Latymer Upper School on why boys are losing the plot with literature

Andrew Copeman, Head of Lower Sixth at Latymer Upper School, on the silent crisis of boys leaving literature behind

The diminishing popularity of English has coincided with a dramatic surge of pupils taking Maths A level. This pattern is most noticeable among boys, who are gravitating more and more towards STEM subjects. On almost every educational metric girls outperform boys, with the exception of Maths and Science. Although positive in addressing boys’ underachievement, STEM success is increasingly coming at the expense of English.

At Latymer Upper School, the number of boys taking A level English remains healthy, but in all-boys’ schools there has been a sharp fall in take-up of the subject. At a nearby single-sex school with a cohort of 215 Lower Sixth pupils, 201 boys take Maths, compared to just 13 studying English. The picture at another all-boys’ school in south London is even starker, where only three boys from a year group of 145 take English. This growing disconnect between boys and literature reflects a worrying national trend.

The reasons for this shift are numerous and certainly helped by successive governments’ focus on promoting STEM in schools. University tuition fees and the economic climate have made pupils more transactional in their choices, often choosing subjects that lead to tangible financial rewards. There has also been a cultural shift – teen icons are no longer anti-establishment figures but tech billionaires and ‘finance bros’. Studying a subject for pure interest and enjoyment, without obvious future riches, is seen as a luxury pursuit.

In a post-truth, fake news world, it is more important than ever that pupils are equipped with the ability to think critically, sift fact from fiction, challenge misleading narratives and communicate clearly. Usually developing more slowly than girls, boys are already in need of direction when it comes to addressing their own emotions. The study of English Literature, especially with the exploration of character motivations, attunes boys to nuances of behaviour, helping them to understand their own feelings and those of others.    

“English lessons are a natural space to challenge harmful attitudes, often resulting in better outcomes than scripted PSHE lessons”  

This is especially important when considering malign online influencers, such as Andrew Tate, who spread messages of male superiority and female submission. Netflix’s drama, Adolescence, presented this very real danger but real-life examples of male aggression by school-age children are increasingly making the news agenda.

Four in five pupils in England study the AQA English GCSE qualification. Astonishingly, 75% of these teenagers are taught the text combination of A Christmas Carol, An Inspector Calls and the Power and Conflict anthology. Only 2% of this large cohort explore texts by females and just 0.1% study texts by women of colour.

This lack of diversity is one reason why Latymer is reforming its Middle School curriculum. Carefully selecting rich and varied texts helps drive boys’ personal expression and self-awareness. It can promote healthy relations between men and women by exploring strong female characters and male brutality. English lessons are a natural space to challenge harmful attitudes, often resulting in better outcomes than scripted PSHE lessons.

Making English more interesting and appealing to boys won’t solve the problem of toxic masculinity but it will make a meaningful difference. Making sense of literature helps alienated young men find connection and to feel a sense of belonging. As C.S Lewis recognised: ‘we read to know we are not alone’.

Latymer Upper School latymer-upper.org

Further reading: Could art help reduce school exclusions?