What should be on the A-level syllabus?

Is including Russell Brand in the A-level syllabus a "rubbish" idea or total genius? Tell us what you think should be on the reading list

Exam season approaches and with it the season of hysteria about dumbing down of the school curriculum. The latest furore was sparked by news that Russell Brand, Caitlin Moran and Dizzee Rascal were to be added to the A-level syllabus. How horrifying that Brand's 2012 testimony on drug use to a House of Commons committee will be added to an A-level in English language and literature, in a development cooked up by the OCR exam board and the educational charity, the English and Media Centre. Worse still, it will sit alongside Caitlin Moran's Twitter feed, the BBC Newsnight interview with rapper Dizzee Rascal and the work of former Guardian columnist the Secret Footballer.

News about these new unorthodox texts has already provoked members of the Department for Education to denounce the new A-level as "rubbish". "It is immensely patronising to young people to claim that they will only engage with English language and literature through celebrities such as Russell Brand", said a senior source in the department.

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