'A' grade without reading a note

Research by BBC Music Magazine found that none of the main examination boards awards more than than 20 per cent of total marks for being able to read music.

In the past, O-level pupils were required to set words to music and complete melodies.

Blur frontman Damon Albarn said: "The idea of it being absent is disgraceful," and cellist Julian Lloyd Webber said it was "like studying a language without the alphabet".