The English Association’s role is to promote, support, and celebrate the discipline of English Studies. One of the key ways we work towards this mission is to campaign on behalf of our subject. Explore below the key areas of our campaigning work.
A letter to the Editor of The Times, signed by colleagues across English Studies (including Chair of the EA Professor Jenny Richards, CEO of the EA Dr Rebecca Fisher, and EA Fellows Professor Greg Walker, Professor Clare Lees, Professor Ann Heilmann, Professor Helen Small, Professor Gail Marshall, and Professor Nigel Leask) was published on 5 July…
We are advocating for change to the GCSEs. Here you’ll find summaries and reports to facilitate productive conversations about education reform in your setting.
We are proud to be a member of the Arts and Minds coalition, dedicated to putting creativity at the heart of the curriculum.
The English Association and the UK Literacy Association hosted a day-long meeting on primary education reform. The meeting brought together colleagues across primary and early years education to devise a collaborative response to the Government’s Curriculum and Assessment Review call for evidence. Following keynotes from primary education experts (Teresa Cremin, Charlotte Hacking, Uhzama Jabeen, and…
The English Association and the UK Literacy Association will host a day-long meeting on primary and early years education reform. Taking place on 28 October at the National Education Union in London, the meeting will bring together colleagues across primary and early years education to devise a collaborative response to the Government’s Curriculum and Assessment…
Recommendations, ideas and approaches to GSCE reform that emerged over the course of the summit called by the EA and Shakespeare’s Globe
The decline in A Level enrolments is the single biggest challenge the discipline faces. Here’s what we’re going to do about it.
Explore ways to share the challenges and joys of the English A-Levels with GCSE students with our resources designed for busy teachers
We are undertaking a national conversation about the future of English alongside our colleagues in the Institute for English Studies and the School of Advanced Study
This project seeks to understand the skills developed during the study of English, and articulate the deep and significant contribution those skills make to the careers, training, and lives of students of English. We will explore ways in which the study of English can develop skills and qualities that are particularly crucial in the 21st century, and in the age of AI.
The EA’s campaigning activity is focused on the GCSE to A Level pipeline. We are delighted to work closely with our colleagues in University English as they launch their #EnglishCreates campaign, which focuses on attracting Y12 and Y13 students to study English at University.
We were very pleased to contribute to this article, published in The Times on 1 December 2023. Three of our members contributed to the article, in which Sian Griffiths explores the impact of using phonics to teach reading on young people’s desire to read for pleasure, and the ways in which the narrow focus of…
EA Chair Professor David Duff was interviewed by Sian Griffiths for The Sunday Times (published 15 October 2023). …”The changes [to the way English is taught] have made English old-fashioned and difficult.” As a result, “many teenagers no longer opt for A-level English”. The article explores the background to the decline in the number of…
The Working Group on GCSE English Reform was set up by University English and the English Association in response to very widespread disquiet in the discipline about the current GCSE provision.
We’re proud to support this project, co-ordinated by Prof. Cathy Shrank (Sheffield), Dr. Kate De Rycker (Newcastle), and Dr. Archie Cornish (Sheffield), in collaboration with freelancers in the creative industries.
“Proposed job losses at Birkbeck, University of London are part of a pattern that is a disservice to a proud tradition…”
“The idea that’s been put about that you’re either good at arts or maths and science – that’s false and I absolutely oppose it.”
“…the perception in schools is that aspects of the GCSE language especially need to change as soon as possible because it has taken a lot of life out of what used to be a very popular GCSE.”
“Another week, another media storm about course closures and ‘low value’ degrees in the arts and humanities… The news has reignited debates about both the subject and its value. So, what are these conversations – and the assumptions that underpin them – getting wrong?”
“Instead of promoting a simplistic opposition between the sciences and the arts and supporting one at the the expense of the other, the Government needs to take a more rounded view.”
“English is not dying out. It’s still the fourth most popular A-level and it still attracts some of the brightest students. But that is definitely a challenging statistic.”
“We must take care not to devalue a subject that helps us build a more rounded and healthier body politic…”
Decolonising the Discipline aims to develop platforms for discipline-wide conversations that can foster and support collaborative action across English literature, language and creative writing.
We work for positive change on behalf of our members by responding to national consultations. As a member, your voice will be heard in important discussions about research, teaching, and learning.
A series of workshops aimed at building capacity within the discipline for leadership and and influence.
Throughout the pandemic, the EA has worked to capture stories of your lives and offer support to you, whatever challenges you were facing.
The English Association commits to being an anti-racist organisation and stands against any type of racism and racist activity. This means that we recognise that, as an organisation, and as individuals who make up that organisation, we are part of a society in which racial inequality is systemic and institutional, and any action we take is determined by this fact.