OxfordAQA International A-Level English Literature: Closed-Book, Open-Book and the Route A/B Choice (9675)

OxfordAQA International A-Level English Literature (9675) is structurally identical in shape to English Language 9670 but built around literary texts. AS Paper 1 (Aspects of Dramatic Tragedy) is closed-book: 2 hours, 50 marks, 20%. AS Paper 2 (Place in Literary Texts) is open-book: 2 hours, 50 marks, 20%. A-level Paper 1 (Elements of Crime and Mystery) is compulsory and closed-book: 2 hours, 50 marks, 30%. The final 30% is either Route A – A-level Paper 2, a closed exam on Literary Representations using unseen prose and poetry (2 hours 30 minutes, 50 marks) – or Route B – a non-exam assessment of two essays, one on prose and one on poetry, 1,250-1,500 words each. These notes complement the site’s guides to Aspects of Dramatic Tragedy and Place in Literary Texts.

Closed-book and open-book papers need entirely different revision

Two of the qualification’s four fixed-choice papers – AS Paper 1 and A-level Paper 1 – are closed-book, meaning no text is permitted in the exam room; AS Paper 2 is open-book. Route A’s Literary Representations paper works on unseen prose and poetry printed directly into the exam paper, so it does not turn on memorised quotations from a previously studied text the way the closed-book set-text papers do. Exam-preparation priority: memorise specific, well-chosen quotations for the two closed-book set texts specifically, since open-book navigation skill will not transfer to a paper where the text itself is unavailable, and unseen-text skill is a third, separate skill again.

Confirm your Route A/Route B entry early

As with English Language, Route A is an exam on unseen prose and poetry printed into the paper itself, while Route B is two extended coursework essays on previously studied texts, with their own drafting and moderation timeline. Exam-preparation priority: confirm your cohort’s route with your teacher well before the final unit begins – Route B candidates need essay topics and drafts planned on a coursework timeline, not an exam-revision one, while Route A candidates need unseen-text analysis practice instead of quotation memorisation for that specific paper.

Elements of Crime and Mystery is compulsory and closed-book at A-level

A-level Paper 1 is the one fixed A-level paper every candidate sits, closed-book, 30% of the qualification. Exam-preparation priority: prioritise memorised quotation coverage for this text specifically, since – as with AS Paper 1, and unlike the open-book AS Paper 2 – the text is not in the exam room, so there is nothing to fall back on if recall is incomplete.

Route B’s two essays need independent development, not exam-style planning

Each Route B essay is 1,250-1,500 words on a single text (one prose, one poetry), assessed as coursework rather than under timed conditions. Exam-preparation priority: Route B candidates should focus revision time on redrafting for precision and depth across multiple drafts, since the coursework format rewards refinement in a way a single timed sitting cannot.

Worked routine: building quotation recall for a closed-book text

The routine below is an original model written for this resource, not a reproduction of any official past paper or mark scheme.

Step 1 - select 8-10 quotations per text, not more:
Depth of understanding beats breadth of half-remembered lines.

Step 2 - tag each quotation with two or three themes it could
support:
A single strong quotation usually serves more than one essay
question.

Step 3 - practise writing the quotation from memory, not just
reading it:
Recognising a quotation on the page is not the same skill as
recalling it under pressure.

Step 4 - practise embedding each quotation in a full analytical
sentence:
Not the quotation alone -- the sentence that explains its effect.

Step 5 - test recall against a range of essay questions, not
the same one repeatedly:
Confirms the quotation transfers across contexts, not just the one
you rehearsed it in.

Step 2 is what makes a small, well-chosen quotation bank flexible enough to answer questions the exact wording of which cannot be predicted in advance.

Before/during exam checklist

• Before the exams: memorise a focused quotation bank (8-10 per text) for every closed-book paper; confirm your Route A/Route B entry early; give A-level Paper 1’s compulsory closed-book text priority quotation coverage.
• During a closed-book paper: rely on the memorised, theme-tagged quotation bank rather than attempting to reconstruct passages from memory in full.
• During an open-book paper: use annotation and navigation speed instead, since the text itself is available.

Self-test

1. Which papers in this qualification are closed-book, and which is open-book?
2. What distinguishes Route A’s Literary Representations paper from the closed-book set-text papers?
3. Why does A-level Paper 1 deserve particular priority for quotation memorisation?
4. Why should Route B essay preparation focus on redrafting rather than exam-style timed planning?

Answers: 1. AS Paper 1 and A-level Paper 1 are closed-book; AS Paper 2 is open-book. 2. It works on unseen prose and poetry printed directly into the exam paper, so it rewards unseen-text analysis skill rather than memorised quotations from a previously studied text. 3. Because it is the one compulsory A-level paper and is closed-book, with no open-book alternative if quotation recall is incomplete. 4. Because coursework is assessed on refined final drafts rather than a single timed sitting, so revision time is better spent redrafting for precision than practising exam pacing.

Written against the assessment section of OxfordAQA’s own International AS/A-level English Literature (9675) qualification page (official OxfordAQA page, verified 2026-08-28); the paper structure, open/ closed-book status, route choice and weightings (20/20/30/30) are exactly as the board’s own Assessment section states them. The quotation-recall routine above is an original model written for this resource, not a reproduction of any official past paper or mark scheme. Always check the current specification for your examination series at oxfordaqa.com.