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

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Experts row over pass rate levels

This is not the slippery slope, say exam boards

(TES 25 August 1995)

A-Ievel pass rate rises yet again

(TES 16 August 1996)

This continuing rise in English students’ attainment might be seen from an
international perspective as overdue rather than a cause for concern. It was still the
case by 2000 that more than half of English 16-year-olds were still failing to reach the
standard which affords real choice as to their future direction. The data produced by
Gillbom and Youdell in their graph [cited above in Figure 4.1] are summarised below
to illustrate this under-achievement:

Percentages of students achieving 5 A *-C grades at GCSE

1997   -     45.1%

1998   -      46.3%>

1999    -      47.9^o∕o

2000   -      49.2%>

(Gillbom 2000)

In August 2001, a Guardian editorial addressed the issue of grade inflation - raised in
that year by a former chief examiner regarding OCR’s GCSE mathematics results. He
attributed the two-grade drop in attainment he was claiming to "competition between
exam boards when schools are ready to opt for easier exams to improve their league
positions.'' The paper’s solution was that, if these allegations were upheld in the
independent review it advocated, “there is a simple remedy: end competition and have
a single national exam board'' Its notion of a review was equally direct: “.. .requiring
exam boards to release their pass marks over the last decade.^,, Clearly the

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