Additional Set Piece List: Update has gone live!

But what does it all mean?

Hi all - I wasn’t expecting to write another post this week, but the Additional Set Piece List updates have just been released and I’m trying to figure out what it all means.

Have a look here, and let me know if you think I’ve got this right:

Additional Set Piece List

First of all, it isn’t a selection of pieces that can now be used in addition to Volume 4 and Volume 5 of the LAMDA Acting Anthologies. The additional pieces seem to be in the form of links to GCSE syllabi, with the implication being that extracts from any of the set texts in these syllabi can now also be used as set text pieces for Grade 4 or Grade 5.

It’s a bit complicated and a bit confusing, and my recommendation is to stick with the Anthologies for the time being if you are at all unsure about using new extracts. The last thing anyone wants is for a student to fail an exam because of the wrong pieces. I think it will take a bit of time for the examiners themselves to get used to the new system. Having said that I do think that it is good news and I’m actually feeling excited about giving my students some new options. There’s a lot to think about and decipher before I can get to that point though.

All right. First things first, here’s the all important table:

First thing to be aware of : there are NO additional set text for Grade 1, 2 or 3. And at the moment there are no plans to release additional texts for these grades.

So, the additional options are only for Grade 4 and 5, and can be used for either of those grades.

For example, if you open the first link to the WJEC Eduqas GSCE Drama Specification you find that extracts of the right length from any of these plays will now count as ‘Set Texts’ for Grade 4 or Grade 5 LAMDA Acting Exams:

• Macbeth by William Shakespeare

• An Inspector Calls by JB Priestley

• Find Me by Olwen Qymark

• Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman adapted by Sabrina Mahfouz

• Refugee Boy by Benjamin Zephaniah

• I Love You Mum - I Promise I Won’t Die by Mark Wheeller

• The IT by Vivienne Franzman

The other syllabi have other set texts, and so options for our students are now wide open. And presumably (like the Volume 4 pieces) these can all still be used as free choice as well. So if you use extracts from Find Me as own choice pieces at any grade - don’t worry! You can still do this… but now you have the option of using it as a set text (as long as it isn’t edited or changed from the original source material).

So what does this mean for us as teachers? Here are my initial thoughts - including why I think this update is both exciting and a bit problematic, how we might curate our own set-text anthology, and what to watch out for if you’re planning to use these new options in exams.