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The choice is limited. For most pupils, the biggest decision about which subjects to choose has already been taken for them by the 11-plus exam.
For the 75% of pupils who go to technical college or secondary modern schools, most of the courses have a vocational bias.
Those selected for grammar school do O-levels. Classics (Greek and Latin) occupy a central position in a formal curriculum. All pupils study Latin with seemingly endless English-to-Latin translation - a grilling unimaginable to today's pupils. Usually there is only one modern foreign language on offer - almost always French. There is some limited choice in which science subject to take. Music and art are becoming available but are seen by many as having dubious value.
When choosing A-level subjects, pupils would nearly always stick to a science/maths or humanities/languages package.
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The choice is still restrictive owing to the large compulsory core of the National Curriculum. But this has been somewhat eased recently.
Most schools offer at least two modern languages. After virtually disappearing from the curriculum, classics has made a bit of a comeback. The dubious status afforded to some arts subjects in the 1950s is a thing of the past.
Technology has had a huge impact, and ICT (information and communication technology) is all-pervasive.
In today's music lessons, pupils create their own music, which they find exciting and energising. They also have opportunities for chamber and orchestral playing, which were embryonic in the 1950s.
After GCSEs, the choice is now immeasurably wider. The stereotyping of subject choices has gone, so that a pupil can combine A-level art or a language with a science and maths. However, although the new AS/A2 system was meant to broaden the sixth-form curriculum greatly, it has had very limited success, with complaints of far too many exams.
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