Changes to the English literature GCSE curriculum have effectively been branded as a step back in time by a teaching group.

The National Association for the Teaching of English has described the most recent alterations to the study plan as "a syllabus out of the 1940s", following the removal of a number of titles considered by many to be literary classics.

Among those being axed include Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck and Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. Both books are of American origin, which is the basis of education secretary's argument to have them banned from classrooms. The former was studied by 90 per cent of student's in the past, a statistic Michael Gove apparently described as being "disappointing".

Instead, students will focus on a primarily British canon of literature, with three-quarters of the titles in the new curriculum having been written by UK authors. The majority will also be pre-20th century.

One of the country's biggest exam boards OCR said: "Of Mice and Men, which Michael Gove really dislikes, will not be included. It was studied by 90 per cent of teenagers taking English literature GCSE in the past."

However, critics have argued the move is likely to put off pupils from continuing with the subject after completing their studies, suggesting most teenagers will find the task of having to read Charles Dickens' work, for example, as "tedious".

As of 2015, those undertaking the OCR English literature GCSE course will be required to study a Shakespearian play, Romantics poetry and a pre-20th century British novel.

Will the changes make a difference to the difficulty of engaging pupils in this topic? As someone on the lookout for a Darryl Mydat