Great Expectations
Charles Dickens
On a cold Christmas Eve on the Kent marshes, the orphan Pip is grabbed in a churchyard by an escaped convict who orders him to bring food. Soon afterwards Pip is sent to play at the gloomy house of the strange Miss Havisham, where the proud girl Estella makes him ashamed of his humble life and dream of becoming a gentleman.
- Length
- About 185,000 words
- To read it
- About 124 days
- Stage
- Key Stage 3, GCSE
Reading time at 1,500 words a day, the pace we start from until we know your child’s own.
Where it is taught
Why Great Expectations is on the list
- Year 9, Challenge. Demanding books for a strong reader who wants a real challenge. GCSE set text.
- Year 10, Challenge. Demanding books for a strong reader who wants a real challenge. GCSE 19th-century novel (AQA, Edexcel).
- Year 11, Challenge. Demanding books for a strong reader who wants a real challenge. GCSE 19th-century novel (AQA, Edexcel).
Reading it here
What your child does with it
- 1
Choose it and set a finish date
You get a suggested target from the length of the book and your child's reading pace.
- 2
Check in along the way
A longer book has short check-ins every week or two, so it keeps moving and nothing is forgotten.
- 3
Answer two questions
When they finish: a review of the book, and a deeper question about how it works.
- 4
Get it marked, and redraft
Every answer is marked against the rubric for their year, with a reason for every score.