You just can’t keep Michael Gove down. After beating a very public retreat by u-turning on plans to replace GCSEs earlier this year, he’s announced today the all-new I-level qualifications. I-Levels will be graded 1-8 — with a current A* roughly equal to a 7 — and will take on much of his English Baccalaureate plans, including a greatly reduced significance on coursework and limited resits.
The Baccalaureate was a rare defeat for the most fervent of cabinet ministers. Back then, he told the Daily Mail his exam reforms were a ‘step too far’, but it now appears Gove was still determined to get his own way. Following the GCSE English marking disaster last summer, the secondary exam systems has been waiting for a radical rethink and toughening up. The I-Levels appear to be just that.
The new exams will be in place for 2015 and by then, our education system will be almost indistinguishable from the one Gove inherited.
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