Government pledge on A-level reform
The Government is set to trial a more rigorous version of the A-Level “gold standard” next year, Education Secretary Ruth Kelly has said.
From 2006, bright students will take exams with an optional set of questions at the end of the paper.
The Department of Education and Skills is hopeful the test scheme will be further rolled out across England from 2007.
The move has been viewed as a bid to quell claims that A-Levels have been “dumbed down” since Labour came to power, given the growing number of students winning A grades.
Ms Kelly told a conference yesterday: “We are pressing ahead with our proposals for increasing stretch and differentiation so that every young person is challenged to achieve the most they can.”
“The new optional, more stretching questions within A-Levels will be tested from 2006.”
The move comes after the Government published its white paper for reforming secondary school qualifications in February.
