The British GCE A-Level Examinations
Questions Surround the Final Test at British Schools
Since their introduction in 1951, the General Certificate of Education A-level exams have loomed as a final, formidable hurdle for generations of British teenagers as they approach the end of their school careers. Millions of Britons have vivid and often painful memories of late-night swat sessions, the stresses of the examination room and an agonizing wait for the results.
And those results mattered. They were the keys to almost any form of higher education or, as many people saw it, to almost any worthwhile job. For good or ill, boys and girls fresh out of school felt as if their personalities and futures were defined by their A-level grades.
The Changing A-Level Curriculum
But all that is changing. Already the wide range of subjects available, the abandonment of pre-determined proportions of students within each grade band and the introduction of a modular syllabus under which students take three separate parts of the examination in each of two years, mean that the nature of A-levels is quite different from the experience that many older British people remember.
Perhaps because of these changes the overall average level of grades awarded has risen steadily, with year-on-year increases every year since 1980. Each August when results are published the media, students, education professionals and politicians engage in heated debates about whether the higher grades reflect a genuine increase in ability and performance as a result of better quality teaching, or an easier curriculum, easier marking or targeted coaching for the exams at the expense of a more rounded and complete educational experience. Some educators believe ministerial interference and a "target culture" have contributed to grade inflation.
Grade Inflation
Whatever the reasons, steadily rising scores have created a problem. With more students achieving the highest grades, colleges and employers have ever greater difficulty in distinguishing between them and choosing who to recruit. There are frequent reports of university admissions officers complaining about the difficulties of using A-levels for admissions purposes. The introduction of a new level for the highest grade, A*, may help, but pressure for more fundamental change is mounting.
A number of universities and major employers have already introduced their own entrance examinations, independent from the A-level curriculum. And among progressive schools there is much debate about whether to abandon A-levels altogether and switch to either an existing alternative or something entirely new.
Alternative School Leaving Qualifications
Some universities use specialised entrance tests such as the BMAT (Bio-Medical Admissions Test) for medical qualifications and the LNAT (National Admissions Test for Law) for law courses, or they use interviews to distinguish between applicants.
The Welsh Assembly has introduced a Baccalaureate programme which has generally been well received by teachers and universities. But the British government considered and rejected plans to introduce an English version. So schools and universities are looking elsewhere.
In mid-2008 50 schools, 15 of them state-maintained, announced that they intend to adopt the Pre-U syllabus newly developed by Cambridge University, with a view eventually to replacing A-levels. Unlike A-levels, the Cambridge Pre-U programme is not modular; it requires traditional essay-style answers to exam questions; but it does not require students to take certain subjects, as the already-established International Baccalaureate does.
The International Baccalaureate
The two-year IB diploma requires a wider range of subjects than most A-level students tackle. All candidates must take English, maths, a foreign language and a science, together with a "Theory of Knowledge" component, an extended essay and an acceptable extra-curricular activity. Though considered too demanding by some, many educators prefer the breadth of the IB to the narrow focus and modular approach of A-levels.
Available since 1970, the number of participating UK schools had reached 137 by 2008, more than double the number five years previously. Most of these are private schools, but Britain's former Prime Minister Tony Blair suggested that at least one state school in every county should adopt the IB, if not in place of A-Levels then as an alternative.
If universities and employers show a preference for applicants with the Pre-U or IB, as they seem to, and with the tacit approval of senior ministers, the drift away from A-levels is likely to accelerate. The result might not be the end of A-levels soon, but Britain already has a more fragmented and uncertain system of high-school qualifications than at any time in the recent past, with educational and social consequences that remain to be seen.
Tower Bridge, London
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