A-level students choosing narrower range of subjects after Gove changes

Study shows fewer students in England combining humanities such as history or music with sciences or maths

A-level students in England have increasingly dropped humanities and arts subjects in favour of a narrower range of science-based subjects after being nudged by the last government’s changes to A-levels made a decade ago.

The changes, backed by the former education secretary Michael Gove, split A-level courses away from AS-level exams, and a new report by the British Academy and the National Foundation for Education Research (NFER) says it has resulted in declining numbers of students combining humanities such as English or music with sciences or maths.