English Language
Which schools in England make English Language a big part of the curriculum, and where results are strongest. Entries and grades from the 2025 performance tables.
English Language GCSE was taken in 4,389 schools in England in 2025, with 623,117 entries — about 89% of the Year 11 cohort.
Nationally 20% of entries achieved grade 7 or above. The tables below show the schools where the largest share of pupils take the subject, and where grades are highest (schools with at least 20 entries).
At Acland Burghley School (Camden) 100% of the year group took English Language.
At A level, English Language was offered in 903 schools and colleges, with 11,297 entries — roughly 4% of A level students.
GCSE: schools with the highest share of grades 7–9
Schools with at least 20 entries. England: 20% of entries graded 7–9. High grades often reflect who is admitted (selective and independent schools) as much as teaching.
A level: schools and colleges where the largest share of students take English Language
Entries as a share of A level students (at least 30 A level students and 10 entries). England: 4% of A level students.
What pupils learn in English Language, stage by stage
England has no national year-by-year syllabus: exam boards and schools set the order within each stage. These are the statutory blocks from the Department for Education, so a parent can see what a child meets in Years 7–9, what every GCSE candidate must cover, and what waits in the sixth form.
What GCSE English Language teaches · Years 10–11
41 learning outcomes from the Department for Education’s statutory subject content, grouped by topic. Each outcome belongs to one of twelve fields of knowledge used across startfrom.today: Language & Communication (40), Social & Cultural Skills (1). Exam boards add detail on top of these; the outcomes themselves are the same whichever board a school uses.
Reading25
- identify explicit and implicit information in a text — explicit information, implicit information
- interpret themes and ideas in a text — idea, theme
- read texts in different ways for different purposes — reading purpose, reading strategy
- compare the usefulness and relevance of content across texts — relevance, usefulness
- evaluate the presentation of content in a text — content, presentation
- draw inferences from a text — inference, textual evidence
- justify inferences with evidence from a text — evidence, justification
- support a point of view with evidence from a text — point of view, textual evidence
- identify bias in a text — bias
- identify misuse of evidence in a text — misuse of evidence
- distinguish between statements supported by evidence and those that are not — evidence, unsupported claim
- reflect critically on a text using its context — context, critical reflection
- evaluate a text drawing on knowledge from wider reading — evaluation, wider reading
- recognise the possibility of different responses to a text — reader response
- identify the main theme or themes of a text — theme identification
- summarise ideas and information from a single text — summary
- synthesise information from more than one text — multiple sources, synthesis
- explain how vocabulary and grammar contribute to a text's effect — effect, grammar, vocabulary
- illustrate how vocabulary and grammar contribute to a text's effect — grammar, textual evidence, vocabulary
- use linguistic and literary terminology to analyse a text — linguistic terminology, literary terminology
- analyse how form contributes to a text's effectiveness — effectiveness, form
- evaluate how structure contributes to a text's impact — impact, structure
- compare two or more texts critically — critical reading, textual comparison
- read literature and extended literary non-fiction from the 19th to 21st centuries — 19th century, 20th century, 21st century, literary non-fiction
- read a range of essays, reviews and journalism in print and online — essay, journalism, review
Writing10
- write effectively for different purposes and audiences — argument, audience, description, purpose
- select vocabulary, grammar and form to match audience and purpose — audience, form, grammar, vocabulary
- use language imaginatively and creatively in writing — creative writing, imaginative language
- use information from others to write in a new form — form transformation, source information
- maintain a consistent point of view in writing — consistency, point of view
- maintain coherence and cohesion across a text — coherence, cohesion
- select and emphasise facts and ideas for impact — emphasis, fact selection, impact
- cite evidence and quotation to support a view in writing — evidence, quotation
- create emotional impact in writing — emotional impact, persuasive writing
- use rhetorical devices to write persuasively — audience, persuasive writing, rhetorical devices
Spoken language6
- select information and ideas for a spoken presentation — content selection, spoken presentation
- organise information and ideas persuasively for a spoken presentation — organisation, persuasion, spoken presentation
- plan a spoken presentation for a purpose and audience — audience, planning, purpose
- deliver a prepared presentation or speech — presentation, speech delivery
- listen and respond appropriately to questions and feedback — audience feedback, interaction, listening
- use spoken Standard English appropriately — spoken register, standard english
Source: DfE GCSE English language subject content (2013), Open Government Licence v3.0. Outcomes are split into single actions and rewritten only where the original bundled several; wording otherwise follows the DfE text. Methodology.
What A level English Language teaches · Years 12–13
17 learning outcomes from the Department for Education’s statutory subject content, grouped by topic. Each outcome belongs to one of twelve fields of knowledge used across startfrom.today: Language & Communication (14), Social & Cultural Skills (3). Exam boards add detail on top of these; the outcomes themselves are the same whichever board a school uses.
Language levels6
- analyse how speech sounds are articulated using phonetics and phonologyYear 13 — phonetics, phonology
- analyse lexis and semantics including social and historical variation in vocabularyYear 13 — lexis, semantics
- analyse grammar and morphology at sentence, clause, phrase and word levelYear 13 — grammar, morphology
- analyse pragmatics as the contextual aspects of language useYear 13 — pragmatics
- analyse discourse across different genres, modes and contextsYear 13 — discourse
- apply language levels to explain how texts and discourses are shaped and interpretedYear 13 — discourse interpretation, text
Language and context3
- analyse historical, geographical, social and individual varieties of EnglishYear 13 — language variety
- analyse aspects of language and identityYear 13 — language and identity
- explain how different areas of language study connect across a courseYear 13 — connected study
Skills8
- apply language concepts and methods of analysis systematically to dataYear 13 — data analysis, linguistic method
- evaluate texts through close reading, description and interpretationYear 13 — close reading, text evaluation
- produce texts and discourses applying language conceptsYear 13 — text production
- use terminology associated with the study of language accuratelyYear 13 — linguistic terminology
- reference texts and sources accuratelyYear 13 — source referencing
- evaluate attitudes towards language and its usersYear 13 — language attitude
- investigate language independently using appropriate methods and techniquesYear 13 — independent investigation, research method
- synthesise language knowledge drawn from different areas of studyYear 13 — knowledge synthesis
Source: DfE GCE AS and A level English language subject content (2014), Open Government Licence v3.0. Outcomes are split into single actions and rewritten only where the original bundled several; wording otherwise follows the DfE text. Methodology.