Universities are having to offer classes in essay-writing because too many students arrive from their A levels unable to write properly.

Despite expectations of a record crop of A-level results tomorrow, many universities believe that basic literacy and writing standards among undergraduates are falling.

Some blame schools for drilling pupils so heavily in techniques for passing A Levels that they are unable to write anything that requires their critical input.

Others point to the trend of widening access to university to students from “nontraditional backgrounds”, which means that it is no longer just the very brightest students who get in.

Sir Mike Tomlinson, the former chief inspector of schools, said it was clear that A levels were not “doing the job they set out to do” in preparing students for higher education and the world of work.

Sir Mike, who is a governor at the University of Hertfordshire, said that the extra classes were needed to bring students up to scratch in all academic subjects, not just English.

“At Hertfordshire they’re doing this for all courses . . . everyone has to do a course about how to write at some length, because it’s not only necessary for degree purposes, but for jobs later on,” he said.

Valerie Sanders, Professor of English at the University of Hull, said that essay-writing lectures had been introduced in Hull in response to poor literary skills among students.

“You should not be able to get an A [grade] if you can’t string a sentence together. These aren’t people who can’t spell antidisestablishmentarianism – these are very infantile mistakes, like confusing been and being; there and their,” she said.

Alicia Cresswell is head of writing development at Newcastle University, which has opened a writing development centre to help students who find the transition between school and university difficult. “It’s quite difficult for some, who struggle with the mechanics of writing, spelling and grammar,” she said. “They haven’t been trained in things like critical writing. Students are mystified by these things. ‘What do you mean by being critical?’, they might ask.”

Lloyd Richardson, learning support co-ordinator at Bishop Grosseteste, University College Lincoln, gives essay-writing tips to students who must first sit a diagnostic writing assignment. “There’s a gulf between how schools prepare students for university, and the demands of higher education. They’re taught subjects, not skills,” he said.

The Times contacted 117 universities, of which 47 replied, and 26 said that they offered study skills or essay-writing classes. These included the universities of Brighton, Newcastle, Bristol and Loughborough and the London School of Economics.

David Willetts, the Shadow Education Secretary, said: “This is a consequence of the way the school curriculum has been broken down into bite-sized chunks. School students don’t have the experience of sitting down and writing their own thoughts in a proper essay.”

Jim Knight, the Schools Minister, acknowledged that there was a problem, but added that this was partly a result of widening higher education to more students from deprived backgrounds. “As we increase the proportion of young adults going to university, we have to increase the proportion who are capable of expressing, not only facts, but also a coherent argument,” he said.

He added that solutions included the addition of essay writing to A levels and “personal learning and thinking skills” to the new diplomas for 14 to 19-year-olds.

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