Is the English school curriculum being dumbed down? “More than 400,000 students took the AQA GCSE in English literature last year. The exam offers questions on one of eight novels, including Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, and The Catcher in the Rye, by JD Salinger – both 20th century classics. But no 19th century novels make it on to the list, and teenagers can also get an AQA A-level without studying a single pre-20th century novelist. ‘This is a real sign of dumbing down. Many of the books which are put in front of children nowadays simply do not merit the amount of time which is spent on them’.”