Which books are in the GCSE literature reading list this year

Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565 Visit Shots! now The set list of books and plays teachers can choose from has become more diverse in recent years

English literature is a compulsory GCSE for many, if not most students in England.

Secondary school pupils will have to read and analyse several books and plays picked out by their teacher.

These come from set lists decided by each individual exam board.

But these lists often change year on year, with some texts disappearing from the curriculum - and new ones being added.

Secondary schools pupils across England are back in class for the new school year, with a brand new cohort now studying towards the first major exams of their academic career - their GCSEs.

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There are only a few GCSEs that are compulsory; maths, at least two science subjects, and English language or literature - both, in many schools. English literature involves studying a range of books and plays in depth, with final exams consisting of sections on 19th Century novels, Shakespeare, modern plays and novels, and poetry.

Teachers usually pick which texts their classes will study, but each exam board - AQA, OCR, Pearson Edexcel or WJEC Eduqas for most students in England - has a set list of approved books and plays for them to choose from. These tend to be reviewed every few years.

Sometimes books are removed by one or multiple exam boards, with the most recent examples including Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (dropped by AQA and Eduqas as of this year); The History Boys by Alan Bennett (dropped by AQA as of this year); A Taste of Honey by Shelagh Delaney (dropped by Eduqas as of this year); and Shakespeare's Henry V - which is no longer being taught by any exam board.

Books are also sometimes added to the reading list, and there has been a push in recent years spearheaded by the Lit in Colour campaign to diversify the books studied at school, so that more children can "see themselves and their lives reflected in the literature they are tasked to read".

All of the stories on the list are selected to help young people expand their worldview - learning to critically analyse literature, while picking out underlying themes in a search for deeper meaning. Here are the books on the English literature GCSE reading list for the 2024/25 school year:

Students will usually study one novel, chosen from their exam board's list of set texts. These include:

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson (AQA, OCR, Pearson, Eduqas)

A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens (AQA, OCR, Pearson, Eduqas)

Great Expectations, Charles Dickens (AQA, OCR, Pearson)

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë (AQA, OCR, Pearson, Eduqas)

Frankenstein, Mary Shelley (AQA, Pearson)

Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen (AQA, OCR, Pearson, Eduqas)

The Sign of Four, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (AQA)

The War of the Worlds, H. G. Wells (OCR, Eduqas)

Silas Marner, George Eliot (Pearson, Eduqas)

GCSE students usually study one play from the list of set texts. These include:

Macbeth (AQA, OCR, Pearson, Eduqas)

Romeo and Juliet (AQA, OCR, Pearson, Eduqas)

The Tempest (AQA, Pearson)

The Merchant of Venice (AQA, OCR, Pearson, Eduqas)

Much Ado About Nothing (AQA, OCR, Pearson, Eduqas)

Julius Caesar (AQA)

Twelfth Night (Pearson, Eduqas)

Othello (Eduqas)

Modern prose

Students will also study one or more recent plays and novels from a set list, all published after 1914. This year these will include:

Lord of the Flies, William Golding (AQA, Pearson, Eduqas)

Animal Farm, George Orwell (AQA, OCR, Pearson)

Anita and Me, Meera Syal (AQA, OCR, Pearson, Eduqas)

Pigeon English, Stephen Kelman (AQA)

My Name is Leon, Kit de Waal (AQA)

Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro (OCR)

Telling Tales (an anthology of short stories compiled by AQA)

The Woman in Black, Susan Hill (Pearson, Eduqas)

Coram Boy, Jamila Gavin (Pearson)

Boys Don't Cry, Malorie Blackman (Pearson, Eduqas)

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit , Jeanette Winterson (Eduqas)

Modern drama

An Inspector Calls, JB Priestley (AQA, OCR, Pearson, Eduqas)

Blood Brothers (musical version), Willy Russell (AQA, Pearson, Eduqas)

DNA, Dennis Kelly (AQA, OCR)

A Taste of Honey, Shelagh Delaney (AQA)

Princess & The Hustler, Chinonyerem Odimba (AQA)

Leave Taking, Winsome Pinnock (AQA, OCR, Eduqas)

Hobson's Choice, Harold Brighouse (Pearson)

Journey's End, R.C. Sheriff (Pearson)

The Empress, Tanika Gupta (Pearson)

Refugee Boy (adapted for stage), Benjamin Zephaniah (Pearson)

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time (adapted for stage), Mark Haddon/Simon Stephens (Eduqas)

The History Boys, Alan Bennett (Eduqas)

What do you think about the books and plays being studied by GCSE students? Have your say and make your voice heard by leaving a comment below.