GCSEs and A-Levels: Michael Gove to Overhaul Examination System

Michael Gove, Education Secretary, has recently explained that GCSE’s and A-Levels are about to get a lot harder as he plans to reform the examination system.

Gove recently said at a lunch in Westminster: “There are going to be some uncomfortable moments in education reform in the years ahead. There will be years, because we are going to make exams tougher, when the number of people passing will fall.”

In order to make both GCSE’s and A-Levels harder coursework will be phased out with emphasis being placed on written examinations, which Gove believes will lead to higher standards across the board.

Professor Alan Smithers, from the Centre for Education and Employment at Buckingham University, has said: “I actually think that would be healthy. For the past 15 years, everybody in education has been judged by rising scores. At the same time, there have been complaints from universities that young people – when they get there – do not have what they [the universities] are looking for.”

It is believed that the overhaul will take up to four years to fully implement, but there were signs last year that the rise in pass rates was slowing down.

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