"A module of Greek, perhaps?" Dream on, Mr Woodhead. It's all but vanished from the state sector, squeezed out by compulsory IT courses that are the computing equivalent of learning to drive in a model T.

Fiona Hook, London,

I enjoy reading articles written by Chris Woodhead, he lifts the lid on many of the cans of worms which this government would rather leave undisturbed.
Undoubtedly he will have put a few noses out of joint in his previous post as Chief Inspector of Schools and he did not endear himself to Tony Blair by refusing to be aquiescent.
Labour have found his succesor much easier to manipulate, have nt they ?

Rick, London, England

"A candidate who gained an A grade today, for example, would have been awarded a B in 1996 and a C in 1988." This is wrong - Mr Woodhead should have said that a candidate who ONLY JUST gained an A today would have gained a B in 1996, etc.

I'm afraid he drops a couple of marks for that.

Universities can adapt by setting their own exams. It imposes an extra cost on them, but it is feasible. The real losers are those who took their 'A' levels ten years ago or more, whose results may now look poor compared with today's candidates. Perhaps we could have have a ready reckoner to convert past results into current grades?

Frank Upton, Soliuhll,

I taught ALevel Maths in the 1960's. I was in Foyles about 10 years ago and decided to examine the A level maths text books. It was interesting to see that ,although the topics covered seemed to relate to those in the 60's, the examples set were easy and straightforward with very few problems and none that required much thought to set one on the route to a solution.
Each year I read the discussions about modules, retaking if not satified and so on and wonder how any thinking minister can imagine that this encourages a pupil to strive for the correct solution or, maybe, even an elegant solution for the problem in front of them. To hear that 25% manage to get an A makes a mockery of any exam but perhaps it is still better than the number of pupils here in Canada who manage to achieve 99 and 100% in their school marked exams.

Marian, Toronto,

As a university teacher for the past 20 years I can confirm that students have not been getting any brighter (or any less bright) but their A level grades have improved significantly. The first year failure/resit rate on my course has remained remarkedly consistent during the 20 years, the only difference is that students with As and Bs at A level now fail, whereas 20 years ago these same students would have had Cs and Ds. Even worse, by handing out high grades so liberally, students become complacent about their ability to cope with degree level study. The main losers in the grade inflation environment are the students themselves. The real 'A' quality are demotivated because they see their less able or less industrious colleagues achieving the same grades. Equally, the less industrious are not being given the message that they need to work harder to achieve their full potential.

G, Oxfordshire, UK

Woodhouse is right. Over the years the schools education standards have declined. As an overseas student I had to give JMB 'Test in English', to get a place in a University. Now the pupils can't even put a simple sentence together & are given 'A' grade in English and a place at a University. The government of the last 20 years haven't had a sense of responsibility or even common sense. J. Brown is right. Education Standards in some Universities are diabolical. Universities such Oxbridge, Warwick, LSE, etc set good standards and are internationally recognised. But the 'NEW' Universities are not even nationally recognised. They are the equivalent of many inner cities comprehensive schools. Most of the ‘New’ Universities are in bottom quarter of the league tables. Yet the VCs of these Universities are proud of it – putting a positive spin on it. I came to UK to study because of the international reputation. Today if I was overseas I wouldn't send my children to the UK as a first choice.

K. V Pandya, MK, UK

This is only the tip of the iceberg. Chris Woodhead hit most of the nails on the head. However, he has not addressed the corruption in the A Level system. Imagine you are an A Level candidate looking for every possible advantage: so you think it would be a good idea to talk to the examiner. Outrageous idea? Surely there are rules againts it? No and no! Examiners are holding private seminars behind closed doors for private gain: you just pay your money and you can work with the very examiner who has set YOUR exam and who could well be makring YOUR script.

I have written to the people who matter in this issue: the Boards, the Secretary of State, my MP and the bodies set up to ensure this sort of thing cannot happen. Guess what? Oh, erm, yes that looks naughty but I'm sorry as there is nothing we can do. Hey ho!

