Check the two different coursework texts for 2025–2027
Choose one prose text and one drama text from different countries or cultures · Exclude every Paper 3 listed text from coursework · Assign critical and empathic tasks to eligible different works
Exam scope and assessment notes
0408 preparation for exam year(s) 2025, 2026, 2027. 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
- Choose one prose text and one drama text from different countries or cultures
- Exclude every Paper 3 listed text from coursework
- Assign critical and empathic tasks to eligible different works
Two texts and two forms
The current portfolio uses two different complete texts: one prose and one drama, drawn from different countries or cultures. One assignment is critical and the other empathic; each focuses on one text. The empathic response needs a novel or play, so a short-story collection can serve only the critical assignment and then requires discussion of at least two stories.
The exclusion concerns the whole set list
A coursework work must not be on that exam year’s Paper 3 set list, even if the student does not choose it for the exam. The critical and empathic assignments cannot use the same work. Confirm appropriate scope, demand, editions and tasks with the centre. These lessons teach selection and method; approved whole-text coursework teaching is still a content gap.
Sources for this lesson
Pause and explain
Is a Paper 3 listed work eligible for coursework if your class chooses a different exam work?
Worked example
For 2026, a student chooses Fever Dream for Paper 3 and proposes The Cherry Orchard for coursework because they are not studying that play for the exam. Is the proposal eligible?
Show the worked solution
- The Cherry Orchard is still on the 2026 Paper 3 list.
- The exclusion applies to the list, not just the candidate’s chosen examination work.
Answer No; choose eligible coursework texts outside the full set list.
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.
A 2026 plan uses two plays from one country for the two assignments. Identify the selection requirements it misses.
Give me a hint
Check both form and country or culture.
Compare my reasoning
- The portfolio requires one prose and one drama text.
- The texts must come from different countries or cultures.
It lacks the required prose text and the required country/culture distinction.
Look for these in your work
- Check both constraints
- Use the current cycle
A 2027 plan uses the same eligible novel for critical and empathic responses. Is this permitted?
Give me a hint
The two assignments must use different works.
Compare my reasoning
- The rule prohibits the same text for both.
- The portfolio must also include one drama text.
No; the assignments need different texts and the required prose/drama combination.
Look for these in your work
- Enforce different works
- Retain both forms
An eligible short-story collection is proposed for the critical essay and an eligible play for empathy, from different cultures. What should the teacher still confirm?
Give me a hint
Check scope, exclusion and task range.
Compare my reasoning
- Neither work may be on the year’s Paper 3 list; editions and demand must be suitable.
- The critical essay must cover at least two stories, and the empathic task must specify character and moment.
Confirm full eligibility and demand, two-story critical coverage, and a specific play-character moment.
Look for these in your work
- Check all constraints
- Do not treat a proposed choice as approval
Common mistakes
- Check the full exam-year list.
- Do not use the same text for both assignments in this cycle.
What can you explain now?
Is a Paper 3 listed work eligible for coursework if your class chooses a different exam work?
Compare with the explanation
No; the exclusion applies to the whole set list.
The rule is not limited to the one title selected by the class.
After trying it yourself, choose your next review. This is your self-assessment.
Your review choice appears on Today. Sign in to sync it across devices.
Make it stick
Is a Paper 3 listed work eligible for coursework if your class chooses a different exam work?
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.