A-Levels

Calls for a change to A-levels are growing in the wake of another set of record results for 2006.

Nearly 25 per cent of students achieved A grades and the overall pass rate rose for the 24th year in a row to 96.6 per cent.

Ministers have already given in to pressure from universities and employers who claim that the vast number of students being awarded As makes it impossible to distinguish the bright from the brilliant.

From 2007, universities will have access to students’ grades for the individual A-level units. The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority is also starting trials of an extended project to be produced in addition to A-levels.

Other proposals include creating an A* grade at A-level

The Institute for Public Policy Research, an influential thinktank, has called for a British version of the International Baccalaureate (IB), which covers a wider range of subjects and skills than A-level.

IPPR said the IB model would fit better with the new 14-19 diploma now being phased in.

Richard Brooks, IPPR associate director, said: “Practically all young people in the UK should now be in education or training until they are 18 or 19 years old. Yet not only are too many still missing out, but current policies don't seem to be increasing the numbers of those who stay on in learning until the end of their teenage years. The new 14-19 diplomas will not flourish alongside an un-reformed system of A-levels and it is time for a more radical approach.”