The 3 books and plays that are exclusive to Northern Ireland's GCSE reading list

Education specialist Amber Allott takes a look at three pieces of literature only studied in Northern Ireland.

Transcript

00:00Hello, my name is Amber Allitt and I'm a journalist specialising in education.

00:05Education is a devolved issue in the UK, meaning that the governments of each of the four countries

00:09are responsible for it.

00:11This means that what you study and your assessments can end up looking a little different depending

00:15on where you live.

00:17But English, Welsh and Northern Irish students still all sit their GCSE exams in secondary

00:22school.

00:23English is a compulsory subject in all three too, and as well as studying English language,

00:28many schools will also require their students to study English literature, which comes with

00:33quite a bit of reading.

00:35Teachers can choose which books and plays pupils will read from a set list.

00:39Here are three books and plays that are only on Northern Ireland's reading list.

00:44The first is Juno and the Pacock by Sean O'Casey, part of his collection Three Dublin Plays.

00:50The play tells the story of a working class Dublin family during the Irish Civil War and

00:56the repercussions for all of them when their lives appear to be turned around after coming

01:00into a sudden fortune.

01:02The next is How Many Miles to Babylon, a novel by Irish writer Jennifer Johnston.

01:07It's about two Irish boys from very different social classes before and during the First

01:12World War, and how this changes and challenges their friendship.

01:16Finally, Philadelphia, Here I Come is a play by Irish playwright Brian Friel.

01:21It tells the story of a young County Donegal man's migration to the US, and the complex

01:26public and private thoughts he wrestles with over the move.