Traditional subjects 'dying out'

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Around one in seven schools - 264 in total - did not enter any pupils for A-level geography in 2007 (15%), and a similar proportion did not enter any pupils for A-level physics (14%, or 247 schools).

Shadow schools minister Nick Gibb, who obtained the figures through parliamentary questions, said the disappearance of these academic subjects was "extremely worrying".

The statistics for 2007, the last year for which figures are available, also show that over one in 10 comprehensives (11%, or 187 schools) did not enter pupils for A-level chemistry, while 6% (96 schools) did not enter pupils for maths and 7% (115 schools) entered no pupils for biology.

They also reveal that 145 schools (8%) did not enter pupils for A-level history. The figures come a day before teenagers across England receive their A-level results.

Mr Gibb said: "The disappearance of core academic subjects in many state schools is extremely worrying. These subjects provide the rigorous academic training that enables children to succeed across a number of fields later in life."

The Tories claimed the comprehensives that did not enter pupils for history had double the national average of pupils eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) - a measure of poverty. This means that these schools are concentrated in poorer areas, the Tories said.

Almost 60% of schools which did not enter pupils for history did put pupils in for A-levels in sociology, media, TV and film studies or communication studies. Mr Gibb said the Government's "flawed" league tables encourage weaker schools to steer pupils away from seemingly harder traditional A-levels. This is "cheating" pupils, he said.

Mr Gibb highlighted guidance from leading universities such as Cambridge University and the London School of Economics, which have lists of "preferred" and "non-preferred" A-level subjects for prospective applicants.

He said: "Ministers like to pretend that employers and universities value all A-levels as highly as traditional academic subjects but it simply isn't true. The Government's flawed league tables incentivise weaker schools to push pupils away from the traditional subjects towards less crunchy alternatives. In doing so they are cheating those children, many of whom are from more deprived backgrounds."