Dear Sir,
This is a letter from one of your former students, and being one of them means having successfully graduated from your curriculum and made it to university. Though the fact that I once was your student makes me reluctant to compose this letter, the fact that you intend to make disturbing changes to the curriculum that once enabled me to succeed makes me feel obliged to write this down.
It is with great disappointment that I learned from your current students that you are planning to make AS English Language or Literature a compulsory English subject for students entering A1 as of 2023. There was a slight possibility that I do not sympathize with the grievances, as I excelled in AS and A Level English Language during my own A Level years, and could have been somewhat glad that more students than ever would now study the subject I loved. Yet no sooner did this fleeting gladness crossed my mind than the actual, much graver, picture hit me. True, AS English may be a gift for those in love with words, and this is indeed the way I prefer to put it, but as educated individuals like you and I know, a gift is only a gift when it is received voluntarily instead of being forced upon while being told that it is “for your own good”. I am curious what an atmosphere of dissatisfaction this decision may foster among your students, one that may in the end ruin the integrity of these beautiful subjects and perhaps the respect of those wonderful teachers who teach them; your teachers, not just your students, needs being put into the equation as well.
Contrary to how you may feel, we as students opting for an international curriculum have more than enough reasons to react negatively to this decision, we who are now feeling betrayed since what has been taken away from us is precisely what we came to you for. The fundamental nature of A Levels, and indeed one that appeals to countless students who opt for it instead of IB, is “freedom of choice”, the ability to spend all your time on those subjects you love and none on those you do not, a possibility that has empowered generations after generations of A Level students in our school and beyond to dedicate at least half of their high school years their passions rather than toil over subjects they have absolutely no interest in with little positive results. Had I been in an IB curriculum where mathematics and science subjects are compulsory, or had my A Level school made those subjects compulsory just like what it is now doing to AS English, I would have definitely failed them and ruined my chances of getting into any university that is remotely as prestigious as the one I am in now. Dwell for a moment on the idea of future engineers, mathematicians and biochemists spending sleepless nights over rhetoric devices and literary genres, only to come up with results that prevent them from entering Oxbridge or Ivy League universities they otherwise deserve; if this proves ridiculous for you, if proves as ridiculous to me, and even more so to them.
Even now, with all my distress and dismay, I still somewhat assume that you made this decision after thorough consideration, after having weighted the pros and cons albeit not that wisely, partly because of my deep-rooted trust in you and partly because of the presence of compulsory AS Mathematics in the G Level curriculum. You may consider it feasible to integrate compulsory AS English into the curriculum because of the example of AS Mathematics, yet the one thing you have neglected here is the calibre of your students, your students whom you ought to understand so well. We are students doing a UK curriculum based on English from a country where English is not an official language; most of us are able to handle mathematics that is above our assigned year level, not so much English, and simply finishing (I)GCSE English with satisfactory results is a challenge for so many of us that it merits an acknowledgement in itself. It is understandable that you may aim to change the current situation of we being disadvantaged in English, and perhaps to prove to prospective students that we offer a challenging curriculum, but no changes are made overnight, and I am sure most of your students would prefer you to foster a supportive atmosphere that enables the improvement of English ability rather than imposing barriers on us with requirements that are beyond our ability. Do not gamble your students’ futures for the sake of making their, or your, academic achievements seem impressive; your students are not your possessions, nor your advertisement that can be used to attract further generations of students and disposed of when they fail to do so. It would only be rational for you to consider this should you wish to promote a culture of care as you have always tried to do so.
When writing this I am in Manchester, a student of Sociology at the University of Manchester. I made it here because I was free to choose whichever subjects to study during my A Level years and got satisfactory grades in them. I made it here because I was not forced to take up science subjects or A Level math for the sake of a so-called “holistic” education. I made it here because I was not disadvantaged compared to my counterparts in the UK. I made it here because of your curriculum and subject requirements, not despite of them. And I genuinely hope that further generations of students graduating from a school I love so dearly would be able to have a future as bright as, or better still brighter than, my own. We all understand that decisions are not made overnight, so while we respect your decision-making process we hope you leave your door open, for negotiations to take place and voices to be heard. Those negotiations and voices we never intend to offend you with, for you have your reasons - and we have ours.
Sincerely yours,
Lu Liu (Mary)
Class of 2020
27 February 2023
Side notes:
1. I really did send this email. Above is proof.
2. Please do not PM me as I have not checked and would not be checking my inbox for a couple of days.
