§ Mr. PawseyTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he intends to publish the Higginson report on GCE A-levels; and if he will make a statement.
434W
§ Mr. Kenneth BakerMy right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Wales, and I are publishing today the report of the committee chaired by Dr. Higginson on GCE advanced levels. We are grateful to Dr. Higginson and his colleagues for the considerable time and energies that they have devoted to its preparation. We broadly welcome the general principles for A-levels set out by the committee in chapter 2 of its report and, in particular, its endorsement of A-levels as demanding, single-subject examinations for able candidates of all kinds and all backgrounds. We have reservations, however, on the committee's detailed proposals for streamlining syllabuses by reducing their factual content. The report indicates widespread support for increased breadth of study for 16 to 18-year-olds undertaking A-level courses in full-time education. It recommends that such students should., if possible, study five subjects, some at A-level and some at GCE advanced supplementary level and, to allow for study of more subjects, that A-level syllabuses should he streamlined, and students should devote more of their timetables to examination studies.
The Government endorse the general aim of broadening A-level students' programmes of study but do not accept the committee's proposals for achieving that objective through a five-subject programme incorporating leaner A-level syllabuses. The education service already has a substantial agenda for reform: we want the new School Examinations and Assessment Council in particular to concentrate on the tasks of introducing assessment and testing arrangements for the national curriculum and of the establishment, monitoring and review of GCSE.
We see AS-levels as the key to achieving greater breadth, and hence we welcome the committee's backing for a continuing role for these new examinations, both in securing breadth of study and in supplementing main areas of study. Following the introduction of AS-levels last year, A-level students, by choosing a mix of A and AS-level syllabuses, are already able to put together broader and more balanced programmes of study. The Government will continue to monitor closely the introduction and take-up of AS-levels and will consider, in the light of progress, whether further steps are needed to secure the necessary broadening of post-16 education.