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Qld Year 12 English course details 2026-29: QCAA considers Stranger Things, Jane Eyre as prescribed texts

Schooling in Queensland is getting with the times as Netflix works its way into the conversation.

Stranger Things 4 trailer

Queensland high school students could be writing their senior assessment on a hit Netflix show, while a Shakespeare classic has been axed from offerings, according to the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority.

The state’s education statutory authority revealed its prescribed text list for 2026 through to 2029 with 96 options available – up from 92.

Developed by the Prescribed Text Selection Working Group, the texts were deemed suitable for study in Units 3 and 4 of English and English as an Additional Language (EAL) for 2026 to 2029.

Across Units 3 and 4, year 12 English students must study at least four texts from the prescribed text list in the categories of play, prose text, poetry, and multimodal. The selection must be based on three of the four categories.

Greta Gerwig’s Little Women and Taika Waititi’s JoJo Rabbit have made the film text list alongside Blade Runner by Ridley Scott and Howl’s Moving Castle by Hayao Miyazaki.

The 2005 film Good Night, and Good Luck director by Hollywood actor George Clooney also made the multimodal text list.

Millie Bobby Brown in Stranger Things.
Millie Bobby Brown in Stranger Things.

English students could even journey to the Upside Down with the hit Netflix Original Stranger Things by The Duffer Brothers.

Classic novels still remain with Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontё, George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, and F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby all prescribed.

For Ancient Greek fans, Aristophanes’s The Frogs and Euripides’s The Trojan Women have made the plays category.

What is an English class without a bit of William Shakespeare? Twelfth Night, Julius Caesar and Othello all remained on the external assessment list.

Meanwhile Macbeth, while removed as an external assessment option, would continue on the general text list until at least 2029.

While a number of classic texts remain, many favourites were removed including Hamlet and 2001: A Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick.

Blade Runner made the film text list.
Blade Runner made the film text list.
Hamlet has been removed from the list.
Hamlet has been removed from the list.

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent was stripped from the external assessment list after 2025.

From the play and drama category, As You Like It by Shakespeare and Melanie Tait’s The Appleton Ladies’ Potato Race were also removed.

QCAA acting chief executive Claude Jones said the QCAA had heard positive feedback from schools about the updated prescribed text lists.

“During the consultation phase, teachers and students gave us lots of considered input about what they believe makes for a great text in the classroom,” Ms Jones said.

“We’re confident that the selections reflect cultural and social diversity and will challenge and engage students.”

QCAA English and languages learning area manager Kylie Wilson-Tucker said the diverse range of texts encouraged critical thinking, creativity and meaningful engagement with literature.

“Refreshing these lists was a collaborative effort. We looked at schools’ text selections, we spoke to Queensland teachers and listened to their insights about the text that they enjoyed teaching,” Ms Wilson-Tucker said.

“We spoke to Queensland students and discussed what they enjoyed reading and viewing.

“All of these suggestions and advice helped inform the text advisory panel.

“These proudly showcase Australia’s diversity, featuring various Queensland authors, First Nations writers, poets, directors from a range of different eras and perspectives.”

Teachers will receive annotations providing key details of each text in term one, 2025, to inform them of their text choices. 

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Original URL: https://www.couriermail.com.au/queensland-education/schools-hub/qld-year-12-english-course-details-202629-qcaa-considers-stranger-things-jane-eyre-as-prescribed-texts/news-story/1f86bcb2029863d914b497bfd0a2c742