A coalition of prominent British novelists, including Booker Prize winners Ben Okri and Samantha Harvey, is urging the government to rethink which novels are taught in England’s schools, arguing that a refreshed curriculum could help reverse years of declining reading habits among young people. The appeal, launched as a new academic term begins under Prime Minister Keir Starmer, frames literature selection as both an educational priority and a cultural one.
What happened
The authors have published a coordinated appeal calling for the national English curriculum to be opened up to a wider range of voices, including contemporary writers and works that more directly reflect the lives of today’s students. Their recommendations span centuries and styles, with contributors describing their chosen texts as bold, brilliant, and thrilling.
The intervention is directed at England’s national curriculum, which sets minimum content for English literature at Key Stages 3 and 4, up to GCSE. While individual schools retain discretion over which set texts to teach, exam boards such as AQA, OCR and Edexcel effectively shape classroom reading lists through their syllabus choices. Recent adjustments to A-level specifications have shifted the focus toward post-1914 writers, but campaigners say the compulsory core still leans heavily on nineteenth-century novelists and Shakespeare.
Why it matters
National literacy data has tracked a steady erosion of reading for pleasure among British teenagers over the past decade, a trend that educators, publishers and charities have repeatedly flagged. Campaigners argue that the books students encounter at school often determine whether reading continues beyond the classroom. Research has consistently linked regular recreational reading in adolescence to wider academic achievement and vocabulary development.
For publishers and education charities, the debate carries commercial as well as cultural weight. A place on a national syllabus can drive sales of tens of thousands of copies and introduce authors to readers who might otherwise never encounter their work. Smaller and independent presses have long complained that exam board preferences favour established imprints and nineteenth-century reprints, limiting exposure to living writers.
Background and context
Curriculum reform in England is a slow and politically sensitive process. The national framework is reviewed periodically by the Department for Education, with input from exam boards, subject associations and teacher representatives. Any change to set texts at GCSE or A-level typically requires consultation, new teaching resources, and updated exam papers, costs that successive education secretaries have cited in resisting wholesale reform.
The current English literature requirements reflect a long tradition of privileging canonical British authors, alongside compulsory Shakespeare at GCSE. Recent years have brought incremental additions, including more diverse voices at GCSE level, but critics say these adjustments have not gone far enough. A-level specifications have moved further, with greater emphasis on modern and contemporary texts.
Starmer’s own literary background, which includes an English degree from the University of Leeds, gives the campaign a potential ally inside Downing Street. His government has not signalled an imminent review of English literature requirements. Officials have previously argued that the existing framework already allows teachers to introduce diverse authors at their discretion, pointing to recent additions.
The authors involved represent a cross-section of contemporary British fiction. Booker Prize winners Ben Okri, whose novel “The Famished Road” won in 1991, and Samantha Harvey, who won in 2024 for “Orbital,” are among the most prominent names attached to the appeal. Their involvement reflects a broader concern among writers that the literary canon taught in schools has not kept pace with the diversity of British literary production.
Analysis: The timing of the appeal is politically notable. Starmer’s personal stake in English literature gives the campaign an unusual degree of access, though it does not guarantee action. Successive education secretaries have resisted wholesale curriculum reform on cost and continuity grounds. Whether a sitting prime minister with a personal interest in the subject will commit political capital to a review remains unclear, particularly as the government faces pressure on multiple fronts.
Analysis: The authors’ framing, choosing inspiration over prescription, reflects a broader shift in curriculum discourse. Rather than dictating a fixed canon, they are positioning literary variety as a response to declining engagement. Whether that argument gains traction in Whitehall will depend on whether ministers view literacy as a standalone educational goal or as subordinate to broader skills-based reforms already underway in England.
What to watch next
The Department for Education is the key decision-maker. Any move toward a formal review of English literature requirements would likely begin with a consultation document and engagement with exam boards. Teachers’ associations and subject bodies such as the National Association for the Teachers of English would also be drawn into the process.
Exam boards publish updated specifications on a multi-year cycle. AQA, OCR and Edexcel periodically revise their set text lists, and changes at GCSE or A-level typically take effect for new cohorts with several years’ notice. Campaigners will be watching for any signals in upcoming specification announcements.
Literacy charities, including the National Literacy Trust, have tracked reading habits among children and young people for years. Their data on reading for pleasure, book ownership and library use will be a key indicator of whether the broader trend of declining engagement is continuing or beginning to stabilise.
Publishers, particularly smaller and independent presses, will be monitoring whether exam boards diversify their approved text lists. A shift toward contemporary authors could open significant new markets, while continued reliance on nineteenth-century reprints would reinforce existing commercial patterns.
Conclusion
The authors’ appeal is unlikely to produce immediate change. Curriculum reviews in England operate on multi-year cycles, and any adjustment to set texts at GCSE or A-level would require consultation with exam boards, teacher associations and subject experts. The authors say they hope the conversation will outlast the current parliamentary term, regardless of which party holds power. For now, the intervention adds weight to a long-running debate about what British children read at school, and whether the books on their syllabuses reflect the literature being written today.
Sources
https://www.theguardian.com/books/ng-interactive/2026/sep/05/bold-brilliant-thrilling-leading-authors-on-the-novels-every-school-should-teach
Source: Guardian International
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Story synopsis gathered from: Guardian International — source