Then again, in some subjects as many as 30% of the marks are given for knowing the vocabulary, 10% for one simple calculation. This is in ADVANCED level examinations.

Duncan Williamson, Abingdon, UK

I agree with most of what Mr Woodhead says. However, A-levels have never been "an examination that was once admired across the world". As far as I am aware, no country uses a similar system to A-levels, while Baccalaureate-style systems are used in over a hundred countries. British universities are indeed admired in many places. The A-level system? No.

Martin, Stevenage, UK

the education system in England was never intended fro mass participation of the working class, the aim to run an empire,(badly). To achieve a or degree level education is for ones own reason, for governments to say too many students are reaching personal goals is madness,universities are stuck in a time warp,adapt to the new wave of students or lose, students will take education on line world wide,the cost of spending 20 hours a week 25 weeks a year for 4years yes students should be charged for that holiday,joking aside, today companies need those bright students, a degree should take a year max two, the empire has gone so should the system called higher education (hoildays for the rich)and be updated for todays world.Remember the goverments wants a low wage, low skill, work force, so beware of disincentives, dressed up as student bashing,the real problem in education is primary schools classes too big teachers not up to the job,

michael joseph heavey, cahersiveen/adams town, MADNESS

A CRIME AGAINST BRITAIN

Were/Are not the A-Levels conducted and graded by The University of Cambridge? They were when I took them. How did political influence gain hold?

To debasement of the world-renowned examination
is a crime against Britain: Britain's future prosperity will depend on producing very highly educated people to whom the world will look to for talent and
expertise. Britain's best must surpass the rest...in an increasingly competitive global environment.

The Land that gave the world Newton, Faraday, Fleming and Shakespeare does not need dumbed down examinations.

Garth Rex, Glendale Heights, USA

There's a problem with the logic of this piece.

If the improvement is driven by one sort of school (independent) rather than another (comprehensive), that suggests that it is due to the better teaching in the independent schools that "work" (as Mr Woodhead puts it). If it were due to a "dumbing down" of the exam one would expect the improvement to be the same in all schools.

Mr Woodhead needs to decide which of his opinions these data support - they can't be used in support of both.

Jamie Gilmour, Bolton, UK

I struggled to read the article - not because it was badly written or held an invalid argument, but precisely because it's argument is so valid.

Every year the same debate occurs and every year it is conveniently ignored or brushed aside. The current government saw that there was no point in pushing standards upstream. Current intellectual educationalists will fight tooth and nail to ensure 'eveeryone wins a prize' and to crush any opposition under threats of mass protest and bureaucracy.

What is the point of protesting against falling stadards; they have already gone beyond the point of credibility and are fast disappearing down the drain of usefullness.

Everyone can see it. The only way to restore credibility is to reimpose the old system with moveable grade marks to accommodate a fixed percentage of each year's students within each banded grade.

But nobody will allow it. So why argue? Why waste time?

Edwin Thornber, Bucharest,

Since A-Levels are debased maybe their parents' A-Level grades should be taken into account to see if they have inate ability ?

TomTom, Leeds, England

In 1955 I took 3 subjects at A-Level and was a awarded a distinction in all 3. I do not say this to boast. I was lucky to have dedicated teachers (led by the charismatic A.D.Thompson) who believed passionately in enabling their best pupils to get the highest grades possible and who worked closely with them to achieve this. For my part I worked very hard too (I have never worked harder, before or since.) There was only one other pupil whose results were as good as mine. We both went to Cambridge. (The school succeeded in getting pupils into Cambridge only once in every five years or so.) The idea that an A at A-Level today can be the same as a distinction in 1955 is laughable. It does neither pupils nor teachers any favours to pretend otherwise. But since we live in a world where no one must be allowed to fail (self-esteem being all-important), we DO pretend otherwise. But we all - pupils, parents and teachers - know in our hearts that the gold standard of A-Level is now debased metal.

