Restoring the educational gold standard

Every August we go through the same debate, are A-Levels getting easier? However harsh it may be on those who have just received their results, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that they are. There is a justified suspicion that the bureaucracy’s over-riding aim is to see a larger and larger proportion of students get A grades. So it is welcome news that Michael Gove is planning to get the government out of A-Levels. Instead universities, exam boards and other groups will determine what is tested and how. These groups will neither be interested in nor appear to be interested in artificially pumping up the numbers of pupils getting the top grades. Rather universities, who are finding it increasingly hard to use exams results to work out who are the brightest pupils, will have an interest in setting exams that show who the most able pupils are.

PS One doesn’t quite know whether to laugh or cry when you see the general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers criticising the Tories for having an ‘agenda