The OCR exam board has updated its GCSE poems to bring more “diversity” and “inclusivity” to the curriculum.
The board is adding 15 “exciting” and “diverse” poems to its GCSE English literature syllabus from this September.
OCR is also set to introduce more diverse texts to its A-level English language and literature curriculum, as well as its GCSE and A level in media studies, from September 2023.
The move follows similar decisions by other exam boards aiming to increase diversity in the curriculum.
From next term, students taking OCR’s GCSE English literature course will be able to study poets of black and South Asian ethnicity, as well as Ukrainian poetry, including The Perseverance by Raymond Antrobus and Ilya Kaminsky’s We Lived Happily During the War.
Improving diversity in GCSE English
The new poets also include disabled and LGBTQ+ voices.
Jill Duffy, OCR’s chief executive, said it was an “inspiring set of poems” demonstrating the board’s “ongoing commitment to greater diversity in the English literature that students engage with”.
“We want to reflect diversity and inclusivity not just in our qualifications but in the material we produce to support their delivery, as well as in the assessment of our qualifications.”
The new poems will appear in the anthologies available alongside poets William Blake, Emily Brontë, John Keats, Sylvia Plath, Jackie Kay and Carol Ann Duffy.
A full list of the poems can be found on OCR’s blog.
The board has also said it will provide new resources in the form of “Poetry Packs”, which will contain a summary of each poem with the background of each of the poets.
Teachers are also invited to join a CPD event on the new poems on Wednesday 22 June.
Judith Palmer, director of The Poetry Society, said poetry offers a “vital place in the curriculum for young people to experience literature as an urgent living tradition exploring complex contemporary themes”.
“We are sure young people will welcome the opportunity to study poems by some of the most striking new voices in contemporary poetry, alongside a refreshing selection of classic texts from diverse authors. These poems will speak powerfully to the experiences of young people today,” she added.
