The ‘Choose English’ campaign
Why do we want to take action?
The decline in A-Level enrolments is the single biggest challenge the discipline faces. As numbers of students choosing to study English at A-Level decrease, so do the numbers of people studying English at university; there will be fewer teachers who are specialists in English, and fewer English graduates out in the workplace and the world. Ultimately, there will be fewer scholars pushing the discipline forward.
As the subject association for the discipline which spans every level of education, the English Association is ideally placed to speak to young people who are making decisions about their education and future.
What do we want to do?
We want to share with young people around the UK the reasons why they might choose to study English at A-Level. We want to engage with the employability debate while also going beyond a utilitarian justification for the subject, acknowledging that the study of English can help young people to do so much more than secure a career: people study English to explore their identity, find their voice as an activist, and/or for the love of reading and writing.
What do we want to achieve?
A specific measurable outcome will be a halt in the decline of enrolments onto English A-Levels. We would hope to see a reverse in the decline in the longer term, with numbers of enrolments recovering and starting to increase.
What form does our campaigning take?
At the core of our campaigning is the support we give to teachers in promoting the English A-Levels to GCSE students. As part of this, we have created a brand-new collection of sample lesson plans or taster sessions and two information guides for students, ‘Why Choose English Literature at A-Level’ and ‘Why Choose English Language at A-Level’.
In addition:
- We are advocating for reform to the English GCSEs
- We are undertaking a national conversation about the future of English, ‘Thinking Forwards’, alongside our colleagues in the Institute for English Studies, and University English
- We are conducting research into the skills that students develop while studying English, so that we can equip teachers with the most up-to-date and accurate information about the impact of studying English
- We regularly contribute to stories in the national media, to ensure that English is portrayed accurately
- We issue responses to national consultations, and respond to major changes in education policy, to represent the interests of our discipline and our members
- We support colleagues in higher education to build capacity within the discipline for leadership and influence, and we provide practical support and advocacy for departments at risk
- We are supporting University English’s #EnglishCreates campaign
