HC Deb 25 March 1986 vol 94 cc395-6W
Mr. Greenway

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will announce his decision on the Secondary Examination's Council's recommendations for reform of the A-level grading system.

Sir Keith Joseph

I have written today to Sir Wilfred Cockcroft, the chairman of the Secondary Examinations Council, informing him that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales and I have considered the SEC's recommendations, together with the responses to a further round of consultations which we undertook in the autumn, and that we have decided that, with effect from the summer 1987 A-level examinations, the following A-level grading system should be adopted:

Nomenclature

  1. (i) the 5 A-level pass grades A to E should be retained;
  2. (ii) the present O-grade should be replaced with grade N, denoting a narrow failure, which should be certificated and defined on those certificates;
  3. (iii) an unclassified performance should be identified by the letter U but not certificated.

Grading standards

  1. (i) the A/B grade borderline should be established on the basis of boards' existing practice, including examiners' judgments of quality;
  2. (ii) the B/C and E/N grade borderlines should be established by reference to examiners' judgments of quality and using methods to ensure fairness and reliability at these crucial points;
  3. (iii) the mark range within the B/C and E/N grade borderlines should be divided into three equal intervals and these assigned respectively to grades C, D and E, with the same interval also assigned to grade N.

We consider that these revisions will resolve the long-standing problem of the narrow mark range of grade C. The new system should be both fair and practicable and should stand the test of some years.

We have taken the decision now so that the GCE boards and the HE institutions will have ample time to adjust their procedures for the summer 1987 examinations and autumn 1987 HE admissions respectively. We will be considering with SEC how those who use certificates can best be informed of the nature and significance of these changes.

My right hon. Friend and I are grateful for the SEC's work on this complex problem and for the views of those who were consulted.