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Rise and rise of the 'gold standard'
Evening Standard14 Aug 2008
The Government faces fresh criticism of A-level results today with another rise in the pass rate.
• A-levels were first introduced in 1951, when only 104,000 exams were sat and the overall pass rate was just 75.3 per cent.
• They became regarded as the "gold standard" qualification for preparing sixth-formers for university. This year, nearly 830,000 A-levels were taken across the UK.
• In 2000, a new system of modular A-levels was introduced in which most pupils studied courses divided into six units instead of taking final exams after two years.
• When the first results of the modular system were published in 2002, the pass rate soared from 89.8 per cent to 94.3 per cent. The number of A-grades also rocketed to more than one in five for the first time - and girls moved ahead of boys. A marking crisis surrounded the results and thousands of papers had to be re-marked amid claims that the exams had become easier.
• Estelle Morris, the education secretary at the time, resigned soon after the row.
• This year, more than a quarter of A-levels were awarded A-grades.
• From this September, the number of units in A-levels is being cut back from six to four in most subjects.
• A new A* grade is being introduced alongside harder questions to give universities a better chance of distinguishing bright students. The A*, for pupils who score marks of 90 per cent or more, will come into force when exam results are published in 2010.
• Also from this September, the first 20,000 teenagers will take the Government's new diplomas. These courses combine academic theory with work experience and are intended as rivals to traditional A-levels and GCSEs.
• Ministers have said diplomas could one day replace A-levels as "the qualification of choice" for all teenagers. A government review of secondary school exams is planned for 2013.
• Some schools have decided to move away from A-levels to the International Baccalaureate, while Cambridge University's exam arm is planning a demanding diploma-style qualification called the Pre-U which many private schools have expressed interest in.
