Pearson Edexcel International GCSE in English Literature

Specification 4ET1 · Pearson Edexcel · International GCSE · first assessment June 2018 · graded 9–1

Two years of reading four texts closely: the sixteen poems of Part 3 of the Edexcel International GCSE English Anthology, one modern prose text, one modern drama text and one literary heritage text. The examination rewards a critical style and a personal reading held together by close analysis of how writers build meaning — and, in the anthology section, by genuine comparison.

Papers and components

• Component 1: Poetry and Modern Prose (4ET1/01) — 60% of the qualification, 90 marks, 120 minutes. Section A Unseen Poetry — AO2; Section B Anthology Poetry — AO2, AO3; Section C Modern Prose — AO1, AO4
• Component 2: Modern Drama and Literary Heritage Texts (4ET1/02) — 40% of the qualification, 60 marks, 90 minutes. Section A Modern Drama — AO1, AO2; Section B Literary Heritage Texts — AO1, AO2, AO4
• Component 3: Modern Drama and Literary Heritage Texts (non-examined) (4ET1/03) — 40% of the qualification, 60 marks, non-examined. Assignment A Modern Drama — AO1, AO2; Assignment B Literary Heritage Texts — AO1, AO2, AO4

Assessment objectives

• AO1 (30%) — Demonstrate a close knowledge and understanding of texts, maintaining a critical style and presenting an informed personal engagement.
• AO2 (40%) — Analyse the language, form and structure used by a writer to create meanings and effects.
• AO3 (10%) — Explore links and connections between texts.
• AO4 (20%) — Show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written.

What to know about this specification

• This qualification is not accredited or regulated by any UK regulatory body — Pearson states this in the specification itself.
• It is linear: every component is taken at the end of the course.
• You take Component 1 plus EITHER Component 2 (examined) OR Component 3 (coursework). Ask your school which — the exam advice differs.
• Component 1 is closed book; Component 2 is open book with clean prescribed editions.
• Graded 9–1. Condensed revision notes on this course are therefore called Grade 9 Notes.

Options on this specification

• If— — Rudyard Kipling (built in Incandio)
• Prayer Before Birth — Louis MacNeice (built in Incandio)
• Blessing — Imtiaz Dharker (built in Incandio)
• Search For My Tongue — Sujata Bhatt (built in Incandio)
• Half-past Two — U A Fanthorpe (built in Incandio)
• Piano — D H Lawrence (built in Incandio)
• Hide and Seek — Vernon Scannell (built in Incandio)
• Sonnet 116: Let me not to the marriage of true minds — William Shakespeare (built in Incandio)
• La Belle Dame sans Merci — John Keats (built in Incandio)
• Poem at Thirty-Nine — Alice Walker (built in Incandio)
• War Photographer — Carol Ann Duffy (built in Incandio)
• The Tyger — William Blake (built in Incandio)
• My Last Duchess — Robert Browning (built in Incandio)
• Half-caste — John Agard (built in Incandio)
• Do not go gentle into that good night — Dylan Thomas (built in Incandio)
• Remember — Christina Rossetti (built in Incandio)
• To Kill a Mockingbird — Harper Lee (built in Incandio)
• Of Mice and Men — John Steinbeck (built in Incandio)
• The Whale Rider — Witi Ihimaera (on the specification; not yet built here)
• The Joy Luck Club — Amy Tan (on the specification; not yet built here)
• Things Fall Apart — Chinua Achebe (on the specification; not yet built here)
• Klara and the Sun — Kazuo Ishiguro (built in Incandio)
• Western Lane — Chetna Maroo (built in Incandio)
• An Inspector Calls — J B Priestley (built in Incandio)
• A View from the Bridge — Arthur Miller (on the specification; not yet built here)
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time — Mark Haddon, adapted by Simon Stephens (on the specification; not yet built here)
• Kindertransport — Diane Samuels (on the specification; not yet built here)
• Death and the King's Horseman — Wole Soyinka (on the specification; not yet built here)
• Macbeth — William Shakespeare (built in Incandio)
• Romeo and Juliet — William Shakespeare (built in Incandio)
• The Merchant of Venice — William Shakespeare (on the specification; not yet built here)
• Pride and Prejudice — Jane Austen (on the specification; not yet built here)
• Great Expectations — Charles Dickens (on the specification; not yet built here)
• The Scarlet Letter — Nathaniel Hawthorne (on the specification; not yet built here)

Learn it on Incandio

This page is the specification. The teaching is on the set-text notes and guides — every unit explained, then taught back to an AI pupil and defended against a real historical figure. Completely free.

