A Christmas Carol: Target 9 for GCSE

Explore challenging themes, such as: childhood, death, religion, society and humanity, greed, money, generosity and happiness, redemption… and more!

Excite and enthuse your high achievers through their exploration of a Dickens classic. Challenging activities and guidance throughout require students to be highly analytical, exploratory and conceptual, encouraging them to think and work at the top end of the GCSE assessment criteria.

The resource covers the key areas of the book, all referenced to AOs, including: context, setting, characters, language, structure, form, motifs, ideas and interpretations.

It is undoubtedly pitched at the more able and there are many activities which offer challenge

A Ellison, Faculty Leader for English & Peer Reviewer

Engaging and thought-provoking activities aim to:

  • prompt the recall of important points
  • aid comprehension and reinforce clear, advanced understanding
  • enable students to apply their knowledge of the novella to a new situation or an unseen extract
  • support implicit and explicit analyses
  • encourage individual interpretations and stimulate new, creative and individual ideas

I liked the little ‘exam hacks’ on most pages that point students to what they need to do to achieve top grades. There are constant tips throughout of how to impress the examiner – and this is what students need

T MacCormac, Teacher with lead on literature & Peer Reviewer

A close focus on exam success demonstrates the best ways to achieve top marks:

  • Exam hacks, key terms and essay questions throughout
  • Essay planning and academic writing skills guidance
  • Annotated grade 9 sample essays

Plus! Further reading list and key terms glossary

What do teachers say about this resource? (10398)

I would describe this resource as exceptional. It is undoubtedly pitched at the more able and there are many activities which offer challenge.

One of the things I particularly liked was the questions to consider for each level which is positioned near the start of the resource. The links to research materials encourages independent study. 'Exploding a Quotation' is something I do with my students and it is an imperative method for developing skills to achieve the highest grades. 


A Ellison, Faculty Leader for English & Peer Reviewer

A detailed resource which clearly outlines stretch and challenge activities for the 7-9 grade students. Very detailed on context, focusing especially on Victorians and Dickens' life which would suit the higher-ability students. Great AO2 top tips in terms of seeing the bigger picture in the novella... Stretches the 7-9 grade students into those top bands which need a more personal and creative approach that is hard to teach in a class of mixed ability... Works well for the higher ability and is mapped across the AOs... Fantastic.

D Soltysik, HOD & Peer Reviewer

I really liked this resource. So often, I have come across resources that claim to be able to help students achieve Grade 9 instead of giving them actionable tips that are broken down into smaller activities to make them easier to understand and follow, like this in this resource... I liked that there are a multitude of different kinds of activities that are very helpful to students to help them achieve Grade 9. This includes questions for research, discussion, and asking ‘open-ended’ questions that encourage students to think critically, as well as pre-reading activities, during reading and after reading... However, the two best aspects of this resource are, firstly, the inclusion of complex and sophisticated contextual references to Malthusian Theory as well links to the British Empire (and not just the usual Industrial Revolution link). Secondly, the way teaching Academic Writing has been approached. Instead of just reminding or asking students to write formally, the activity goes into specific ways in which this can be done, including, but not limited to, speech indicators, assertion, and third person...I think this resource enhances learning and adds educational value because it can be used for in class differentiation or as homework that stretches and challenges the student. It links to cross-curricular teaching with the activities that focus on aspects of context such as the Malthusian theory (Sociology), and the British Empire (History)... The presentation and layout are very good... I would absolutely purchase this resource for my teaching. I wish it had been available at the beginning of the year before I started teaching A Christmas Carol... I will definitely be using many of the activities from this resource next year... An excellent resource.

A Nickab, Senior English Teacher & Peer Reviewer

I was greatly impressed by this resource... Very informative/thorough... I particularly liked the use of good websites and original illustrations which broke up the text... It enhances learning by its variety... Its educational value is through its emphasis on AOs so students understand what they are aiming for... It matches the specifications very well... What most impressed me was the emphasis on interpretation.

L Ashley, HoD & Peer Reviewer

I think this resource is well pitched for higher ability students – but also not too challenging that, middle ability students would also benefit from it. There are constant tips throughout of how to impress the examiner – and this is what students need.

I liked the little ‘exam hacks’ on most pages that point students to what they need to do to achieve top grades. There is a range of tasks provided that are ordered in sequence. I also really liked the focus on ‘lesser studied characters’ – it allows students to make more perceptive points and make greater links.
I also like the fact that sample questions and answers have been provided – students often get a lot from using these in lessons/for tasks. The ‘Further Reading’ list is also good.

This resource would work well running alongside the delivery of the text in lessons. It looks at less ‘obvious’ points that are usually focused on for revision. It provided useful tips and hints that tell students explicitly what they need to do to achieve the grade – that not all resources do.
Although it provides challenge for students, it is logically sequenced and ‘chunked’ to not become overwhelming.

Yes, I would purchase this resource – it would be useful to further challenge students in their learning

T MacCormac, Teacher with lead on literature & Peer Reviewer

This is going to be a welcomed resource by teachers of top sets who teach A Christmas Carol. It's difficult to find higher grade resources that truly stretch students, and this does just that.

This resource has a great range of activities and covers all areas of the text. I particularly like the exam hacks and the pre-reading materials to solidify context.

This resource is suitable for all exam boards. I teach AQA, yet mark Eduqas, and this resource is perfect for both of these papers. It gives great scope to all aspects of the requirements for the higher bands of marks, and makes it easier for the students to reach them.

Suitable for giving directly to students, with no overlapping so teachers can dip in and out of it.

L Topping, Teacher & Peer Reviewer