News & Events
English Literature Distinction
Hereford Cathedral School can boast two of the country’s top five finishers in GCSE English Literature. The “same school, same subject, same set” achievement of two close friends Christine from Hereford and Pia, of Monmouth, may be unique said their English teacher, Jeremy Crowhurst. Overall, Christine gained 8 A* and 3 A grades. Pia earned 9 A* and 1 A grade. They were both awarded Sixth Form Scholarships at Hereford Cathedral School, Pia the Sixth Form Art Scholarship and Christine a Dean's Scholarship. Both students were delighted with their success in English Literature but recognised that their achievement would not have been possible without the dedicated enthusiasm and high standard of teaching they received from their English teacher. 'He inspires you by promoting and valuing your opinions', said Pia, 'I enjoyed finding my own voice and developing my understanding of literature in such a challenging environment.'
Nearly 374 000 candidates took this year’s English Literature exam, which consisted of a coursework component as well as a written exam. The novels that Christine and Pia studied for their coursework were Shakespeare’s Macbeth, H.G.Well’s The Time Machine and Equus by Peter Shaffer. 'I enjoyed the work our class did on Equus', said Christine, 'I was particularly interested in the nature versus nurture argument and the way that the novel questions our views on the concept of normality'.
The English Literature examination consisted of a comparison between given poems in the ‘Anthology’ as well as an exploration of a given question based upon the novel The Lord of The Flies by William Golding.