Commenting on today’s A-level results, Geoff Barton, General
Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said:
“Congratulations to students on their results in A-levels, AS
levels and other important vocational qualifications.
Congratulations also to the schools and colleges which have so
expertly taught and supported them during a period of great
change to qualifications and while under severe funding pressures
because of government cuts to post-16 education.
“This year is the third phase of the introduction of new A-level
exams, including the most popular A-level subject of maths.
Students have faced the daunting prospect of going first in new
and challenging qualifications which are designed to be more
rigorous.
“The grading system addresses these issues by adjusting grade
boundaries to take into account changes in specifications and the
degree of difficulty in different papers so that students are not
disadvantaged from one year to the next. This is a good thing and
grade boundaries need to be understood in this context.
“But we are concerned about the impact on young people. The
government’s obsession with making exams more rigorous is in
danger of destroying their love of learning. Entries to both
A-level English and A-level maths have fallen this year following
the introduction of tougher GCSEs in these subjects and this
should give us all pause for thought.
“We support the idea that qualifications should be challenging,
but we do not think they should be grinding. We are not calling
for wholesale change of qualifications in the immediate future.
There has been far too much recent upheaval.
“But it would be timely and sensible for the government, Ofqual
and the exam boards to conduct a review to find out more about
the impact on students of the new qualifications and what
adjustments might be made to turn down the pressure cooker.”
