Looking back at the content of the first issue of English Review from September 1990, it’s easy to trace how the magazine has reflected the changing nature of the study of English literature as well as much broader social change. Back then, the editorial board – which included John Carey, Bernard O’Donoghue and Christine Gerrard – focused firmly on the traditional classics. In 2026, we still feature these texts but also celebrate the far more diverse range of contemporary fiction, poetry and drama studied at A-level today.
The magazine’s talented network of writers – comprising teachers, examiners and academics as well as school consultant Clare Middleton – has equipped students with the critical and contextual background to their set texts, encouraged them to develop their own wider reading and modelled skills essential to exam success.
Your organisation does not have access to this article.
Sign up today to give your students the edge they need to achieve their best grades with subject expertise
Subscribe