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A-levels dropped: Read the full list of culled subjects

Art history is no longer an option for those considering A-level choices, while much scrutinised Media studies clings on for another year

Rachael Pells
Education Correspondent
Thursday 13 October 2016 10:40 EDT
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A number of AS and A-levels are being withdrawn following qualification reforms
A number of AS and A-levels are being withdrawn following qualification reforms (Getty)

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News that the last exam board to offer a-level courses in History of Art has decided to drop the subject has been met with great concern from those in the industry.

A number of subjects are being axed in England, following a series of reforms by the Department for Education and exams regulator, Ofqual.

History of Art had initially been given the go ahead to be redesigned, but will cease to exist in schools after AQA announced it would no longer go forward in hosting the course.

While Media Studies has been accredited for another year, despite being tipped for the cull, other creative subjects have suffered, much to the concern of many.

Some subjects such as performance studies were scrapped on the basis that they are “too similar in content” to other courses (for instance Drama and Theatre), and others have been enveloped into broader subjects, for instance Statistics is said to be included as a module in A-level maths.

Here is the list of subjects no longer available in schools in England from 2017:

Anthropology

Archaeology

Citizenship studies

Communication and Culture

Computing – replaced by Computer Science

Creative writing

Critical thinking

Economics and Business (can still be taken as separate subjects)

Electronics

Engineering

General studies

Global development (AS only)

Health and social care

History of art

Home economics: Food, nutrition and health

Humanities

Information and communication technology (ICT)

Leisure studies

Media: Communication and production

Moving image arts

Pure mathematics

Quantitative methods (AS only)

Science (AS only)

Science in society

Statistics

Travel and tourism

Use of mathematics (AS only)

World development

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