Petition · past parliament
Reduce the amount of poems to learn for the English literature GCSE exam
Rejected
12 signatures
What the petition asks
Children at the age of 15-16 are expected to remember quotes from 18 poems this is too much to remember especially on top of the 3 books and endless amounts of equations that they are expected to learn off by heart.
Why it was rejected
It was not clear what the petition asked the UK Government or Parliament to do.
We're not sure exactly what you'd like the Government or Parliament to do.
The Government's requirements for English Literature GCSE say that any poetry selection published by awarding organisations (like exam boards) must "should comprise no fewer than 15 poems by at least five different poets, and a minimum of 300 lines of poetry". They don't say that students need to learn quotes from 18 poems.
You can find out more here:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/254498/GCSE_English_literature.pdf
The Government's requirements for English Literature GCSE say that any poetry selection published by awarding organisations (like exam boards) must "should comprise no fewer than 15 poems by at least five different poets, and a minimum of 300 lines of poetry". They don't say that students need to learn quotes from 18 poems.
You can find out more here:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/254498/GCSE_English_literature.pdf
Timeline
| 4 Apr 2018 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 12 Apr 2018 | Rejected by the Petitions Committee |
Key facts
Signatures
12
Status
Rejected
Rejected
12 Apr 2018
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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.