the choice is pedagogical and can be sold as such
  • Board stated: for teaching and examination outside the United Kingdom. A hard market boundary the other two boards do not draw
  • Teaching on the revised specification starts September 2026 while the outgoing one runs to summer 2027. Cohort is an ordering field, not a detail. Four texts differ between the two, and a package built for the wrong cohort is the wrong package

How we know

Specification read
Version 5.1, for exams May and June 2018 onwards, read from the board's own PDF. Retrieved 23 August 2026.
Sign-off
Lee Woods, 23 August 2026. Map oxfordaqa-9275-v1.
Currency
Superseded for new cohorts. Final exams on this specification are May and June 2027 with final resits November 2027. A revised specification, Version 1.0, applies from first teaching September 2026 and first exams May and June 2028, and its text lists are held in specification_version_change
Set texts held
16 texts, each with a rights status derived from the author's death date. The board states none of them.

What this map does not hold

  • prescribed poem lists. complete for the cohort to 2027, read from the anthology contents page. DERIVED for the 2028 cohort from the board summary of changes, which prints only the rows it alters
  • copyright statuses. DERIVED BY PLATFORM, NOT BOARD STATED
  • entry codes. NOT EXTRACTED. The entries and codes section of the specification was not read into this map
  • ao mark split. NOT BOARD STATED at question level. The board gives component percentages only

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