9675 · Oxford AQA International A Level
9675/21
Paper 2
English Literature · Winter 2025 · Variant 1
Relative difficulty
Analysis source: Oxford AQA
Analysis aligned to the official syllabus and assessment design.
3.5 / 5
200
510 min
Authorial craft, voice, and structural methods in prose, poetry, and drama
Cohort performance
Session statistics from official examination reports
Total marks
200
Duration
510 min
Session difficulty
3.5 / 5
Key examiner messages
Top priorities from the principal examiner before you revise
A central pillar of the mark scheme across all units is AO2 (Authorial Methods).
High-scoring answers consistently analyzed structural choices, such as the use of dramatic dialogue and the staging of extracts in Unit 1.
For instance, in the Othello extract, top answers did not just describe Iago's villainy; they explored his use of prose versus verse and how the closing soliloquy builds dramatic irony.
Conversely, weaker responses struggled with unseen literary representations in Unit 4A, often summarizing the events of Jane Smiley’s Some Luck rather than investigating how the third-person narrative mimics a child's cognitive realities.
Question difficulty map
How candidates performed on each question in this series
No data available in official reports
Assessment objectives
Skill and AO weighting from official examiner commentary
No data available in official reports
Method marks watchlist
Where working, steps, or method marks were commonly lost
No data available in official reports
Recurring mistakes across years
Themes examiners flag in multiple recent sessions for this subject
No data available in official reports
Question choice intelligence
Mean scores and popularity for optional questions (HKDSE electives)
No data available in official reports
Level exemplars
What candidate scripts at each grade level looked like
No data available in official reports
Grade & admission context
How marks relate to grade thresholds and entry standards
Report type
Examiner report — national grade boundaries and question-level commentary
Level A*
Approx. 90% of maximum mark
Level A
Approx. 80% of maximum mark
Level B
Approx. 70% of maximum mark
Level C
Approx. 60% of maximum mark
Level D
Approx. 50% of maximum mark
Level E
Approx. 40% of maximum mark
Deep insights
What top candidates did
Techniques and approaches examiners rewarded in this series
No data available in official reports
Command word playbook
How to match each command word to the expected response style
No data available in official reports
Time traps
Sections where candidates spent disproportionate time relative to marks
No data available in official reports
Syllabus traceability
Topics linked to questions and mark weighting in this session
Representations of childhood (Literary representations)
25 marks this session
Representations of women/men (Literary representations)
25 marks this session
William Shakespeare - Othello (Aspects of dramatic tragedy)
25 marks this session
Arthur Miller - Death of a Salesman (Aspects of dramatic tragedy)
25 marks this session
MCQ trap analytics
Commonly chosen wrong options from examiner commentary
No data available in official reports
Topic heatmap across years
Mark concentration by topic and exam year for this subject
Mark intensity
William Shakespeare - Othello
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
William Shakespeare - Macbeth
Representations of race/class/culture
Representations of women/men
Representations of childhood (Literary representations)
Representations of women/men (Literary representations)
William Shakespeare - Othello (Aspects of dramatic tragedy)
Difficulty trend
How session difficulty has shifted across recent years
Paper comparison
Marks and duration breakdown across papers in this session
Unit 1: Aspects of dramatic tragedy: Unit 2: Place in literary texts: Unit 3: Elements of crime and mystery: Unit 4A: Literary representations:
Marks you can still earn
Where valid approaches outside the mark scheme may still gain credit
No data available in official reports
Practise what examiners flagged
Target weak topics from this report inside the Revui app
Representations of childhood (Literary representations)
25 marks this session
Practise in RevuiRepresentations of women/men (Literary representations)
25 marks this session
Practise in RevuiWilliam Shakespeare - Othello (Aspects of dramatic tragedy)
25 marks this session
Practise in RevuiArthur Miller - Death of a Salesman (Aspects of dramatic tragedy)
25 marks this session
Practise in RevuiSelf-diagnostic checklist
Key actions before you sit this paper — copy and tick off as you revise
- 1Message
A central pillar of the mark scheme across all units is AO2 (Authorial Methods).
- 2Message
High-scoring answers consistently analyzed structural choices, such as the use of dramatic dialogue and the staging of extracts in Unit 1.
- 3Message
For instance, in the Othello extract, top answers did not just describe Iago's villainy; they explored his use of prose versus verse and how the closing soliloquy builds dramatic irony.
- 4Message
Conversely, weaker responses struggled with unseen literary representations in Unit 4A, often summarizing the events of Jane Smiley’s Some Luck rather than investigating how the third-person narrative mimics a child's cognitive realities.
Teacher briefing pack
One-page session summary for tutors and classroom review
Winter 2025 2025
English Literature
A central pillar of the mark scheme across all units is AO2 (Authorial Methods). High-scoring answers consistently analyzed structural choices, such as the use of dramatic dialogue and the staging of extracts in Unit 1. For instance, in the Othello extract, top answers did not ju
A central pillar of the mark scheme across all units is AO2 (Authorial Methods).
High-scoring answers consistently analyzed structural choices, such as the use of dramatic dialogue and the staging of extracts in Unit 1.
For instance, in the Othello extract, top answers did not just describe Iago's villainy; they explored his use of prose versus verse and how the closing soliloquy builds dramatic irony.
- Total marks
- 200
- Duration
- 510 min
- Session difficulty
- 3.5 / 5
Session analysis
A central pillar of the mark scheme across all units is AO2 (Authorial Methods). High-scoring answers consistently analyzed structural choices, such as the use of dramatic dialogue and the staging of extracts in Unit 1. For instance, in the Othello extract, top answers did not just describe Iago's villainy; they explored his use of prose versus verse and how the closing soliloquy builds dramatic irony. Conversely, weaker responses struggled with unseen literary representations in Unit 4A, often summarizing the events of Jane Smiley’s Some Luck rather than investigating how the third-person narrative mimics a child's cognitive realities.
Updated Jun 12, 2026
Paper breakdown
Unit 1: Aspects of dramatic tragedy: Unit 2: Place in literary texts: Unit 3: Elements of crime and mystery: Unit 4A: Literary representations:
Top chapters
Examiner notes & key calculations
- The "Real Person" Fallacy: Many students write about characters (like Willy Loman or Hedda Gabler) as if they are real individuals with psychological issues, rather than literary constructs designed by the writer to explore specific tragic paradigms.
- Ineffective Extract Integration: In Section A of Unit 1, candidates often analyzed the extract in isolation without tracing how those specific linguistic or dramatic motifs reverberate through the wider play.
- Imbalanced Comparison: In the Unit 4A comparison of Sylvia Plath and Ruth Stone, students sometimes spent disproportionate time on one poem while treating the second as a brief footnote.
Analysis is paraphrased for study purposes. Always verify against the official examiner report and mark scheme.