J.Fletcher, Canterbury, UK

After two years of intensive leaning a final examination to sort-out the brightest and best is ruthless, crude and woefully inefficient. If identifying an intellectual elite were the sole aim of A-Levels a battery of intelligence tests might as well be administered as a more credible selection device and at a fraction of the cost. Any examination is administered as a means of assessing learning not ability. Ability, along with application and motivation, can only be inferred. We should not loose sight of this. For too long competition has been deemed central to learning with an examination only employed as a means by which to ration entry into higher education. This control allowed success to be cynically manipulated according to the variable requirements of the universities whose conscience was never troubled by those who completed the course but missed out. The advent of fixed standards will mean more tangible goals and eliminate human wastage.

A Holmes, Auckland, NZ

The problem isn't really that the exams are too easy. If a school gives pupils a few easy exams, and lets them spend most of their time playing football or fiddling about with amateur, they will probably catch up quite quickly at university. The problem is that coursework and modularised exams shift the emphasis from understanding to presentation. Students work very hard, and they come out of school with no real enthusiasm, and treat the university course as a cynical exercise in collecting marks.

Malcolm McLean, Bradford, UK

Eric Campbell misunderstands the distinction between "non-competitive" exams such as the driving test and competitive ones such as A-levels and university exams. There is no finite number of cars that can be driven on the roads: thus, a driving test merely ensures that drivers reach a minimum standard.

The purpose of A-levels is quite different. There a limited number of university places and accepting one candidate will mean other candidates are rejected. The same is true of employment (where A-levels are used heavily to distinguish between candidates, as a 2:1 degree is now fairly standard fare). Any system which does not separate the good from the excellent candidates is, to use Mr Woodhead's phrase, not fit for this competitive purpose. The plethora of candidates obtaining A grades subverts that purpose, as does the system of retakes: a candidate who achieves an A at the first attempt is almost invariably stronger than one requires retakes to do so.

Alex, London, UK

It's all about standards and the important need to keep them outside of politcial control. Nobody can argue the fact that examination results should generally follow the 'normal curve' of human behaviour with 'A' grades being attained at the far right of the curve. What we are seeing is the 'A' grade area getting bigger and bigger. The two answers for this are either 1/ That the ability of the average student is growing every year -the answer that policticans prefer but unsubstantiated by the business world as a whole ; or 2/ That exams are being 'dumbed down' - the more likely scenario when subject to considered analysis such as Coe above.
The reason this is important is that we now live in a global economy with many countries such as India and China string to improve their education systems. How are we going to compete in the 'Information Age' if we educate our next generation to the level of mediocrity? Third World here we come!

Colin Moon, Portsmouth,

"This is an examination that was once admired across the world." Spot on, Mr. Woodhead. The A-levels, or the Higher School Certificate exam, as it was known here in the past was highly valued, even feared too! More than just the academic cachet that comes with the intellectual rigour that was an intrinsic part (and a very important one) of this course, it conferred the social distinction on the good student for an achievement that's truly deserved, not least, that bit which is demanded of him or her throughout the two-year course: blood, sweat, tears and sacrifices that include burning the midnight oil! The idea of making university education accessible to all -- except those for whom the stint at U is a 'honeymoon' period, and galling if at someone else's expense -- is a noble one. But is there not the danger (and a real one here when a half-baked doctor gets to treat the sick) of producing graduates of stunning mediocrity whose degrees are not worth the paper on which it is printed?

SD Goh, PJ, Malaysia

As an academic at one of our "top" universities I am surprised that Mr Woodhead proposes to make them custodians of intellectual rigour. This seems to be predicated on an incorrect assumption that they are immune to grade inflation. Yet, when I was a student in the '70s about 15% of students achieved firsts and upper second versus 65% or more today. What has caused this? League tables, market forces etc. It's the same with A-levels. I thought Mr Woodhead used to be in favour of such things.

