The English Examining Boards: Their route from independence to government outsourcing agencies

118

The Ruskin speech signals growing government involvement in education
across the political spectrum

Just as the ill-fated CEE could symbolise the end of the so-called golden age, the
beginning of a very different and less consensual one was signalled in a speech
delivered by the Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan at Ruskin College, Oxford,
in October of 1976. Its message was significant, but for the purposes of this study its
derivation was even more so. The Prime Minister had requested a paper on the whole
question of the curriculum followed by schools. The resulting report was produced in
the form of a confidential report popularly known as ‘The Yellow Book’. ⁱⁱIts contents
represented a DES view which drew heavily on HMΓ (Maclure 2000: 191). Although
the full report was never published, the Times Educational Supplement of 15 October,
1976 published on its first page extracts from a leaked version, describing it bluntly as
ⁱⁱthe Department of Education and Science ^,s proposal that it should have a greater
say in deciding the curriculum of Britain ^,s schools.''

Although the criticisms in the Yellow Paper of both curriculum and pedagogy in the
nation’s schools did not extend to examinations which ⁱⁱhad held up very welΓ
(Quoted in Maclure 2000: 192), this flexing of DES muscles was a signal that the
examining boards’ autonomy, together with that of Local Education Authorities and
individual schools, would be further challenged. The essential message of Callaghan’s
speech was that the curriculum was not the sole preserve of education professionals
but was a matter of wide concern because England’s schools were not adequately
preparing young people for employment. In reality, the wider in interest these matters

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