Fewer pupils than ever are taking English A-level as experts claim that career-savvy students now favour more "employable" subjects.

The number of 18-year-olds taking English has plummeted to 72,015, the lowest number since 2001 when the Joint Council for Qualifications’ records began.

English remains one of the most popular A-levels, but last year its entries fell by 8.4 per cent, which is the biggest year-on-year decline the subject has seen in 17 years.

Barnaby Lenon, chair of the Independent Schools Council (ISC), said that the decline in English has been a “noticeable trend” in recent years, across both private and state schools.

“There seems to be a shift towards subjects which have more vocational use,” he said. “This may be related to university fees, with students wanting to get a good return on their investment and they don’t see English as offering such value.

“One quite understands why STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] subjects have had quite a lot of push from the Government. But it would be wrong for people to feel that subjects like English are now of less value.”

Ministers have announced a string of measures to boost the number of students taking STEM subjects, including a cash incentive of up to £2,400 for every extra student that takes Maths in the sixth form.

A-levels in sciences and Maths have been steadily rising in popularity, according to a Sunday Telegraph analysis of A-level entries between 2001 and 2018.

The number of students taking Physics and Chemistry A-levels in 2018 were both up 3.4 per cent on the year before, while Biology was up 3.1 per cent and Maths was up 2.5 per cent.

Mr Lenon, a former headmaster at the £41,775-a-year Harrow School, urged teachers and parents to “disabuse children of the notion that the subject like English has no vocational value”, adding that “this is simply untrue”.

He explained: “Many of the highest paid, most interesting people in the country studied English A-level and went to university to read a subject without much practical application, then found themselves in great demand in the market place.”

Mary Curnock-Cook, the former chief executive of the university admissions service Ucas, said it is a “terrible shame” that fewer students are taking English A-level.

“I always thought of the English A level as the hallmark of a literate, educated, thinking school leaver,” she said. “Now it’s pitted against STEM and losing out, and that’s a terrible shame.”

Mary Curnock-Cook, former chief executive of Ucas, said it is a “terrible shame” that fewer students are taking English A-level credit: PA Wire

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said that another contributing factor to the decline of English A-level is that GCSE is putting students off the subject.

The GCSE English Language syllabus is “pretty pedestrian and utilitarian”, Mr Baron said, adding: “We are maybe seeing at A-level students who have been alienated from the study of English because they have found it very uninspiring in too many places."

The English Language and English Literature GCSE are both double weighted in the English Baccalaureate, a performance measure which contributes towards a state school's league table position.

“If you raise the stakes around English Literature and Language at GCSE, teachers feel more constrained and there is less creativity in lessons. This can lead to a more mechanistic style of teaching," Mr Barton explained.

He said that school leaders are “seriously concerned” about this, and a delegation intend to raise their concerns to ministers later this year.