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

98

Such a judgement seems harsh in view of the Boards’ treatment firstly by Norwood
and then by the Ministry.

The General Certificate of Education: not general and not for all

In her deft survey of qualifications and assessment in the 20^th century, Alison Wolf
described the General Certificate of Education (GCE) as "designed entirely by the
Secondary School Examinations Council and delivered to the examination boards
(and universities) as a fait accompli” (Wolf 2002a: 214). The term ‘design’ flatters
what was produced in September 1947 by the newly reconstituted Secondary Schools
Examinations Council. Brian Simon described it thus:

This turned out to be a curt and extremely unrevealing document, defining the
character of the proposed new examination - the General Certificate of
Education (GCE).

(Simon 1991: 112)

Although excluded from the design stage of the new examination, the Boards were
left to cope with some of the flaws in that design. A major one of these was the
introduction of powerful subject panels with specialist knowledge. Contrary to
popular belief, knowing a subject does not always translate into understanding
effective means of assessing that subject. The specialists were frequently experienced
at university level rather than at the secondary level of the examinations they were
considering. Writing just after the new system had taken shape, James Petch
articulated the Boards’ frustration at yet another instance of their expertise being
overlooked:

<<   <   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   >   >>