AQA GCSE English Literature past papers
16 AQA GCSE English Literature papers from 2020 to 2025, 16 with a mark scheme and 16 with an examiners' report. Every link opens the document on AQA's own website; we list them in one place and show which topics each series tested.
Which topics come up most
The topics that have carried the most marks across the AQA GCSE English Literature papers we have tagged question by question. Topics with a revision guide link to it.
| Topic | Questions | Marks | Papers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Literature: Modern Prose Essay (themes only) | 21 | 2718 | 5 of 12 |
| Literature: Drama and Tragedy | 12 | 408 | 4 of 12 |
| Literature: Great Expectations (Charles Dickens) | 4 | 360 | 4 of 12 |
| Literature: Blood Brothers (Willy Russell) | 8 | 256 | 4 of 12 |
| Literature: An Inspector Calls (J.B. Priestley) | 6 | 188 | 3 of 12 |
| Literature: Macbeth | 4 | 136 | 4 of 12 |
| Literature: Romeo and Juliet | 4 | 136 | 4 of 12 |
| Literature: The Merchant of Venice (Shakespeare) | 4 | 136 | 4 of 12 |
| Literature: A Christmas Carol | 4 | 120 | 4 of 12 |
| Literature: The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde | 4 | 120 | 4 of 12 |
| Literature: An Inspector Calls - Themes in Depth | 2 | 68 | 1 of 12 |
| Literature: Frankenstein (Mary Shelley) | 2 | 60 | 2 of 12 |
| Literature: Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte) | 2 | 60 | 2 of 12 |
| Literature: Poetry Comparison | 2 | 60 | 2 of 12 |
| Literature: Power and Conflict Poetry Anthology | 2 | 60 | 2 of 12 |
Counted from our own question-by-question tagging of 12 papers. A question that tests two topics counts towards both, so the marks column ranks topics rather than adding up to a paper total. Showing the top 15 of 18 topics.
All AQA GCSE English Literature papers by year
June 2025
| Paper | Official documents (AQA) |
|---|---|
| Paper 1: Shakespeare and the 19th-Century Novel | Question paperMark schemeExaminers' report |
| Paper 2: Modern Texts and Poetry | Question paperMark schemeExaminers' report |
June 2024
| Paper | Official documents (AQA) |
|---|---|
| Paper 1: Shakespeare and the 19th-Century Novel | Question paperMark schemeExaminers' report |
| Paper 2: Modern Texts and Poetry | Question paperMark schemeExaminers' report |
June 2023
| Paper | Official documents (AQA) |
|---|---|
| Paper 1: Shakespeare and the 19th-Century Novel | Question paperMark schemeExaminers' report |
| Paper 2: Modern Texts and Poetry | Question paperMark schemeExaminers' report |
June 2022
| Paper | Official documents (AQA) |
|---|---|
| Paper 1M | Question paperMark schemeExaminers' report |
| Paper 1N | Question paperMark schemeExaminers' report |
| Paper 1P | Question paperMark schemeExaminers' report |
| Paper 2: Modern Texts and Poetry | Question paperMark schemeExaminers' report |
November 2021
| Paper | Official documents (AQA) |
|---|---|
| Paper 1M | Question paperMark schemeExaminers' report |
| Paper 1N | Question paperMark schemeExaminers' report |
| Paper 1P | Question paperMark schemeExaminers' report |
| Paper 2: Modern Texts and Poetry | Question paperMark schemeExaminers' report |
November 2020
| Paper | Official documents (AQA) |
|---|---|
| Paper 1: Shakespeare and the 19th-Century Novel | Question paperMark schemeExaminers' report |
| Paper 2: Modern Texts and Poetry | Question paperMark schemeExaminers' report |
Revise before you sit one
GCSE English Literature past papers from other boards
- CCEA GCSE English Literature15 papers
- Edexcel GCSE English Literature20 papers
- Eduqas GCSE English Literature19 papers
- OCR GCSE English Literature14 papers
- WJEC GCSE English Literature58 papers
Other AQA GCSE past papers
- Biology25 papers
- Business12 papers
- Chemistry30 papers
- Combined Science138 papers
- Computer Science15 papers
- Economics12 papers
- English Language18 papers
- French37 papers
- Further Maths10 papers
- Geography18 papers
- History97 papers
- Maths90 papers
- PE12 papers
- Physics29 papers
- Psychology12 papers
- Religious Studies110 papers
- Sociology12 papers
- Spanish36 papers
- Statistics27 papers
Practise the questions, not just the papers.
The past-paper tool lists every indexed English Literature question by topic, with its paper, question number, marks and page, so you can sit only the ones you need.