Government long way off target for GCSE pupils studying core academic subjects

Unions say the English Baccalaureate is an unnecessary straitjacket for schools and students, reports Eleanor Busby

The EBacc has been criticised for squeezing out arts subjects (Rex)

The government is a long way off its target of 75 per cent students studying a suite of core academic GCSEs by 2022 amid teachers’ concerns about the narrowing of the curriculum.

Two in five students were entered for the English Baccalaureate (EBacc), the government’s league table measure, which is the highest entry rate since it was introduced a decade ago, official figures reveal.

But the Department for Education (DfE) is barely halfway to its target of three in four GCSE pupils studying the EBacc by 2022, and even further away from its 90 per cent target by 2025.