In 2022, it was reported that English Literature had fallen out of the Top 10 most popular subjects to take at A-Level. As an English university student, I was curious about where we are now: have things changed?

What is it like these days teaching one of the most fundamental – and yet glanced over – subjects on the front lines? I sat down with someone who knows a thing or two about teaching on the front lines: the iconic Wymondham High teacher (one of mine at A-Level!) Emma Perchard.

“One of the main causes [of the decline in numbers] was the promotion of STEMM for young women. There has been a big recent movement to get young women into STEMM – which I understand, of course. But it is to the detriment of English. We have always lost bright boys. But we have now started to lose bright girls. Young girls know that STEMM is where the careers are and where the money is – so numbers have dropped significantly. The dropping of AS Levels will also have accounted for some of it. We also go up against History quite a lot.”

But, as she later told me, it is not all doom and gloom. “It’s up and down! We are looking at good numbers this year. From September, we are introducing a combined Language/Literature A-Level. We have lost kids to Notre Dame and Jane Austen Sixth Forms because of Lang/Lit being available there. So, we may lose Literature students to Lang/Lit, but that is good if it means we get another 10 to stay at Wymondham (and Lang/Lit is still a very literary subject!).”

So whilst numbers have dropped, no one pattern speaks for all years’ intakes. The same applies to the oft-stated truism that English Literature is very female-dominated: “the A-Level class I’ve just said goodbye to,” Ms Perchard told me, “ – more boys than girls! Many boys cited Lords of the Flies as the reason they took English further. Ultimately, which pupils we get will rely on who they had for GCSE (and has it made them like the subject?), what texts they’ve studied (and how much they have enjoyed them), and how much of a reader they are. Reading has dropped off hugely in the last few years and that has had an impact on English Literature.”

And it is not as if young people are lacking in enthusiasm. Ms Perchard’s anecdotes revealed that many pupils are just as interested and passionate about debating as ever before: “This morning, Year 9 have been writing to the new Education Secretary [as an exercise] as to whether Shakespeare should remain a part of the National Curriculum. We started it off as a debate, and the options were to agree, disagree, or suggest an alternative: e.g. Shakespeare should be reduced or taught outside of exams. They really got on board with that. In terms of opinions, it was nearly a third of pupils for each position.”

“Of course,” she said for good measure, “Shakespeare has his place. Re: Romeo and Juliet – do teenagers still do sneaky things behind their parents’ backs? Do teenagers still do stupid, thoughtless things? Do people still have ongoing fights with no real reason behind them? Do teenagers still fall “in love at first sight”? Human nature does not change! I teach Romeo and Juliet in a very cynical way. The story is embarrassing. Romeo is so shallow and fake (Rosaline who?). Yet people who fall in love with one person and forget about them immediately when they meet someone else at a party? They still exist!”

“Are there any topics which get pupils the most animated?”

“Crime fiction. In mid-term reflections, crime always comes up [as a favourite topic]. Bizarrely, myths and legends are popular in Year 7! (I can’t bear teaching them but the kids love them, and they will then go away and read Stephen Fry’s Mythos or Percy Jackson. I will be delegating Myths and Legends to my colleague and teach Victorian Villains instead.) And if you can get a good novel, they are popular, like John Boyne’s Boy at the Top of the Mountain.”

“We all know that teaching is a thankless job at the best of times,” I said. “Does teaching English Literature have its own particular set of challenges?

“People not reading is an issue, and people not valuing reading. Many a parents’ evening I will ask, ‘are they reading?’ to mixed responses. Homework is affected: I can tell which pupils still read based on the quality of writing. I have since made my daughter read half an hour every night because I see the massive difference it makes! Vocabulary, style, punctuation, ideas, originality, imagination – everything comes from reading. I tell parents, ‘just make them read for ten minutes a day.’ One of my favourite things as a parent is my child asking, ‘…can I read for longer than ten minutes?’ But before that stage, ten minutes a day is a manageable start.”

