International News

Letter from London Exam reforms debate After a very damp summer in Blighty, students and professors are getting ready for the new academic year which begins in early October. This autumn, universities will be welcoming students following a year of record-breaking A level results in which the overall pass rate was an impressive 96 percent — the 22nd consecutive year of improvement. Enquiry panels of the government’s exams watchdog committee reject claims that A level standards are being dumbed down and have opined that while exam papers have not become easier, changes in examining methodologies have made it easier to obtain top grades. As a result of reforms introduced in 2000, students now study six different modules during the two years of study required to acquire an A level certificate. Only 20 percent of the marks are reserved for the end of term exam. The good news is that the education ministry is putting together a reform package to replace the current GCSE (O level) and A level system. The present structure does not allow over-subscribed institutions to choose the most talented candidates, so universities have no idea whether a student merely scraped through to a top grade A level, or achieved it comfortably. In order to solve this problem a number of options have been put forward as to how the most talented can be recognised, one of which is to introduce a 4,000 word ‘super essay’ to be written by all A level pupils. Other proposals include presenting detailed marksheets rather than an overall grade, or awarding grades for each module rather than a single overall grade. The problem is that the existing system relies on predicted A level grades, which is extremely unsatisfactory since about half the predictions turn out to be wrong. This discourages less confident pupils from applying to front-rank universities, as they don’t have the results to back their applications. Against this backdrop it’s good news that a government task force has recently recommended that students should be able to make university choices after receiving their A level results. Prof. Steven Schwartz of Brunel University, who is heading a government-backed committee, believes that too many decisions are made on unreliable information, such as schools’ forecasts of A level grades or “impressionistic” interviews. “We have come to the conclusion that we really have to seriously move to a post-qualification admissions system because the current one is just not fair,” he says. In response to this two university vice-chancellors have recently indicated that they are prepared to delay the start of the academic year to accommodate A level results, the first sign of a new approach to a re-think on reforms. Prof. Eric Thomas, vice-chancellor of Bristol University, says he is “absolutely convinced” of the need to scrap the present system. “I would certainly be prepared to delay the start of the first year and I think schools could be more flexible about putting back the dates of A levels so we have more time,” he says. Prof.…