# Great Expectations

**Author:** Charles Dickens
**Lexile:** 1150L
**Grade range:** Grades 9–12
**Age range:** 14–18
**First published:** 1861
**Page count:** 544
**Genre:** Classic Fiction
**ISBN-13:** `9780141439563`
**ISBN-10:** `0141439564`
**Canonical URL:** https://readinglist.school/book/great-expectations
**License:** [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — please credit ReadingList.school when citing.

## About this book

Charles Dickens follows the orphan Pip from a humble Kent childhood through a mysterious inheritance that lifts him into London society and the burdens that come with it. As Pip pursues the cold Estella and learns the true source of his fortune, the novel weighs ambition against gratitude and social rank against worth. A staple of ninth- to twelfth-grade and AP English curricula, it is one of Dickens's most assigned works for its tight plotting and study-ready themes.

## Themes

- ambition
- social class
- coming of age
- class
- loyalty

## Content notes

- period violence

## Where this book is assigned

### AP English Literature & Composition

- **recommended** · 11th grade — [source: AP Lit representative text](https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-english-literature-and-composition)
- **recommended** · 12th grade — [source: AP Lit representative text](https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-english-literature-and-composition)

### AQA GCSE English Literature (8702)

- **required** · 9th grade — [source: Set text in the AQA GCSE English Literature (8702) specification, component: 19th-century novel. Specification for first teaching in 2015. Read 2026-10-03.](https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/english/gcse/english-8702/specification/subject-content/shakespeare-and-the-19th-century-novel)
- **required** · 10th grade — [source: Set text in the AQA GCSE English Literature (8702) specification, component: 19th-century novel. Specification for first teaching in 2015. Read 2026-10-03.](https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/english/gcse/english-8702/specification/subject-content/shakespeare-and-the-19th-century-novel)

### IB Diploma Programme — English A: Literature

- **recommended** · 11th grade — [source: Charles Dickens is on the IB Diploma Programme English A: Literature Prescribed Reading List (author-eligible; schools select from the full PRL). Verified via independent author-roster cross-reference, 2026-09-04.](https://www.ibo.org/programmes/diploma-programme/)
- **recommended** · 12th grade — [source: Charles Dickens is on the IB Diploma Programme English A: Literature Prescribed Reading List (author-eligible; schools select from the full PRL). Verified via independent author-roster cross-reference, 2026-09-04.](https://www.ibo.org/programmes/diploma-programme/)

### OCR GCSE English Literature (J352)

- **required** · 9th grade — [source: Set text in the OCR GCSE English Literature (J352) specification, component: 19th-century prose. Version 3.0 (November 2025). Read 2026-10-03.](https://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/168995-specification-accredited-gcse-english-literature-j352.pdf)
- **required** · 10th grade — [source: Set text in the OCR GCSE English Literature (J352) specification, component: 19th-century prose. Version 3.0 (November 2025). Read 2026-10-03.](https://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/168995-specification-accredited-gcse-english-literature-j352.pdf)

### Pearson Edexcel GCSE English Literature (1ET0)

- **required** · 9th grade — [source: Set text in the Pearson Edexcel GCSE English Literature (1ET0) specification, component: 19th-century novel. Specification Issue 2, June 2019. Read 2026-10-03.](https://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/GCSE/English%20Literature/2015/specification-and-sample-assesment/9781446914359_GCSE_2015_L12_Englit.pdf)
- **required** · 10th grade — [source: Set text in the Pearson Edexcel GCSE English Literature (1ET0) specification, component: 19th-century novel. Specification Issue 2, June 2019. Read 2026-10-03.](https://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/GCSE/English%20Literature/2015/specification-and-sample-assesment/9781446914359_GCSE_2015_L12_Englit.pdf)

## Banned / challenged record

Documented removals or formal challenges in at least one school district in 1 state: TX. Source: [PEN America's Index of School Book Bans](https://pen.org/banned-book-list/) 2022-2024.

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