§ Mr. Keyasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will now give details of the arrangements in place to approve examination courses offered in the compulsory years of secondary education against national criteria.
§ Mrs. RumboldMy right hon. Friend announced earlier this month interim non-statutory arrangements for the approval of all public examination courses for 14 to 16-year-olds against national criteria. Under these arrangements, agreed by the major examination bodies concerned, all examinations offered to the 14 to 16 age group will be subject to approval and monitoring by the Secondary Examinations Council in the same way as GCSE courses.
All single-subject courses will be approved against the existing GCSE national criteria. New criteria are being introduced for approving integrated courses, that is those which cover a range of subjects and occupy most of a pupil's time. Approved courses will be offered in schools from September 1988.
These arrangements are based on advice made to my right hon. Friend by the SEC in the light of consultation on the report of a working party chaired by Mr. R. S. Johnson, director of education for Leeds. We are grateful to the SEC for its advice and to the working party for its recommendations.
Our proposals for a national curriculum, which my right hon. Friend intends to present to the House this 216W coming Session, will put these arrangements on a statutory basis. They may also necessitate changes to the integrated course criteria.
Copies of the interim integrated course criteria have been placed in the Library.