§ Mr. Pardoeasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will now take steps to bring the eight 312W separate General Certificate of Education boards together under public control.
§ Miss Bacon:No. But there is already a central representative body—the Schools Council—one of whose tasks is the co-ordination of the work of the bodies responsible for secondary school examinations.
§ Mr. Pardoeasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what was the cost of operating the General Certificate of Education in the last year for which information is available;
(2) on what basis the present General Certificate of Education boards and subject advisory panels are appointed.
§ Miss Bacon:Examining Boards for the General Certificate of Education are independent bodies responsible for their own finances and are not required to report on them to my right hon. Friend.
The boards were set up at different times and in different circumstances and have no common constitutional basis. All but one have close links with universities which were concerned with their establishment. In all boards the subject advisory panels include a strong teacher representation.