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

219

The effect of these high expectations has been the negative reactions to the steadily
improving attainment levels in GCSE examinations.

This improvement has been generally welcomed as rising attainment by pupils,
teachers, parents, examining boards and Ministers. Yet what have on the whole been
louder voices have labelled the development as ‘grade inflation’ which implies a
steady erosion of standards. The opening salvoes in the standards battle were fired in
The Times Educational Supplement (TES) in late August of 1992. Two stalwarts of
the ‘declining standards’ faction queried yet another rise in the results at both GCSE
and A level. They were Dr John Marks, already known for his sceptical view of
educational developments following his contribution to the Black Papers in the 1970s,
and Dr Philip Evans, a ''former chief examiner with the London BoarcT who never
acknowledged the significance of that word “former” in his criticisms of a new type
of examination. (TES 1992) Then John Patten, Conservative Education Minister
added fuel to the fire by suggesting that the improved results were due to lax

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