A Level English Literature NEA: choosing texts and tasks

Sam Orciel, English Subject Advisor

Many of the emails that I receive each day are linked to the task-setting aspect of the A Level English Literature NEA. In this blog, I’ll tell you about the text and task approval process and how you can help your students to make choices that could allow them to reach the top levels of the mark scheme.

The text and task tool

The Text and task proposal form (H472) is a tool that you can use to check our database of existing texts and tasks, and also where you submit your proposals. It’s worth sharing with your students too, so they can generate ideas or see what approaches other students have taken to their chosen texts (though formal submissions must be made by a teacher). Full instructions on how to use the tool can be found in How to use the Literature post-1900 text(s) and task(s) tool. If a text isn’t in the database, you can submit it for approval using the free text box. 

Note that from September 2024, you don’t need to re-submit your texts and tasks for approval if they have been approved before. Read the full subject update.

Selecting a new text

Generally speaking, if a text fulfils all of the following conditions, then it is very likely to be approved: 

• first published or performed post-1900 
• originally written in English 
• written for an adult audience 
• of ‘substantial’ length. 

There are a few exceptions: for example, we can approve texts in translation where the translator is the original author (such as Beckett’s Waiting for Godot). The term ‘substantial’ is there to ensure relative parity with other texts on the specification. In practice, this means a minimum of a complete poetry collection of around 14 poems, a one-act play, or a novella – for reference, our shortest approved novella is Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These. 

We ask for an adult audience to ensure that the text has the right level of challenge for A Level, but we’re happy to consider some more complex young adult texts. 

Students cannot use any of the eight post-1900 ‘core’ set texts from Component 2. 

Stuck for new text ideas? Take a look at our blog on expanding your NEA library, or get in touch.

The post-2000 requirement 

At least one of the three NEA texts must have first been written in the year 2000 or later. This also means, of course, that all three of a student’s NEA texts can be post-2000 if they wish. 

The purpose of the post-2000 requirement is to ensure that students engage with work that is modern and contemporary. It’s therefore important to be careful about texts, particularly poetry collections, that are published many years after they were originally written as they do not engage with twenty-first century ideas, concerns and styles. For example, a collection of World War One poetry first published in 2024 would not qualify as a post-2000 text. Similarly, if a student was using Carol Ann Duffy’s Collected Poems as their post-2000 text, they would only be able to reference the sections from Feminine Gospels onwards. The same applies to all texts in terms of being first published post-1900. 

If you’re in any doubt about the provenance or original publication date of a text, we’re always happy to help. 

Designing tasks 

Alongside the text and task tool, our NEA and task-setting guides (which you’ll find on our secure Teach Cambridge website) are really useful for sharing examples of appropriate tasks with students. It’s worth remembering that the two tasks don’t have to be thematically linked, and that task titles should be framed in as concise and clear a way as possible to enable students to access the assessment objectives easily. 

For Task 1, with either close reading or re-creative writing, there should be some consideration of the text as a whole to contextualise the chosen extract. In Task 2, the comparative element should be made explicit. Statements should only be included if students wish to interrogate and evaluate the proposition made. For both tasks, ‘presents’ can be a more useful analytical approach than ‘explore’, as it helps to focus students on evaluating a writer’s craft and genre.

As always, we’re only an email or phone call away to help you and your students find the right wording for your NEA tasks.

Stay connected

Share your thoughts in the comments below. If you have any questions, you can email us at English@ocr.org.uk, call us on 01223 553998 or message us @OCR_English. You can also sign up to subject updates to keep up-to-date with the latest news, updates and resources.

If you are considering teaching any of our qualifications, use our online form to let us know, so that we can help you with more information.

About the author

Prior to joining OCR in September 2022, Sam spent ten years teaching a range of English qualifications in secondary schools, including as a head of department. She did this alongside completing a MSt in Advanced Subject Teaching at the University of Cambridge, specialising in A Level English curricula and pedagogy.

In her spare time, you’ll find her either fussing over her dog, watching tennis, or (predictably!) reading anything and everything.