§ 34. Mr. George Gardinerasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she will make a statement on the recent report by the Schools Council which suggests that standards in GCE and CSE exams have declined over the past five years.
§ Mrs. Shirley WilliamsThe report, "CSE and GCE Grading Standards: the 1973 Comparability Study", is based on information relating to two years, 1968 and 1973. Although it speaks of an apparent drift in grading standards between those years, it acknowledges that there are problems associated with the research methods used, the data collected and the interpretation of the results. Nevertheless, I welcome the report as a useful contribution to discussion and I hope that the examination boards and others will give it careful consideration.
§ 35. Mr. Durantasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science, in the light of the proposal by the Associated Examining Board that there should be a new certificate of general education examination at 16-plus based upon a common core of subjects, if she will make a statement.
§ Mrs. Shirley WilliamsThis proposal will be considered alongside others of a similar kind on examinations in the context of the forthcoming Green Paper.