Head teachers have called for urgent action to reverse the sharp fall in pupils taking English A levels, saying that Michael Gove’s reforms turned the subject into a “joyless slog”.

They say that GCSE reforms, in particular when Mr Gove was education secretary from 2010 to 2014, have reduced “our most magnificent pieces of writing to a collection of quotations”.

The new English literature GCSE requires pupils to memorise vast chunks of Shakespeare, a 19th-century novel and poetry. The new English language GCSE requires pupils to analyse and critique an unseen 19th-century work of literature. Last year one exam board set Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky, a notoriously difficult novel for adults, never mind 16 year-olds.

Tomorrow’s A-level results are expected to show a decline