Topics (31)

• Reading an unseen poem under exam conditions — Component 1 | Section A: Unseen Poetry; AO2
• Comparing poems: what AO3 actually rewards — Component 1 | Section B: Anthology Poetry; AO2, AO3
• Context that earns marks (AO4) — and context that wastes them — Component 1 | Section C: Modern Prose; AO4
• Critical style and informed personal engagement (AO1) — Component 1 | Section C: Modern Prose; AO1
• Using an open book without wasting the exam — Component 2; AO1, AO2, AO4
• If your school enters you for Component 3 (coursework) — Component 3; AO1, AO2, AO4
• If— — Rudyard Kipling — Component 1 | Section B: Anthology Poetry; AO2, AO3
• Prayer Before Birth — Louis MacNeice — Component 1 | Section B: Anthology Poetry; AO2, AO3
• Blessing — Imtiaz Dharker — Component 1 | Section B: Anthology Poetry; AO2, AO3
• Search For My Tongue — Sujata Bhatt — Component 1 | Section B: Anthology Poetry; AO2, AO3
• Half-past Two — U A Fanthorpe — Component 1 | Section B: Anthology Poetry; AO2, AO3
• Piano — D H Lawrence — Component 1 | Section B: Anthology Poetry; AO2, AO3
• Hide and Seek — Vernon Scannell — Component 1 | Section B: Anthology Poetry; AO2, AO3
• Sonnet 116: Let me not to the marriage of true minds — William Shakespeare — Component 1 | Section B: Anthology Poetry; AO2, AO3
• La Belle Dame sans Merci — John Keats — Component 1 | Section B: Anthology Poetry; AO2, AO3
• Poem at Thirty-Nine — Alice Walker — Component 1 | Section B: Anthology Poetry; AO2, AO3
• War Photographer — Carol Ann Duffy — Component 1 | Section B: Anthology Poetry; AO2, AO3
• The Tyger — William Blake — Component 1 | Section B: Anthology Poetry; AO2, AO3
• My Last Duchess — Robert Browning — Component 1 | Section B: Anthology Poetry; AO2, AO3
• Half-caste — John Agard — Component 1 | Section B: Anthology Poetry; AO2, AO3
• Do not go gentle into that good night — Dylan Thomas — Component 1 | Section B: Anthology Poetry; AO2, AO3
• Remember — Christina Rossetti — Component 1 | Section B: Anthology Poetry; AO2, AO3
• An Inspector Calls — J B Priestley — Component 2 | Section A: Modern Drama; AO1, AO2
• Macbeth — William Shakespeare — Component 2 | Section B: Literary Heritage Texts; AO1, AO2, AO4
• Romeo and Juliet — William Shakespeare — Component 2 | Section B: Literary Heritage Texts; AO1, AO2, AO4
• Of Mice and Men — John Steinbeck — Component 1 | Section C: Modern Prose; AO1, AO4
• To Kill a Mockingbird — Harper Lee — Component 1 | Section C: Modern Prose; AO1, AO4
• Klara and the Sun — Kazuo Ishiguro — Component 1 | Section C: Modern Prose; AO1, AO4
• Western Lane — Chetna Maroo — Component 1 | Section C: Modern Prose; AO1, AO4
• Component 1 on the day: a two-hour plan — Component 1; AO1, AO2, AO3, AO4
• Final understanding challenge: the whole specification — Component 1; AO1, AO2, AO3, AO4

Condensed revision notes on this course are called Grade 9 Notes, because it is graded 9–1.

Built from the official specification (Issue 3 — August 2025, read 2026-08-02).