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suggesting that “these brands must stay' - an opinion which they “sent to ministers
for consideration when drawing up the white paper''1 (The Guardian 3 December
2004). This response is in line with their growing dependence on the financial stream
of international qualifications: IGCSEs, A levels and above all the Cambridge ESOL
certificate - the leading brand in the lucrative market of English qualifications both
for Slovakian au pairs and Polish plumbers in the UK, and for aspiring English
speakers around the globe.
All the evidence of Cambridge Assessment (formerly UCLES),s behaviour shows a
marked disinclination to yield control. Since providing English qualifications is now
an activity where control resides elsewhere, a strong possibility is that OCR will
continue to offer a dwindling repertoire of general qualifications in England and build
its international business, providing ‘old’ A levels for use both the private sector in
England and an international market where the ‘Cambridge brand’ has proven value.
In April 2005 OCR’s preference for moving outside the constraints of QCA-
Controlled qualifications was confirmed by an announcement that UCLES was
working jointly with the Australian Council for Educational Research to develop an
academic reasoning and thinking skills test. Ron Mc Clone, OCR’s Director General
of Assessment said:
Our collaboration is a response to the [Professor Stephen] Schwartz report’s
desire to minimise the burden of [higher education] admissions, whilst
recognising the need to give institutions a valid and reliable instrument for
achieving their selection and/or widening participation objectives.
(The Guardian 14 April 2005)
While the Australian Council would do well to consider the fate of Cambridge’s
previous partners, this is further evidence of a desire to diversify. The scheme may be
undermined by the brief statement in the White Paper of 2005 that in cases where