Pearson Edexcel Level 3 GCE

Mark Scheme (Results) Summer 2025 Pearson Edexcel Level 3 GCE in English Literature (9ET0) Paper 2: Prose Edexcel and BTEC Qualifications Edexcel and BTEC qualifications are awarded by Pearson, the UK’s largest awarding body. We provide a wide range of qualifications including academic, vocational, occupational and specific programmes for employers. For further information visit our qualifications websites at or . Alternatively, you can get in touch with us using the details on our contact us page at Pearson: helping people progress, everywhere Pearson aspires to be the world’s leading learning company. Our aim is to help everyone progress in their lives through education. We believe in every kind of learning, for all kinds of people, wherever they are in the world. We’ve been involved in education for over 150 years, and by working across 70 countries, in 100 languages, we have built an international reputation for our commitment to high standards and raising achievement through innovation in education. Find out more about how we can help you and your students at: Summer 2025 Question Paper Log Number P79554A Publications Code 9ET0_02_2506_MS All the material in this publication is copyright © Pearson Education Ltd 2025 General Marking Guidance • All candidates must receive the same treatment. Examiners must mark the first candidate in exactly the same way as they mark the last. • Mark schemes should be applied positively. Candidates must be rewarded for what they have shown they can do rather than penalised for omissions. • Examiners should mark according to the mark scheme not according to their perception of where the grade boundaries may lie. • There is no ceiling on achievement. All marks on the mark scheme should be used appropriately. • All the marks on the mark scheme are designed to be awarded. Examiners should always award full marks if deserved, i.e. if the answer matches the mark scheme. Examiners should also be prepared to award zero marks if the candidate’s response is not worthy of credit according to the mark scheme. • Where some judgement is required, mark schemes will provide the principles by which marks will be awarded and exemplification may be limited. • When examiners are in doubt regarding the application of the mark scheme to a candidate’s response, the team leader must be consulted. • Crossed out work should be marked UNLESS the candidate has replaced it with an alternative response. Marking guidance - specific The marking grids have been designed to assess student work holistically. The grids identify which Assessment Objective is being targeted by each bullet point within the level descriptors. One bullet point is linked to one Assessment Objective, however please note that the number of bullet points in the level descriptor does not directly correlate to the number of marks in the level descriptor. When deciding how to reward an answer, examiners should consult both the indicative content and the associated marking grid(s). When using a levels-based mark scheme, the ‘best fit’ approach should be used: • examiners should first decide which descriptor most closely matches the answer and place it in that level • the mark awarded within the level will be decided based on the quality of the answer and will be modified according to how securely all bullet points are displayed at that level • in cases of uneven performance, the points above will still apply. Candidates will be placed in the level that best describes their answer according to each of the Assessment Objectives described in the level. Marks will be awarded towards the top or bottom of that level depending on how they have evidenced each of the descriptor bullet points • examiners of Advanced GCE English should remember that all Assessment Objectives within a level are equally weighted. They must consider this when making their judgements • the mark grid identifies which Assessment Objective is being targeted by each bullet point within the level descriptors • indicative content is exactly that – they are factual points that candidates are likely to use to construct their answer. It is possible for an answer to be constructed without mentioning some or all of these points, as long as they provide alternative responses to the indicative content that fulfils the requirements of the question. It is the examiner’s responsibility to apply their professional judgement to the candidate’s response in determining if the answer fulfils the requirements of the question. Question number Indicative content 1 Childhood Candidates may refer to the following in their answers: • comparisons of ways writers present reasons for or causes of injustice, e.g. based on race; gender; age; misunderstanding; problems in society • ways writers create sympathy for victims of injustice, e.g. Celie’s account of Sofia’s unfair arrest and long punishment in The Color Purple; narratorial comments on Maisie as an innocent victim of her parents in What Maisie Knew; use of free indirect style in Briony’s false accusation of Robbie in Atonement; third-person account of Stephen Blackpool being suspected of bank robbery in Hard Times • ways legal systems can create injustice, e.g. racist police in The Color Purple; class prejudice influencing application of the law in Atonement; court judgement being used to fuel animosity between the Faranges in What Maisie Knew • contextual factors influencing depictions of injustice, e.g. British law exempting spouses from testifying against each other in Atonement; inaccessibility of divorce to the working class in Hard Times; Victorian ideals about family life in What Maisie Knew; lack of protections for poor black women in early 20th-century USA • ways writers use imagery and language to present injustice, e.g. Dickens’ use of synecdoche to show how the ‘Hands’ are dehumanised; Walker’s brutal descriptions of Sofia’s injuries; McEwan’s moth metaphor to show Robbie’s fragility; James’ presentation of Maisie as a symbolic ‘vessel’ • ways injustices are challenged and resolved, or not, e.g. through female solidarity in The Color Purple; Maisie’s final independent choice in What Maisie Knew; Briony’s invented narrative in Atonement; Gradgrind’s reformation and (mostly) happy ending in Hard Times. 