GCSE-ready- Home
- Lessons
- GCSE & IGCSE English Literature
- Exam skills: Paper 2 (open book) and Paper 3 (coursework)
Exam skills: Paper 2 (open book) and Paper 3 (coursework)
🎬 The doodle video for this lesson is coming soon. Subscribe on YouTube to see it first.
For the drama and literary heritage texts, your school chooses either the Paper 2 open-book exam or Paper 3 coursework.
Paper 2: open book
1 hour 30 minutes, 60 marks. You may take a clean, unmarked copy of the prescribed edition of each text into the exam.
Section A (modern drama, 30 marks): AO1 and AO2. Section B (literary heritage, 30 marks): AO1, AO2 and AO4. You choose one question from two in each section.
Open book does not mean you have time to search: know where key scenes are, so you can quote precisely.
Section A (modern drama, 30 marks): AO1 and AO2. Section B (literary heritage, 30 marks): AO1, AO2 and AO4. You choose one question from two in each section.
Open book does not mean you have time to search: know where key scenes are, so you can quote precisely.
Paper 3: coursework
Two assignments, set and marked by your school and moderated by Pearson: Assignment A on modern drama (AO1, AO2) and Assignment B on literary heritage (AO1, AO2, AO4).
Each is worth 30 marks. Keep to the advisory length your teacher gives you: examiners report that longer is not always better.
Each is worth 30 marks. Keep to the advisory length your teacher gives you: examiners report that longer is not always better.
Writing about drama and context
In drama essays, write about stagecraft: stage directions, entrances and exits, dialogue, lighting and how scenes would work in performance.
In heritage essays, weave context into your argument (AO4) rather than adding a separate history section.
In heritage essays, weave context into your argument (AO4) rather than adding a separate history section.
How should you use an open-book text effectively?
- Know your text well before the exam.
- Use it to check and select short, precise quotations.
- Do not waste time reading long passages during the exam.
Answer: Use it to find short, precise quotations quickly, relying on your knowledge rather than rereading.
Paper 2: 1 h 30, open book (clean copy), drama AO1+AO2 (30), heritage AO1+AO2+AO4 (30). Paper 3: two assignments with the same AOs, moderated by Pearson. Write about stagecraft; integrate context.
Check you have got it
Answer 6 quick questions with instant marking. If you get one wrong, GCSE-ready shows you why and gives you another go. It is free, and you do not need an account.