“Another challenge is that sometimes it can feel that the English Department are the only ones who care about handwriting, literacy, spelling and punctuation. We fight that battle by ourselves and it ought to be everybody’s. From September, Years 9 and 10 are getting an extra hour of English Literature per fortnight, and we justified it by pointing out that the reading skills you learn in English Literature have benefits for every other subject: analysis, writing, punctuation, etc.

“But behaviour and engagement are not issues! I would say pupils are pretty engaged.”

There is also optimistic news about student confidence in engaging in debate. Briefly remembering Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s warning that students are “terrified of having the wrong opinions”, I asked Ms Perchard if her pupils ever seem afraid of expressing themselves.

“I wouldn’t say so, no! Last week, I did some debate with my pupils and gave them a list of 25 prompts. They ranged from “does pineapple belong on pizza?” to “pros and cons of the death penalty”, with everything in between. I listened to their conversations and no, I would not say they are scared to give their opinions. I also got them to rate themselves in terms of how much of an opinion-pushover they are, or if they are too set in their ways without listening to other people’s views. And they know each other pretty well, even at age fourteen! They are mouldable too; you see them rethinking their entire views in the face of new evidence. I think the opposite: they are too quick to express their views because that is the culture they see online, and then when you suggest something else, they reconsider.”

“You mention that crime fiction is a particular conversation-starter. What is your view on ‘high brow and low brow’?”

“I saw some snobbery when Agatha Christie was placed on the specification. With The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, people ask, ‘what do you analyse?’ The analysis is in the plotting! Because the plotting is so clever. There is also nothing wrong with books that are just really enjoyable. That is the goal if it gets children reading outside of school. Some schools in this area teach Othello or Oliver Twist in Year 7. What a way to switch a kid off. There is no room for snobbery. My specification choice is a book that is challenging enough that they would not have chosen it for themselves (so not Harry Potter – they’re reading that already!), but equally, they will hopefully feel inspired enough to read the author’s other books. I often also hear parents say, ‘I’ve told my son he needs to be reading some Dickens’…but why, if he’s loving his Percy Jackson? Just because he’s a bright boy, why switch him to a book that might switch him off reading? Audiobooks are good. To prevent classics from switching kids off reading altogether, you can introduce them via audiobooks.”

“Are there any explosive texts, speaking of curriculum?” I asked excitedly, remembering my own Sixth Form days. “I remember Tess of the d’Urbervilles inspiring the most (literally) furious debate in the classroom. I was unpopular in loving it; most of them hated it. Are there any other texts that inspire that level of conversation?”

“It’s less individual texts that inspire debate, and more the specific topics. For example, the use of language: why is the N-word used in Delia Owens’s Where the Crawdads Sing? We also ask questions like, ‘which character in An Inspector Calls would you least like to sit next to in class?’ ‘Well, not Mr Birling because he’d bang on about himself the whole time’, etc. Or, ‘will Beatrice and Benedick stay together?’ Those are specific questions we ask to try and develop their critical voices and provoke debate.”

So the positive news is that the student love of debate, conversation, provocative topics, challenging themselves and even reconsidering their views in the face of new evidence is still alive and well! There was only one question left to ask: “how do we get those students in the English classroom in good numbers? What is your Dragons’ Den pitch for English as a subject?”

“English is everything. Without it, there is nothing. The skills we teach to read, write, speak, and listen are everything. Let alone the fact that it can give you lifelong enjoyment of texts. Let alone that you can find a voice that relates to you, develop your own voice, engage with different voices, engage in different cultures, etc. Michael Gove’s diktat of “only British writers!” had an impact on the latter; it is an ongoing movement to push for writers of different races and cultures. English Literature is all the skills, all the knowledge, all the cultural heritage. It is about kids developing their own voices and hearing others’. There is not a second wasted here with what you learn. It is everything.”

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Inspector Bill Stannard sat down opposite Diane. His voice was firm but kindly.

