Schools minister defends GCSE exams

Experts have predicted another bumper crop of results with a possible two-thirds of entries achieving at least a C grade.

Last year 65.7% of exam entries were awarded at least a C and more than a fifth (20.7%) were given an A* or A grade.

Mr Coaker said: "Huge numbers of young people do these every year, they're accepted by examination boards, accredited by them, they're looked after by Ofsted, by the office for qualifications. All of those people ensuring that standards are maintained and I think today is a day for celebrating those results."

He told GMTV he did not accept that students would be better served by taking international GCSEs, which some experts have claimed are a better preparation for A-levels.

He said: "Some people say that. I don't accept that. I think the GCSEs that the vast majority of young people do in this country are an excellent preparation for A-level or it's an excellent preparation for any of the other courses that people choose to follow."

Earlier, one union leader warned that GCSEs are still "selling students short". Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), said many pupils would achieve good grades at the expense of learning useful skills.

She said: "In our exam-obsessed system, students are taught to pass tests, rather than encouraged to learn skills. Our exam system is particularly ill-suited to helping young people develop their creativity, initiative, team-working, problem-solving and reasoning skills which they need in work and to continue in higher education."

The unrelenting focus on exams is failing the two-fifths of young people who do not pass five GCSEs, she said. "They continue to be spat out of an education system which has no room to develop their skills and talents and so completely fails to meet their needs."

Dr Bousted called on ministers to reform the assessment system.