Choose the correct 0408 route before reading
Distinguish the two published syllabus cycles · Connect each component to its required form · Confirm school entry and full-text choices
Exam scope and assessment notes
0408 preparation for exam year(s) 2025, 2026, 2027, 2028, 2029, 2030. The assessment changes in 2028; follow the component and selected texts for your year. Original StudyForA teaching and practice, with fictional examples labelled. Other well-supported literary readings can be valid. Model answers are for self-checking and do not award Cambridge marks or grades. Full set-text reading and text-specific teaching, complete timed papers and qualified literature-teacher assessment remain unfinished. Coursework must be the candidate’s own work, assessed through the centre and moderated by Cambridge.
Before you begin
- Confirm your exam year and centre-selected full texts. Coursework and both papers are compulsory; private candidates cannot enter 0408.
Work on paper. Try each question before revealing help, and explain why your method works.
Quick readiness check
What should support a claim about a literary text?
What you will learn
- Distinguish the two published syllabus cycles
- Connect each component to its required form
- Confirm school entry and full-text choices
Start with your exam year
Exams in 2025–2027 follow Version 2: Component 1 coursework, Paper 2 Unseen Poetry and Paper 3 Set Text are compulsory. The revised weights are 38.5%,23%,38.5%, not the older 50%,25%,25%. The official update changes weightings while keeping component marks.
For 2028–2030 Version 1, all three components remain compulsory and each has approximately one-third weighting. Coursework uses drama; Paper 2 includes prescribed and unseen poetry; Paper 3 uses prose. Do not transfer a friend’s text choices or tasks across the 2028 change.
Confirm the reading and entry
The June and November series are listed. Private candidates cannot enter this syllabus: your school or centre handles entries and coursework. Confirm the exam year, selected complete works and suitable editions with its teacher or exams officer. Website practice does not create an exam entry.
Sources for this lesson
Pause and explain
Can a 2028 learner prepare Paper 2 using unseen poetry only?
Worked example
A learner plans to take 0408 in 2028 using a 2026 guide that prepares only unseen poetry for Paper 2. What needs changing?
Show the worked solution
- Keep unseen practice but add the compulsory 15-poem prescribed selection.
- Use the new drama coursework and prose Paper 3 requirements, along with the revised assessment timings.
Answer The old guide omits compulsory 2028 set poetry and uses an outdated component structure.
Try a topic test
Choose Easy, Normal or Difficult. Save your answers and open worked review after finishing.
Test this topic →From guided practice to a new situation
Write your answer and reasoning first. Use a hint only if you are stuck. The model solution is for self-checking; your written work is not automatically marked.
Name the three compulsory components for 2026.
Give me a hint
Use the current cycle.
Compare my reasoning
- Component 1 is coursework.
- Papers 2 and 3 are Unseen Poetry and Set Text.
Coursework, Unseen Poetry and Set Text.
Look for these in your work
- Use the correct cycle
- Include all three components
For 2028, identify the forms used in coursework, Paper 2 and Paper 3.
Give me a hint
Read the revised component descriptions.
Compare my reasoning
- Coursework uses drama.
- Paper 2 includes set and unseen poetry; Paper 3 uses prose.
Drama coursework; prescribed and unseen poetry; prose set text.
Look for these in your work
- Separate the forms
- Do not import the old Paper 3 range
A learner studies independently and asks whether completing this site creates a private-candidate entry for 0408. Explain the limitation.
Give me a hint
Check the entry and coursework arrangements.
Compare my reasoning
- Private candidates cannot enter 0408 under these syllabuses.
- A centre must handle entry and assessment; self-study practice is separate.
No; website completion does not provide an entry or replace the required centre arrangements.
Look for these in your work
- State the entry boundary
- Distinguish learning from certification
Common mistakes
- Confirm the examination year before choosing texts.
- Keep the updated component weights separate from obsolete specimen descriptions.
What can you explain now?
Can a 2028 learner prepare Paper 2 using unseen poetry only?
Compare with the explanation
No; the revised paper also assesses the prescribed poem selection.
The 2028 cycle introduces one set-poem question alongside the unseen question.
After trying it yourself, choose your next review. This is your self-assessment.
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Make it stick
Can a 2028 learner prepare Paper 2 using unseen poetry only?
If you needed the solution, close it and solve the problem again from a blank page. A correct answer is stronger when you can explain the reason for each step.