English Literature is a subject that develops students’ enjoyment and understanding of literary texts and their contexts. It cultivates important skills such as analysing and evaluating, developing and considering arguments and communicating effectively. It is a good base for any university course and is well regarded by employers. Reigate College students have progressed to a wide range of courses and careers with this qualification, including English at Oxford, Cambridge and Russell Group universities. It is a subject particularly well-suited to those who like to explore both big ideas and the smaller details that are so important in literary writing. Above all, it suits students who enjoy reading, both independently and as part of a group. This course will involve the detailed analysis of a range of prose, poetry and drama texts; students will be studying the texts in more detail than at GCSE and will look specifically at the craft of the writer and the various contexts of the work. Students will be given many opportunities to express their own views, and consider those of others in both discussion and writing. In the first year students can expect to study a play by Shakespeare alongside an anthology of literary criticism. Students will also study two novels – one a literary “classic”, the other written more closely to their own lifetime – and a selection of contemporary poetry. In the second year students will build upon this learning further by completing a piece of coursework based on two texts, that will allow them to follow a theme, movement, author or period in detail. Students will also study a second play in detail. They will also study in depth, a range of poetry from a particular poet or period.