British students failing in Shakespeare

London -- Standardized testing in the English language gives British teens failing marks on exams assessing knowledge of Shakespeare.

An estimated 30,000 students failed to score a single mark on the latest Kay Stage 3 examinations testing the comprehension of Shakespeare's works. Only 35 percent of those tested received satisfactory marks on more than half of the questions.

The bard, however, is not a mandatory subject matter in General Certificate of Secondary Education courses, causing some critics to question the endurance of England's most famous writer.

"Children of all abilities can achieve great things in the study of Shakespeare's work," Jacqui O'Hanlon of the Royal Shakespeare Company told the Telegraph.

But Ian McNeilly of the National Association for the Teaching of English notes that the test results are more a reflection of poor testing structures rather than poor teaching.

Students in England's school systems are tested on Shakespeare at 14-years-old

Students were given scenes from "Richard III," "Much Ado About Nothing, "and "The Tempest" a year prior to taking the exam.

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