What I disagree with is the idea that the other subjects taught are somehow not worthwhile. What would you teach them instead? There’s only so much you can learn about how to write a CV, how not to get into debt etc. More to the point though, what will you put on your CV if you haven’t studied anything other than how to live in the adult world of which you’re not yet a part? Literature, science, history, politics, geography etc are the foundations of the economy. Understanding how the world works, how we get resources and turn them into goods and services, how those things are traded and distributed is what makes an economy possible. Whilst you didn’t enjoy school but have been able to succeed in spite of it, the evidence shows that education is the main factor when it comes to economic success in life. A little known fact for instance is that social mobility is far higher in Europe than in America. The ‘American dream’ of a poor person working their way up is far more of a dream there than it is here in Europe, and the reason for that is that we provide better quality education and opportunities to all whereas over there things are a lot more based on what your parents were able to pay for, not your ability.

PI (3.147) is used in many things that we all take for granted, e.g. your car wheels, the inside of your car engine (piston), in circular packaging of all shapes and sizes.
There would be very few buildings/structures without PI! Its used in maths/trig. to calculate things like circle circumferences – this is used to accurately calculate dimensions of architectural drawings for example, buildings/bridges.

Many of the subjects you mention are ‘niches’, e.g. Welsh in certain parts of Wales is more popular than others. welshtranslation.org.uk is available

I am glad you left school and made a success of life – hopefully kids will see you as a role model when you appear on Dragons Den (as one of the entrepreneurs)!

Education is about teaching you the skills necessary to carry on learning your whole life. Everything is a building block, you can’t start at a high level.

You are a very eloquent writer, if you had not studied shakespeare and other literary works then would your command of the English language?

Pi may not apply so much to you, but basic trigonometry will come into play in your life all the time without you even noticing it.

Look at the type of jobs that people had when you were at school and look how different things are now, so think how much more different things will be in the future, you cannot tailor an 11 (or more) year education to such simple ideas as “learn how to fill in a tax form”..

Come on, think about it, and don’t be so reactionary.

End result is a lot of “intelligent” young adults who can pass exams and write 20,000 word dissertations about very complex organisms but who are unable to hold a basic conversation or work out their bills.

Subjects that I think should be taught in addition to your suggestions:
Basic Economics (recession, depression, boom cycles, stock trading, inflation)
Full British History – Rather than spending a whole term looking at one era, start at Roman Britain and keep going until you get to Tony’s War.
Politics – understanding how the british political system works, what an mp does etc.
Enterprise – Some schools do this as an “extra” for half a term once in the school life of a pupil. I’d do it from Year 7 as a regular subject, encouraging every pupil to explore their creative, entrepreneurial side – get motivational speakers in, encourage and nurture the business brains of the future.
Current Affairs – Every class would have a 30 minute class debate about something that’s happening in the world today, so they learn that TV and the Internet isn’t just about Paris Hilton and Big Brother.