Pearson Edexcel GCSE 1ET0
Assessment objectives decoded, plus frameworks for Shakespeare, post-1914 texts, the 19th-century novel, the poetry anthology and unseen poetry comparison.
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Aligned with the latest 2026 syllabus and board specifications. This sheet is prepared to match your exam board’s official specifications for the 2026 exam series.
Pearson Edexcel GCSE English Literature is sat closed book: you have no copy of your novel, play or anthology in the exam. That single fact should shape your revision. A student with a bank of short, memorised, well-chosen quotations can analyse; a student without one can only summarise plot. This reference sheet sets out what each assessment objective rewards, gives you a structure for each section of each paper, and shows how to build a quotation bank that works under pressure.
Assessment objectives in plain English
Shakespeare and post-1914 text frameworks
19th-century novel extract technique
Anthology and unseen poetry comparison structures
Every question weights these differently. Check your specification for the exact weighting per section.
Read, understand and respond to texts, using textual references including quotations to support your points.
A 'personal response' does not mean describing how the text made you feel. It means a reasoned interpretation that is yours.
Answer the question in your first sentence
Support every point with a short quotation or precise reference
Maintain a clear line of argument throughout
Analyse the language, form and structure used by the writer, using subject terminology where appropriate.
'The writer uses a simile' is identification. 'The simile reduces him to livestock' is analysis. The second is where the marks are.
Analyse specific words, not whole quotations
Form: what kind of text it is, and what that allows
Structure: openings, endings, turning points, sequence
Always explain the effect — naming a device scores nothing alone
Show understanding of the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they were written.
Context is credited where it illuminates the writing. Facts about the period with no textual link earn very little.
Tie context to a specific choice in the text
Never write a standalone paragraph of historical background
One or two well-integrated context points beat a paragraph of facts
Vocabulary, sentence structures, spelling and punctuation. Assessed on part of the qualification — check your specification for exactly where.
Vary sentence length and structure deliberately
Use ambitious vocabulary you can spell
Punctuate quotations correctly
Reserve the last few minutes to proofread
An extract-based question, then a question on the play as a whole. Treat them as two different tasks.
Drifting off the extract into the wider play is the commonest way to lose marks on this section.
Stay on the printed extract — this is close analysis
Work through it in order rather than jumping about
Analyse specific words and phrases, not themes in general
Write about dramatic effect and the audience
Range across the play, including less obvious scenes
Use memorised quotations — you have no text
Build in context where it explains a choice
Three developed paragraphs beat five thin ones
A character switching from verse to prose, or a line shared between two speakers, is almost always significant — a cheap, high-value AO2 point.
Soliloquy and aside — direct access to a character's mind
Dramatic irony — the audience knows what a character does not
Stage directions, entrances and exits
Verse and prose — who speaks in which, and when it changes
Say 'audience', not 'reader'
Attach each to a line. 'Because an audience held …, his refusal to … would read as …'
Beliefs about order, kingship and authority
Expectations of women's conduct and marriage
Religion, fate, the supernatural and the afterlife
Conditions of the original playhouse and its audience
Whole-text question, closed book — quotation bank essential
Answer the question in the first sentence
Track how the idea develops from the opening to the close
Write about characters as constructs: 'the writer presents him as…' rather than 'he decides to…'. This is a reliable mark-lifter.
Structure: where the writer places revelations and reversals
Characterisation as a vehicle for the writer's ideas, not as real people
Setting and staging as meaning, not scenery
The ending — what the writer leaves the audience with
Class, wealth and social responsibility
War and its aftermath
Changing roles and expectations of women
The writer's own purpose in addressing their audience
Extract part: close analysis of the printed passage only
Whole-text part: range across the novel using memorised quotations
Do not repeat extract material in the whole-text answer
Narrative perspective — first person, limited third, omniscient
Narrative reliability — can we trust this voice?
Characterisation methods: description, speech, action, others' views
Setting and atmosphere, including pathetic fallacy
Chapter openings and endings; foreshadowing
Semantic fields — clusters of related words
Serial publication is an under-used point: it explains cliffhanger chapter endings and recurring dramatic reversals.
Class structure, poverty and respectability
Industrialisation and the growth of cities
Religion, morality and ideas of redemption
The legal and social position of women
Serial publication and its effect on structure
Both sections are comparisons. Comparison must be integrated, not sequential.
Prepare pairings in advance. Decide, for each poem, which other poem you would pair it with and why.
