ABSTRACT This article addresses some of the concerns about whether A level English Literature offers an adequate preparation for the study of English at degree level. It explores the pressures of teaching English Literature at A level in mixed ability classrooms where the needs of all students—not just those who intend to study English at university—need to be met. It also surveys the difficulties that the current A level specifications present for teachers who must balance the desire to enthuse and inspire their students against the demands of a highly mechanistic educational system. ‘Poststructuralist theory is a very intriguing philosophical game for very clever players. But the irony of teaching it to young people ivho have read almost nothing except their GCE set texts and Adrian Mole, who know almost nothing about the Bible or classical mythology, who cannot recognise an ill-formed sentence, or recite poetry with any sense of rhythm—the irony of teaching them about the arbitrariness of the signifier in week three of their first year becomes in the end too painful to bear…’ David Lodge, Nice Work (1988)