NUS CONDEMNS GOVE’S ‘1950s THROWBACK’ A-LEVEL PROPOSALS

The National Union of Students (NUS) today condemned proposals from Education Secretary Michael Gove to end modular A-levels and return to two-year exam based assessments.

In a letter to exam regulator, Ofqual, the Education Secretary also proposed “leading” universities should play a role in maintaining standards

By adopting proposals that teachers, students and universities had opposed, the Education Secretary’s proposals were unsupported by proper evidence and would narrow young people’s options, NUS warned.

Toni Pearce, NUS Deputy President said:

“This throwback to the 1950s is dogmatic and ideological policy-making at its very worst. It is unsurprising that the Education Secretary’s proposals are opposed by teachers, universities and students.

“There is no good reason why a small group of universities should be put in the uniquely privileged position of engineering exams that must cater for a wide variety of learners and foster a wide diversity of routes to study and work.

“The examination systems of the future will increasingly require flexibility and not the linear past its sell-by date approach proposed by Mr Gove today.”

“The Education Secretary’s apparent mission to rage against the modern world appears to continue unabated, but it is young people who are set to lose out as a result of his self-indulgence.”