AQA and Lit in Colour partnership will support English Literature teachers
As part of a commitment to better reflect Britain as it is today, AQA has partnered with Penguin Books’ Lit in Colour campaign to provide expert support for teachers so that they can teach a greater range of books in their classrooms.
Teachers have told AQA, which is the exam board of choice for most GCSE English Literature teachers, that confidence and a lack of knowledge are the main barriers when it comes to teaching books by writers of colour. Research commissioned by Penguin Books and Runnymede Trust in 2021 also found that teachers had little to no training on how to talk about race in the classroom.
In response to the Government's Curriculum and Assessment Review call for evidence, AQA shared that only a small proportion of GCSE English Literature students answer questions about books by a woman of colour. Outside anthologies, in 2024 only 289 students chose a book by a woman of colour.
The resulting interim report from the Curriculum and Assessment Review indicated that the curriculum needs to do more to ensure that all young people feel represented.
The partnership between AQA and Lit in Colour will work to support teachers in the teaching of new texts. This includes:
- Webinars and training sessions about teaching these new books
- A series of author events including the Festival of Education
- Book donations for teachers and students
- Webinars and training sessions about 19th century that support deeper knowledge of race, empire and migration.
This will boost teacher confidence, experience and subject knowledge, whilst importantly empowering educators to introduce students to compelling and emotionally engaging books that anyone, whatever their age or background, can enjoy and identify with.
In 2023, AQA added new books by writers of colour to its existing GCSE course content.
These are:
- Leave Taking by Winsome Pinnock - a funny and moving play about the lives and relationships of a British Caribbean mother and her two daughters living in North London
- Princess and the Hustler by Chinonyerem Odimba - a play about the world of a 10 year old girl and her family living in 1960s Bristol
- My Name is Leon by Kit de Waal - a novel about the world of a loving and loyal nine year old boy who is on a mission to reunite his family.
AQA also launched Worlds and Lives, a collection of well-known and more recent poetry. Students will sit exams about these books this summer.
I am thrilled to be working with Lit in Colour so that we can not only offer a wider range of books for teachers and their students, but actively encourage the uptake of them through supporting teacher confidence and subject knowledge. “The expertise and insights brought to our work by Lit in Colour is invaluable for both GCSE and A-Level, enabling us to offer fresh lenses on the canon and illuminate the books we study anew. ”
Stephanie Keenan, AQA Head of Product English and a former English teacher
AQA has added some exciting texts by writers of colour onto their GCSE specification which contribute to telling the story of modern-day UK society. We are delighted to be able to support teacher confidence and knowledge with training and resources for these new texts but also support a deeper understanding of 19th century texts that are just as important for how students understand our present-day. ”
Dr Zaahida Nabagereka, Senior Lit in Colour Programme Manager
AQA will invite teachers to training webinars on:
- My Name is Leon KS4 resources and teacher experience of the text
- 19th century texts that support deeper knowledge of race, empire and migration
- Reflective practice sessions to support teacher confidence.
Book donation
To launch the partnership AQA and Lit in Colour will be donating a mini library of 100 Penguin Books titles by writers of colour to 250 AQA schools. This book donation is designed to support students reading for enjoyment and increase teachers’ subject knowledge of texts that can support classroom as well as recreational learning. More information about this giveaway will be made available to AQA schools later this year.
About Lit in Colour
Since 2021 the Lit in Colour campaign has been supporting UK schools make the teaching and learning of English Literature more inclusive of writers of colour. Penguin Books and Runnymede Trust have collaborated since 2020 with the commissioning of the Lit in Colour: Diversity in Literature in English Schools report published in 2021. This research found that just 0.7% of GCSE students in England read a book by a writer of colour. It also found that primary and secondary school English teachers had little to no training on how to talk about race in the classroom (with only 12% of secondary and 13% of primary survey respondents having received teacher training in this area), or for approaching racist language in books
Want to find out more?
Visit our Spark Something page – your one-stop shop for all things GCSE English Literature. You’ll find teaching resources, training, events, and detailed information about the new texts by writers of colour, as well as the wider GCSE English offer.
And if you’re looking for support, inspiration, or to connect with others shaping the subject, head to our Team English page. It’s where you can access expert guidance, hear about what we’re doing to shape the future of English, and discover how we’re supporting teachers every step of the way.
