These were described as draft proposals to us ... we were horrified

Jane Lunnon, Wellington College

The reports surfaced after examination boards called meetings to brief English teachers about expected changes to syllabuses.

Jane Lunnon, the head of English at Wellington College in Reading, was present at one meeting.

She said: "I'm horrified that Shakespeare may be taken off the English syllabus to be replaced by internet studies.

"The government is very aware of what employers want but in making this change, key cultural elements of our country would be lost."

She said that the mood at the meeting was one of resignation and frustration.

"Faceless quango"

"We feel frustrated because changes are brought in by this faceless quango, the QCA, and teachers are powerless, with no voice against it."

A spokesman for the Department for Education said: "Claims that ministers are considering ending the compulsory study of Shakespeare and classic authors by English students are completely and utterly untrue.

""The study of both Shakespeare and classic pre-1914 authors is a compulsory part of the national curriculum and will remain so."