IB English A: Literature Tutoring, SL and HL
IB English A: Literature asks students to explain how a text works rather than what it says: Paper 1 puts an unseen passage in front of them, and Paper 2 demands a sustained comparison of two works. Students who know their texts well still lose marks when they retell the plot, list devices without saying what they do, or discuss two works one after the other instead of comparing them.
Short answer
IB English A: Literature is offered online, one-to-one.
A private lesson runs 90 minutes and starts at USD 95 per lesson; lessons are booked singly or in packages.
IB group classes are private groups of three or more friends, who agree the start date with us.
From USD 95 per lesson
- SL and HL assessment from the IB’s own subject brief
- Live online lessons of 90 minutes
- From USD 95 per lesson
How IB English A: Literature is assessed
External papers set and marked by the IB, and an internal assessment marked by your teacher and moderated by the IB. Standard Level and Higher Level differ in length, weighting and, at HL, in the extra paper or component. Figures are from the IB’s own subject brief, linked below.
International Baccalaureate
IB Diploma Programme · English A: Literature · subject brief, first assessment 2021
| Component | SL: weight and length | HL: weight and length | What it involves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1: Guided analysis | 35% · 1 hour 15 min | 35% · 2 hours 15 min | Guided analysis of unseen passages: literary passages in Literature, non-literary texts in Language and Literature (one at SL, two at HL). |
| Paper 2: Comparative essay | 35% · 1 hour 45 min | 25% · 1 hour 45 min | A comparative essay on two literary works, answering one of four questions. |
| HL essay | HL only | 20% | A 1,200–1,500-word essay on one work studied, written as coursework. |
| Individual oral | 30% | 20% | A prepared oral on how two works studied approach a common global issue. |
Checked on 24 September 2026
Paper names are the IB’s own. Internal assessment time is the teaching time the IB allocates to it, not an exam.
The IB English A: Literature syllabus
Topic names are left in English, as they appear on the paper and in the mark scheme.
Areas of exploration
Readers, writers and texts · Time and space · Intertextuality: connecting texts
The two courses
English A: Literature · English A: Language and Literature
Where IB English A: Literature marks are usually lost
Spotting devices instead of analysing them
On Paper 1 a guiding question points to a technical or formal feature of each passage; answering it is not compulsory, but the analysis is expected to stay focused. Answers that name a metaphor, then a simile, then an image, without linking each to its effect and to an overall reading, earn little for analysis. A clear argument about the passage matters more than coverage.
Two essays stapled together
Paper 2 asks for one comparative essay on two works. A common pattern is a full discussion of the first work, then of the second, with one comparative sentence at the end. The criteria reward comparison and contrast, so similarities and differences should shape the structure throughout. Remember too that a work already used for the oral or the HL essay cannot be used here.
A global issue named but never explored
The individual oral asks how a global issue of the student’s choice is presented through the content and form of two works, one written in English and one studied in translation. Marks are lost when the issue is so broad it says nothing, when the extracts are discussed in isolation from the works they come from, or when form drops out and the oral becomes a talk about themes.
The IB English A: Literature internal assessment
The internal assessment is the individual oral: a prepared response, followed by the teacher’s questions, on how a global issue is presented through the content and form of two works studied, one originally written in English and one read in translation, each represented by an extract the student chooses. A tutor can help a student test whether an issue is focused enough, practise linking each extract to its whole work, and rehearse answering unexpected questions. The choice of issue, the extracts and the argument remain the student’s own.
A tutor can explain the criteria, question a draft and point to what is weak. The research, the writing and every decision in it stay the student’s own, as the awarding body’s rules require.
How we teach IB English A: Literature
A tutor teaches English A: Literature through close reading aloud: a passage is read, its effect described in plain words, then traced back to specific choices of language, structure and form. Unseen passages from different literary forms are practised regularly, so that whatever form appears on Paper 1 is familiar. For Paper 2 the tutor helps the student build a set of comparisons between the works they will write on, with precise references to key moments and points on context and technique, then sets timed essays marked against the IB criteria. The tutor works with the works on the school’s own reading list and does not second-guess the teacher’s choices. HL students also discuss the line of inquiry for their HL essay, which they write themselves.
There is no separate diagnostic, because there is no single test that stands in for two years of a school syllabus. The first lesson is the assessment: the tutor works through your recent marked work, past-paper questions from your own specification, and the units your school has already covered, and reads current level, gaps, exam technique and where school work stands. It is a normal paid lesson and it teaches as it assesses.
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