Importance of history 'being lost at UK schools'

The importance of subjects like history and geography is being lost in the UK's schools, a leading headmistress said.

The humanities are vital to a child's education, but fewer pupils are studying them to GCSE or A-level, according to Bernice McCabe, headmistress of the North London Collegiate School.

Addressing this year's Prince's Teaching Institute (PTI) summer school, Mrs McCabe said this should not be "inevitable" in a "target-driven environment" and that teachers have influence in how subjects are taught.

Mrs McCabe, who is co-director of the PTI told delegates: "English Literature, history and geography are of fundamental importance and should be at the centre of every child's educational experience, as the means whereby they acquire a fuller understanding of themselves and of their place in the world.

"My greatest worry, which I am sure many of you share, is that a diminishing number of children in our schools are now getting the benefit of studying them in depth. More than a quarter do not do English Literature at GCSE, and the number is rising; many drop history and geography at the age of 13 as Key Stage 3 is compressed, and no more than a third of the cohort carries on with either subject at GCSE."