pi_man is right I am afraid. There is know way my year 11s could pass an old English O-level. Maybe the very top ones. Yet I expect the current year 11 to get 90% A*-C in the june session. With approx 20% getting A*. There are many of those who could not spot a conjuntion, infinitive etc if you hit them on the head. I would reduce all the timetables to 5 subjects max per year for the 16-18 years.