A Level pass rate up again

A Level results have continued to rise, although by a slightly slower rate than anticipated.

The pass rate for the exam increased to 96.2 per cent, 0.2 per cent higher than last year.

Among the 260,000 young people receiving their results on Thursday, the number of A grades was also up, by 0.4 per cent to 22.8 per cent.

Weekend speculation had suggested the respective rates could hit 97 per cent and 23 per cent for the first time.

But amid a continuing row over academic standards, ministers have insisted that the explanation lies in improved teaching and harder working students, rather than easier exams.

While girls continued to outperform boys, the gap between the sexes narrowed for the second consecutive year, with the number of boys receiving A grades going up by 0.5 per cent to 21.5 per cent with girls 0.2 per cent higher at 23.9 per cent.

The pass rate for boys was also by 0.4 per cent to 95.4 per cent while the level of girls getting E grades or above rose by 0.2 per cent to 97 per cent.

Defence

Schools minister Lord Adonis used a pre-emptive speech on Wednesday to defend the exam against business charges of "dumbing down".

"Report after report by the government's independent agencies have shown that standards have been maintained," he said

"I think students... can have full confidence that standards are being maintained."

"The current system is doing what it was intended to do," he added.

"The fact that more people are achieving highly is because more students are motivated, teaching is better and success rates are therefore improving. We should welcome that."

Mask

But shadow education secretary David Cameron said the broad brush results would mask weaknesses in areas such as modern languages and science, and the differences between schools' performances.

This year saw a sharp drop in the number of students sitting A Level French, German, physics and computing.

"The most important thing this week is to congratulate all those who have done so well," the Conservative said ahead of the results.

"I have always been a strong supporter of A Levels and believe they should remain at the heart of our system.

"The government has been in some confusion with the head of their own advisory body, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, saying they should be 'out of the door'. 

"The government needs to be clear about the future of A Levels and should act to close down the sterile debate that takes place each year about whether students have done well or exams made easier.
 
"It is notable that those schools with greater autonomy tend to have better results. This only confirms my view that the real agenda for education reform should be one of rigour plus autonomy.

"The decline in the number of students taking A Levels in foreign languages and pure sciences is worrying. Industry depends on having talented students with the right skills. Again, the government has done virtually nothing to address this issue."

Access

This year the annual row over standards has been heightened by the government's refusal to sign up to former chief inspector of schools Sir Mike Tomlinson's call for widespread curriculum reform.

He wanted A Levels and GCSEs to be folded into a single school diploma that recognised vocational and academic training as having equal weight, as well as widening the number of subjects studied.

However ministers insisted there was no consensus for such a change and promised to maintain the "gold standard" of A Levels, while differentiating A grades by publishing individual marks, as well as broader grades and asking optional, harder questions.

Meanwhile the National Union of Students said more should be done to encourage students to stay on education after the age of 16 and improving university access for those from poorer backgrounds.

"What the headlines don't tell us is that there are far too many students who fail to reach the A Level stage and it is these students we need to be focussing our attentions on now," president Kat Fletcher said.