News

Hollywood star calls for more literature in schools

Curriculum English
Notting Hill star Rhys Ifans has added his voice to calls for more literature to be taught in schools, saying that denying access to great writers is “tantamount to a crime”.

Speaking on a visit to a Cardiff school, the Haverfordwest-born star of Twin Town and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One, said literature and film are vital to learning.

His comments followed those of poet and writer Owen Sheers who has called for GCSE English literature to be reinstated as one of the core subjects in schools.

This summer saw a massive fall in teenagers in Wales taking English literature GCSE. Entries tumbled 44 per cent to 16,835 from 30,100.

Welsh literature also saw a substantial fall in entries but there was a small improvement in results (around one per cent at each of A*, A* to A and A* to C grades).

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