RUTH KELLY, the Education Secretary, demanded a wholesale review of coursework in A levels and GCSEs yesterday after the examinations watchdog found evidence of widespread cheating.

A two-year review of more than a dozen subjects carried out by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority has revealed a virtual free-for-all among students, teachers and parents in carrying out assignments.

Coursework is an integral part of A levels and GCSEs, making up between 20 and 60 per cent of the marks allocated. The revelations cast doubt on the continually rising grades for both sets of exams and raise questions about the credibility of vocational qualifications.

In one of the most fundamental rethinks to public examinations in a generation, Ms Kelly has called for the QCA to reconsider coursework on a “subject by subject basis” and for it to be used only “where it is the most valid way of assessing subject specific skills”.

In a letter to Ken Boston, chief executive of the QCA, Ms Kelly clearly hinted it should be dropped from maths and science GCSEs, saying coursework should not be “the favoured approach where its primary purpose is to assess knowledge and skills which can equally well be assessed in other ways”.

During the review, two thirds of maths teachers told the QCA that coursework — which is often done from home — was “sometimes problematic” as students could easily find answers on the internet or get siblings and parents to do the work for them.

The in-depth investigation into subjects from English to history, maths and religious studies, revealed that plagiarism via the internet, collusion and “coursework cloning”, where teachers give students too much help, were some of the ways pupils attempted to improve their grades.

At GCSE level, one in 20 parents admitted to doing their children’s coursework, with fewer doing the same at A level. But it was the use of the internet that posed the greatest threat, according to Dr Boston.

“In a very small proportion of cases there is deliberate malpractice,” he said. “The availability of the internet is a powerful aid to learning but carries risks of plagiarism.”

As well as issuing advice to exam boards, the QCA has appointed a taskforce to clear up confusion about how much help is allowed.

Nick Seaton, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, which has been a strong critic of coursework, said that Ms Kelly’s decision was “a step in the right direction”.

“Coursework is obviously open to cheating and there should be much more emphasis, and more marks, on proper invigilated exams. Most youngsters can get well on the way to achieving a decent pass before they even take an exam, so coursework must have played a part in grade inflation over the years,” he said.

Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at Buckingham University, said the review was very sensible.

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