Why do the exam boards set bad poems? asks a University of Buckingham professor in a lecture next week.
English professor Stefan Hawlin will present a free lecture at the Radcliffe Centre, at 6.30pm on August 27.
The lecture will discuss criticisms of the exam boards’ choice of poems for GCSEs which have been accused of being ‘trivial’ and ‘clichéd’, asking whether or not exam boards are ‘dumbing down’ courses.