Scottish Literature in the Classroom
The resources produced by the Scottish Literature in the Classroom project are aimed at supporting teachers of secondary English with the new Scottish Set Texts at National 5 and Higher (in place from 2025-26). Each guide provides detailed insights into selected texts and includes:
- contextual information on the text and author;
- a detailed analysis of the text;
- discussion prompts and practice exam questions;
- a list of other online resources that may be helpful to teachers and students.
Teachers are encouraged to utilise and adapt materials to best suit their own classrooms, combining with their own activities on, for example, poetic techniques and literary analysis.
How to use these resources
Our guides can be freely downloaded from the links below.
They are intended to be used by teachers in whole or in part, whether in preparation for teaching or in an active classroom environment. We do not envisage one particular usage scenario for these resources, and teachers are encouraged to adapt materials to suit their own learners and learning environment.
Except where otherwise noted, materials are distributed under a Creative Commons Non-Commercial Share-Alike License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).
If you do use these resources, we would be grateful to receive any feedback you might have in this online form
National 5 Poetry
Texts in the National 5 poetry collection:
Higher Poetry
Texts in the Higher poetry collection:
Crossover Short Stories
Texts for Nat 5 and Higher:
About us
The team behind the ‘Scottish Literature in the Classroom’ project are Corey Gibson (PI), Pip Osmond-Williams (RA), Gina Lyle (RA), Ronnie Young (Co-I), and Rhona Brown (Co-I) from Scottish Literature in the School of Critical Studies; and Jennifer Farrar (Co-I) and Maureen Farrell (Co-I) from the School of Education. This work was generously supported by the Glasgow Knowledge Exchange Fund at the University of Glasgow.
Teacher colleagues from across the country, including alumni of Scottish Literature and Education programmes at the University of Glasgow are key advisors and co-creators. Colleagues in stakeholder organisations including the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), Education Scotland, the Scottish Book Trust, BBC Bitesize, the Scottish Poetry Library, the Scots Language Centre, and the Association for Scottish Literature have also supported and advised this project.
Get in touch
If you use these resources, if you find them helpful, or if you have any suggestions, then we would love to hear from you. You can leave feedback here
For further information on Scottish Literature in the Classroom, email Dr Corey Gibson
This project was funded by the Glasgow Knowledge Exchange Fund at the University of Glasgow.