In Scotland (when I was at school anyway) you had to do English, Maths, a modern lanuage, music or home ec, geography or history and at least one science option (including computer science) up until age 16, there were options for short courses too but that's not important. I think that this is a good thing because it means that all through many key developmental stages from childhood to early adulthood we are taught about our language in a way which reflects the level of understanding and type of use relevent to our age groups. Most people take English in some form until they leave school at 1