OCR A Level English Literature (H472) Past Papers 2026

H472/01 — Drama and Poetry pre-1900

Duration: 2h 30m

H472/02 — Comparative and Contextual Study

Duration: 2h 30m

H472/03 — Literature post-1900 (NEA)

Duration: Non-Examined Assessment

Dramatic and theatrical analysis in Section 1(a) beyond basic verse/prose identification

Across both series, examiners note candidates who 'discussed verse/prose differences which were not relevant' and focused narrowly on labelling rather than on dramatic effects. Top Section 1(a) responses discuss the visual, spatial, and performative dimensions of the passage — crowded stage, character positioning, the actor's body — not just the words. H472/01 June 2023 explicitly encouraged 'consideration of dramatic effects as much as linguistic techniques'.

H472/01

Poetic form analysis in H472/03 NEA Task 1 — versification systematically ignored

Moderators in both 2023 and 2024 flag that 'versification was frequently neglected' in poetry Task 1 essays, with 'lines often quoted as prose'. Candidates discuss imagery and theme but do not engage with metre, rhyme scheme, stanzaic form, or the significance of line breaks. This directly suppresses the AO2 mark, which is dominant in Task 1.

H472/03

Critical appreciation of the H472/02 unseen passage — reading holistically rather than testing for genre features

Both series note candidates who apply pre-learned genre frameworks rather than reading the actual passage. In 2023 'formulaic approaches to the Dystopia passage seemed at times to be testing the passage for dystopian qualities rather than analysing its unique literary effects.' In 2024, some candidates 'posited a totalitarian government in the background, without finding evidence to justify it.' Systematic acronym-led reading gets in between the candidate and the text.

H472/02

H472/01 Section 2 and H472/02: AO3 context precision — avoiding sweeping generalisations about historical periods

'Some unhelpful generalisations about "the Victorian era" did tend to infiltrate a number of responses.' In the Gothic topic, 'erroneous Victorian dating appeared in weaker scripts.' Context earns marks only when it is specific, accurate, and tethered to a textual moment. Broad statements about gender, class, or historical period introduced without connection to particular writing choices in the texts are credited at lower levels.

H472/01, H472/02

H472/02 comparative essay: building genuine within-paragraph comparison rather than text-by-text structure

Examiners in 2024 note 'a noticeable increase in candidates trying to incorporate a high number of the optional texts' and that 'the weakest examples just supplied a series of paragraphs on different texts without indicating points of connection or comparison.' The required comparison is at the level of writers' methods, not characters' actions. Most essays remain at mid-range because they separate texts into alternating blocks.

H472/02

H472/03 NEA Task 2: using critical readings as end-of-paragraph soundbites rather than engaging with them analytically

Moderators in both series identify this as 'a weakness in many folders': 'many centres and candidates view a reference to a critical point of view to be successful address to AO5. However, merely citing a reference, often at the end of a paragraph to confirm a point, forms only partial address to this AO.' Stronger work 'needs exploration of those readings' — challenging, teasing between, or substantiating them with the candidate's own evidence.

H472/03

H472/03 NEA word-count discipline — overlong folders that exceed 3000-word guidelines

Both 2023 and 2024 moderator reports flag overlong folders as a recurring problem: 'many abandoned the guidelines altogether, with a large number of overlong folders, reaching as many as 7000 words.' Exceeding the limit 'will affect the assessment of AO1' because it demonstrates a failure of precision and concision. 'Lengthy Task 2 responses often lacked taut and focused argument, precision or clear purpose.'

H472/03

H472/01 Section 1(b) and Section 2: formulaic responses that follow a pre-set structure regardless of the question set

Examiners repeatedly note candidates who 'twisted responses away from the question to address a preferred topic' or produced 'formulaic approaches' rather than engaging creatively with the actual question. In H472/02, candidates who 'over-relied on prepared material to the extent that they were inclined to misread passages/questions to fit a prepared theme' perform significantly below those who read flexibly.

H472/01, H472/02