2 Childhood Candidates may refer to the following in their answers: • comparisons of characters who could be considered flawed, e.g. Mr. in The Color Purple; Gradgrind in Hard Times; Briony in Atonement; Beale and Ida Farange in What Maisie Knew • ways characters could be considered flawed, e.g. morally; personality characteristics; making errors of judgement; beliefs • methods writers use to reveal flaws, e.g. Dickens’ repetition of ‘facts, facts, facts’; Walker’s colour symbolism; McEwan’s extended metaphor of writing and rewriting; James’ motif of blushing or reddening to reveal consciousness of fault • contextual factors influencing the presentation of flawed characters, e.g. Walker’s ‘womanism’ and feminist perspective; McEwan’s Second World War setting; James’ commentary on Victorian moral standards; Dickens’ visit to Preston in 1854 • ways writers explore the possibility of redemption from flaws, e.g. Louisa’s self- discovery in Hard Times; friendship based on equality between Mr. and Celie in The Color Purple; Sir Claude’s attempts to protect Maisie in What Maisie Knew; Briony’s long atonement in Atonement • narrative voices used to present character flaws, e.g. Walker’s use of Celie’s letters and voice; James’ use of Maisie’s innocent viewpoint to reveal others’ flaws; Dickens’ narratorial comments from omniscient stance; McEwan’s fragmented chronology. Question number Indicative content 3 Colonisation and its Aftermath Candidates may refer to the following in their answers: • comparisons of characters who are disillusioned with society, e.g. Parvaiz in Home Fire; Marlow in Heart of Darkness; Moses in The Lonely Londoners; Huck in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn • aspects of society causing disillusionment, e.g. the ‘philanthropic pretence’ of empire in Heart of Darkness; Huck’s resistance to being ‘sivilized’ in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; prejudice faced by British Muslims in Home Fire; overt racism in 1950s London in The Lonely Londoners • presentation of the consequences of disillusionment, e.g. attempts to escape; moral compromise; acceptance; rebellion; death • contextual factors influencing the presentation of disillusionment, e.g. European colonisation of Africa in the 19th century; setting of Huckleberry Finn before the abolition of slavery in the USA; growth of ISIS in the early 21st century; Windrush migrant experiences in London of the 1950s • methods writers use to present disillusionment, e.g. Twain’s use of satire; Shamsie’s descriptions of settings; Selvon’s symbolic descriptions of Waterloo in the fog; Conrad’s juxtaposition of ‘civilisation’ and ‘savagery’ • writers’ use of narrative voices to present characters who are disillusioned, e.g. Twain’s first-person narration; Shamsie’s use of free indirect discourse to show multiple perspectives; Conrad’s retrospective narration; Selvon’s use of vignettes and multiple narrative voices. These are suggestions only. Accept any valid alternative response. 4 Colonisation and its Aftermath Candidates may refer to the following in their answers: • comparisons of ways writers use symbolism to explore key themes and ideas, e.g. symbolic characters; settings; objects; events • writers’ use of central symbolic images, e.g. the parachutist in Home Fire; the raft in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; the steamer in Heart of Darkness; the sun in The Lonely Londoners • presentation of symbolic journeys to explore character development, e.g. Huck’s episodic journey down the Mississippi river in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; Marlow’s journey down the Congo River in Heart of Darkness; Parvaiz’s journey from London to Raqqa to Karachi in Home Fire; Galahad’s journeys around London in The Lonely Londoners • contextual factors explored through writers’ use of symbolism, e.g. discrimination faced by Windrush migrants; Conrad’s exposure of the horrors of imperialism and colonisation; contemporary fears about grooming and radicalisation in Shamsie’s novel; Twain’s satirical comments on hypocritical societal structures • narrative methods writers use when describing symbolic locations and events, e.g. Selvon’s stream of consciousness description of Hyde Park; Twain’s use of naïve first-person narration; Shamsie’s use of newspaper reports and social media feeds; Conrad’s framed narrative to symbolically connect London and the Belgian Congo • writers’ use of symbolic weather and pathetic fallacy, e.g. fog in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Heart of Darkness; Amherst’s snow and Karachi’s heat in Home Fire; cold winter weather in The Lonely Londoners. These are suggestions only. Accept any valid alternative response.