A TRAM timetable is being studied as part of an A-level English syllabus in the UK, sparking claims of dumbed down teaching standards, the Daily Telegraph has reported.

The A-level, short for Advanced Level, is a subject-based qualification in Britain, usually taken by students aged between 16 and 19. The Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA), Britain’s largest English exam board, said candidates should study a range of both literary and non-literary texts. Pupils are asked to consider word choice, grammar, sound patterns and the form and structure of travel and transport writing. The exam will be sat next summer.

British educators fear that pupils are being robbed of their cultural heritage, and denied opportunities to study great literature and history, because schools are increasingly expected to teach “skills” and make lessons “accessible”. They feel frustrated by the philosophy that the purpose of education is to teach skills that “enhance the competitiveness of the nation” instead of in-depth knowledge.

Bernice McCabe, head of North London Collegiate School, a private school which regularly tops exam league tables, said the drive to make lessons “relevant” and “fun” is leading to the cultural and intellectual impoverishment of a generation of school children. It would be far better to allow teachers with enthusiasm in their subject to teach it in depth.

An AQA spokesman said the inclusion of the Manchester Metrolink Tram Guide had been taken out of context. She defended that the purpose of the unit is to allow candidates to study a range of thematically linked texts. The tram guide is one of the 30 nonliterary texts, which is accompanied by a unit on language and literature study. Among the literary texts are pieces by Samuel Johnson, Joseph Conrad, Mark Twain and Charles Dickens.