J Brown, Durham,

Mr Woodhead seems surprisingly out of touch with the IB. Students study 3 subjects in depth and 3 subjects broadly. They work 5/6 days a week continuously with very few free periods. Those that score 40+ points find universirty a breeze in comparison, with A level students requiring remedial lessons in maths and sciences in their first year.

colin coates, london, england

To create an academically rigorous exam system, the responsibility for it needs to be transferred to the best universities, those that are assesed as the best teaching universities for a particular subject should have responsibility for setting the curriculum and exams in that subject, the money from the exams should then be divided between those universities. This system would not only give an extra revenue stream for the best universities, but also lead to an increase in academic excellence in the other universities as they attempt to reach the standards of the best and qualify for a share of the exam revenue. A similar scheme should also be introduced for GCE exams.

Stephen, St. Ives, England

The examination does not test the totality of a candidate's knowledge at the end of a two year course. It tests what he can remember of a selected few bits of that knowledge on a few random questions, some of which he may be well revised upon and some he may not. To retake a module, or an entire exam, is no more educationally suspect than retaking your driving test - it is simply silly to decree only one chance. The fact that an ex Chief Inspector of Schools is so demonstrably and so comprehensively ignorant of the learning process would be disturbing - but we are of course used to it from this most dismally blinkered man. All of which is why he is an ex Inspector of Schools. Thankfully he and his reactionary ideology were rumbled and ridiculed quite early on and - like Edward Heath - he has had to pursue a secondary career of public sulking ever since. No harm in that - so long as nobody is fooled into thinking his rants have anything to with education.

eric campbell, harrogate, uk

The main use of A level results is university admission. Places funded by the taxpayer should be allocated by competitive examination. Privately funded places should be limited, if necessary, by raising margins.
This would ensure the best value for the taxpayer and best facilities and fair selection for the student

chris, Broadstairs,

There are objective measures of how well education delivers to business and to the economy at large what it is supposed to deliver - international skills competitions.

30 years ago, when I failed to make the UK team for the International Maths Olympiad, there was no shame in the UK coming behind the USA and USSR. Today we come behind countries such as Turkey, Moldova and Iraq. For me, that is cause for shame.

According to this measure, there can be no question that sixth formers today are less well educated than they were then. Any exam which flatters them by telling them otherwise is worse than useless - it is also dangerous.

Ian Kemmish, Biggleswade, UK

There is a common thread to this across all education institutions ; and, this is not a new argument. For some time, I have witnessed the same trends in Australian education. To maintain quality and currency of standards you need a truly independent body capable of managing the teaching process and the quality of assessment. We should never "dumb-down" syllabuses or the quality of the legitimate examination of the full syllabus, not a snapshot of it. There is a lot riding on education outcomes for many stakeholders and unfortunately politics will have its day. Keep education free of politics, keep relevant quality syllabuses, and pay for quality teachers who know their subject matter. Don't lower the bar on external examinations!

Peter Posetti, Brisbane, Australia

I agree with much of what Mr Woodhead has written. As usual he makes his case in a low-key manner. I fear that we are cheating our children of the joy of real achievement by spoon-feeding them easy exams.

However, I'm less sanguine about the idea that a fixed percentage of each year cohort be allotted certain grades in his proposed new exam. Year groups do vary. Some year will have a higher proportion of clever or dull children than others. The grade must be related to the actual score achieved by the child. By retaining a high standard, few will achieve the highest grade.

I have some good friends who are teachers or headteachers. And woe betide me if I criticise the exam results. I'm out of touch. I don't understand modern learning. There seems to be much about modern education I don't understand. But I do know when I see university-level students who cannot spell, or whose grasp of English grammar is at best tenuous, at worst laughable.

Chris Palmer, Southampton, UK