A/L Literature Past Papers
Papers for Advanced Level English Literature. Unseen appreciation questions from any year are useful, whatever the prescribed texts were.
What these papers are, and which years still apply
These are A/L English Literature papers, newest first. Two things are worth knowing before you download one.
Papers from earlier years may test texts that are no longer prescribed. The set texts have changed over the years, so an older paper can ask about a novel or play nobody now studies. Such a paper is still useful for practising the form of an answer - the wording of the questions, the balance between argument and evidence - but not for revising content. Check the prescribed texts page for what is set now.
Some official marking material is marked confidential and is not reproduced here. Where that is the case the paper is linked without it, and the answer development pages explain what a strong answer contains instead.
How to work with an A/L Literature paper
At this level the examiner is looking for an argument that could only have been written by somebody who had read the text closely and thought about it.
- Read the whole paper before choosing. The question that looks easiest at first glance is often the one with the least to say about it.
- Spend the first five minutes planning, not writing. An A/L essay lives or dies on its structure: a position, three developed points, and a conclusion that does more than repeat the introduction.
- Build your own quotation bank as you study - eight to ten short quotations for each text, each attached to an idea rather than to a plot event.
- Write at least three full essays under time before the examination. Writing a complete essay in the time allowed is a physical skill as much as an intellectual one.
- Compare your answer with the critical appreciation and essay question guidance rather than with a memorised model. Examiners recognise a memorised essay immediately.
Old papers are still useful — for two things
- Unseen appreciation questions never expire. A poem or passage set ten years ago is exactly as useful for practice as one set last year, because nothing was prescribed.
- Question wording is stable even when texts change. Reading twenty essay questions on texts you have not studied teaches you how such questions are constructed — which is precisely what you need in order to read your own question properly.
Official A/L Literature papers (Subject 73)
G.C.E. A/L 2019 English Literature (Subject 73), Paper I
Department of Examinations, Sri Lanka
Department of Examinations paper, linked not rehosted
G.C.E. A/L 2019 English Literature (Subject 73), Paper II
Department of Examinations, Sri Lanka
Department of Examinations paper, linked not rehosted
G.C.E. A/L 2019 English Literature (Subject 73), Marking Scheme
Department of Examinations, Sri Lanka
Department of Examinations document, linked not rehosted
A/L English Literature Resource Book
National Institute of Education, Sri Lanka
NIE publication, linked not rehosted
A/L Literature papers
All papers
A/L Literature papers
Every Advanced Level English Literature paper on the site, newest year first.
20194 papers
- 2019Marking schemeEnglish mediumLink checked
A/L English Literature 2019 - Marking Scheme
- Year
- 2019
- Term or examination
- G.C.E. A/L examination
- Province, zone or school
- Not recorded
- Subject and paper type
- A/L English Literature — Marking scheme
- Medium
- English
View paper: A/L English Literature 2019 - Marking SchemeDownload PDF: A/L English Literature 2019 - Marking SchemeLinked from Google Drive
- 2019Past paperEnglish mediumLink checked
A/L English Literature 2019 - Paper II - Language Paper
- Year
- 2019
- Term or examination
- G.C.E. A/L examination
- Province, zone or school
- Not recorded
- Subject and paper type
- A/L English Literature — Past paper
- Medium
- English
View paper: A/L English Literature 2019 - Paper II - Language PaperDownload PDF: A/L English Literature 2019 - Paper II - Language PaperLinked from Google Drive
- 2019Past paperEnglish mediumLink checked
A/L English Literature - Third Term Test 2019 - Royal College, Colombo
- Year
- 2019
- Term or examination
- Third term test
- Province, zone or school
- Royal College, Colombo
- Subject and paper type
- A/L English Literature — Past paper
- Medium
- English
View paper: A/L English Literature - Third Term Test 2019 - Royal College, ColomboDownload PDF: A/L English Literature - Third Term Test 2019 - Royal College, ColomboLinked from Google Drive
- 2019Past paperEnglish mediumLink checked
A/L English Literature - First and Second Term Tests 2019 - Royal College, Colombo
- Year
- 2019
- Term or examination
- Second term test
- Province, zone or school
- Royal College, Colombo
- Subject and paper type
- A/L English Literature — Past paper
- Medium
- English
View paper: A/L English Literature - First and Second Term Tests 2019 - Royal College, ColomboDownload PDF: A/L English Literature - First and Second Term Tests 2019 - Royal College, ColomboLinked from Google Drive
Year not specified1 paper
- Year not specifiedPast paperEnglish mediumLink checked
A/L English Literature - Second Term Test
- Year
- Year not specified
- Term or examination
- Second term test
- Province, zone or school
- Not recorded
- Subject and paper type
- A/L English Literature — Past paper
- Medium
- English
View paper: A/L English Literature - Second Term TestDownload PDF: A/L English Literature - Second Term TestLinked from Google Drive