‘Mrs Harvey, I’m sorry to ask you to come in here today. This is Constable Sue Lincoln.’ He indicated a policewoman next to him. ‘There are a few questions we need to ask you. Just normal procedure. We need to establish what took place on Tuesday 1st of January this year, leading up to the tragic incident. Can you tell me everything that happened, starting from the time you got up that morning?’

‘I got up at 6.30, as usual, and went into the kitchen and made a cup of tea which I took to my husband in bed. I then showered, dressed, and took him his breakfast.’

‘As I understand it your husband Jack Harvey was practically bed ridden.’

‘His accident 10 years ago, left him with limited mobility - most of his time was spent sleeping or watching TV.’

‘What about personal care, did you have to provide that?’

‘No, he can manage as long as I help him to get to the bathroom.’

Constable Lincoln spoke next. ‘This must have been very difficult for you Mrs Harvey - it must have taken up a great deal of your time.’

‘Yes, but when you’ve been - we were,’ her voice shook slightly, ‘married for twenty years; it’s something you do automatically, look after each other that is.’

Inspector Stannard took over again. ‘Continue please Mrs Harvey.’

‘While Jack was eating, I tidied up and vacuumed. Then I helped him to the bathroom. When he was back in bed, I made sure he was comfortable, and went off to the supermarket.’

‘What time was this?’

‘Just after 8 – I go early before it gets too crowded, so I can get round quicker. I worry about leaving Jack alone.’

‘What time did you return?’

‘Nine thirty. I know because the news came on as I drove into our close.’ She hesitated for a moment before clearing her throat and continuing, ‘I went in, called out “I’m back”, put the shopping away, and then went to see if…’ Here her voice failed.

‘Would you like a break, Mrs Harvey?’ asked the inspector.

‘No – I’m alright. Could I have a glass of water please’ There was silence while Constable Lincoln left the room and returned with the water. Diane took it with hands that shook. She began to speak again. ‘I went to see if he needed anything. I found him half out of bed. I thought he was trying to get out, then I realised how still he was, and then I saw the blood.’

‘What did you do?’ asked Constable Lincoln.

‘I tried to lift him back into bed. He felt warm and so I thought he was alive, and then I realised he wasn’t. I left him and ran through to ring 999.’

‘And you said at the time that nothing was missing except the sum of £500 which had been in an envelope on your dressing table. That’s quite a considerable sum to keep in the house.’

‘It was for our heating oil. Jack always paid cash.’

‘Thank you, Mrs Harvey. If we need you again or have further developments, we’ll get in touch.’

Six months later, Diane was relaxing in her new conservatory. She was no longer obliged to rise at 6.30am to make tea and breakfast for her husband. On the days when she wasn’t working at her new part time job, at the local nursery, she was enjoying a lie in. In fact, Diane was having the time of her life.

She had failed to mention in her interviews with the police that Jack had been a tyrant of the first order. He revelled in his supposed incapacity, and constantly ordered her to fetch and carry. They didn’t have credit cards. She was allowed to draw out the same amount each month, plus extra for pending bills. He studied each bank statement, and timed her trips to the supermarket to the minute.

Jack’s murder was a complete mystery. No fingerprints and no weapon were ever recovered. Although Constable Sue Lincoln had her suspicions, there was absolutely no evidence to link Diane, the devoted wife to her husband’s death. A bank statement confirmed that five hundred pounds had been withdrawn a week before Jack’s murder and was found to be the sum quoted by the oil company.

The doorbell rang loudly and brought Diane back to the present. Standing on the doorstep was Inspector Bill Stannard.

‘Can I come in?’ he asked.

‘Certainly Inspector,’ answered Diane as she flung her arms around his neck.

Bill and Diane had met a year before in the supermarket. It had been love at first sight. They had hatched their plan in snatched moments in the freezer section. What could be more natural after being thrown into contact during the investigation, than for the inspector and the distraught wife to become close.