One named poem is given; you choose the other from the same anthology cluster
Choose for contrast as well as similarity — contrast gives you more to say
Each paragraph covers both poems
Compare method, not just subject matter
Two unseen poems. Usually one question on the first poem, then a comparison of the two.
There is no context for unseen poems, so AO2 carries the weight. Analyse diction and form closely.
Read both twice before writing anything
Establish speaker, situation and tone for each
Find one genuine shared concern and one real difference
Keep close analysis central — you have no context to fall back on
Stanza shape and length — regular or breaking down?
Enjambment — meaning running past the line end
Caesura — a pause mid-line
Volta — the turn, often at line 9 of a sonnet
Rhyme scheme — and crucially where it breaks
Rhythm, and any stumble in it
Semantic field — the cluster of related words the poem builds
Extended metaphor sustained across the poem
Juxtaposition of contrasting images
Sibilance, plosives, assonance — and what each does to the pace
Connotation — what a word carries beyond its meaning
Both poems present …, but whereas … , … instead …
Where the first poem resolves this through …, the second refuses resolution by …
Similarly, …; the difference lies in …
This is the highest-return revision activity in the subject.
Short quotations are easier to memorise, easier to embed, and force you to analyse a specific word — which is exactly what AO2 rewards.
10–12 quotations per text, each three to five words long
Tag each by theme and character so you can retrieve it under pressure
Choose quotations rich in a single analysable word
Include quotations from the opening and the ending
Weak: The writer uses dark imagery. 'the black night closed in'
Strong: The night that 'closed in' makes the darkness active, trapping him…
Run the quotation inside your own sentence
A precise unquoted reference is safe; a misquotation you then analyse word by word is not.
Reference the moment: 'when she first refuses him in the drawing room…'
Never invent a quotation to analyse
Point that answers the question
Short embedded quotation
Analysis of one specific word — why this word
Effect on the reader or audience
Context, where it illuminates the choice
Link back to the question
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Twelve three-word quotations per text beat four long ones. They are easier to recall, easier to embed, and they force the close analysis AO2 rewards.
Assume the examiner knows the text better than you. Plot summary earns nothing in any band — it just uses up your time.
Explain why the writer chose that word over a near-synonym. This single habit is the most reliable way to lift a grade.
Writing all of poem A then all of poem B caps your comparison marks. Force both into each paragraph with comparative connectives.
'Because an audience believed X, his refusal to Y would read as Z.' A paragraph of historical background with no textual link earns very little.
Quick answers about this free PDF and how to use it for exam revision and active recall.
Yes. This Tutopiya formula sheet is free to use and you can download it as a PDF from this page for offline revision. There is no payment or account required for the PDF download.
This page groups key English Literature formulas in one place for revision. Reference sheet for Pearson Edexcel GCSE English Literature (1ET0). Assessment objectives decoded, Shakespeare and post-1914 frameworks, 19th-century novel technique, anthology and unseen poetry comparison structures,… Always cross-check with your official syllabus and past papers for your exam session.
No. In the exam you must follow only what your exam board allows in the hall—usually the official formula booklet or data sheet where provided. This page is a revision and teaching aid, not a replacement for board-issued materials.
It is written for students preparing for assessments at GCSE in English Literature, including classroom revision, homework support, and independent study. Teachers and tutors can also share it as a quick reference.
Work through past paper questions, quote the correct formula before substituting values, and check units and notation every time. Pair this sheet with timed practice and mark schemes so you see how examiners expect working to be set out.
Explore Tutopiya’s study tools, past paper finder, and revision checklists linked from our tools hub, or book a trial lesson with a subject specialist for personalised support alongside this formula reference.
Build a quotation bank and work on comparison and close analysis with a specialist GCSE English tutor.
Next step
Most marks are lost to technique, not content — describing when the question says explain, missing the mark scheme trigger, or misreading the command word. The Exam Technique Cheat Sheet breaks down what each command word demands and what examiners actually reward, question type by question type.
Browse exam technique cheat sheets →Pair this reference sheet with past papers, revision checklists, and planners — all free on our study tools hub.
This reference sheet covers assessment objectives and exam technique for Pearson Edexcel GCSE English Literature (1ET0). It is text-independent — the frameworks apply to whichever set texts and anthology cluster your school has chosen.
Paper structure, section weightings, mark allocations and where AO4 technical accuracy is assessed are set by the Pearson specification for your cohort. Always check the current 1ET0 specification and your teacher's guidance before relying on anything described here.