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Large sixth-form colleges may struggle to cope with this summer’s A-Ievels
because popular exams for students in the upper and lower sixth have been
scheduled for the same day.
(TES 19 January 2001: 10)
The work is taking up so much time that it doesn’t leave much for anything
else, ” said Harriet Riley, 17, who is studying English, art, drama and general
studies.
(TES 18 May 2001: 24)
As many as 100,000 students will take the new exam and as a result the cost of
exam fees, invigilators, new desks, administration staff and full-time
examination officers has increased as much as 50 per cent for some schools.
(TESZhxnQ 2001: 6)
At Colchester sixth-form college staff are grappling with a logistical nightmare
to ensure that students get the chance to sit their papers. The number of exam
entries at the college, which has more than 2,000 students, has more than
tripled to 24,000 this year. The exam budget... will be £320,000, a huge rise on
the £178,000 spent last year.
(TESZhxnQ 2001:6)
This early frustration was one of the contributing factors that fuelled the schools’
outburst of anger with the awarding bodies in September 2002. Of course QCA did
not confess to its role in holding up specifications nor did the DflEE explain that the
timetable was politically driven and there was to be no question of delay. They
followed the prudent practice of saying nothing and did not admit to any
responsibility for the timing problems. This left the Boards in an invidious position.
Had they responded by blaming QCA for the delay or made public their requests for
postponing implementation of the new system, they would have been publicly
acknowledging their weakness. Nonetheless, I consider that this failure to defend
themselves in the face of the frustration expressed by schools and colleges to be
another indication of their loss of autonomy.