Gove highlights the decline and fall of GCSE history

Michael Gove has accused Labour of “pushing pupils away from harder subjects” after it was revealed that less than one in three sixteen-year-olds now sits GCSE history.

Government figures show that 450,000 pupils of school leaving age did not take the GSCE history exam last year - and five million have missed out since Labour came to power.

Labour’s new primary curriculum announced last month suggested replacing traditional lessons in history and geography with the teaching of ‘topics’ as part of cross-curricular ‘themes’.

Michael, the Shadow Children’s Secretary, warned the new curriculum "will further water down history at primary schools, as well as removing science from the core curriculum. All these reforms take us completely in the wrong direction.”

He added, “The Government’s league tables encourage schools to push pupils away from harder subjects, even if they are of more long-term value.”