Huge rise in January exam entries

Exam rooms will be in action again soon

Sixth formers in England are ignoring the education secretary's desire to see fewer of them taking exams in January - often after little study.

There have been huge increases in the entries for A-level, AS-level and Vocational A-level modules.

When the revised sixth form curriculum came in last year there were widespread complaints from students and their schools and colleges.

The Education Secretary, Estelle Morris, said in July that students should be discouraged from taking AS unit exams before the end of their first year.

They should not be "overburdened" by having to sit AS exams in January, after only a few months' on their courses, she said - although she did say they could take them whenever they wished.

Flexible approach

The Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA), one of the three main awarding bodies in England, said entries had gone up from 110,000 last year to 430,000.

Its spokesman, George Turnbull, said this showed schools were taking advantage of the flexibility of the modular curriculum.

"It's an encouraging rise because it indicates that youngsters are taking advantage of the various sittings available.

"There is flexibility which schools can use to their advantage and take examinations when it fits their particular circumstances."

'Leave it to schools'

One of the biggest complaints from schools last year was the sheer volume of exams in June, which put considerable pressure on the available space and on the numbers of teachers to supervise the sittings.

Another of the big exam boards, Edexcel, has also reported an increase, with about 200,000 entries for exams next month.

A spokeswoman said: "More and more schools are going to spread their exams over the two periods for both A and AS-level, so it's not unexpected."

The general secretary of the Secondary Heads Association, John Dunford, said it was not appropriate for ministers to tell schools how they should operate the new system.

He said many entries would be from upper sixth formers re-sitting modules, either because they had failed them the first time or wanted to try to improve their grades.

"Schools will decide these things for themselves," he said.

A Department for Education spokesman said: "This year's increase in entries for January modules shows that AS-level exams are becoming increasingly popular."