Renewed call for A* at A-level

A grades are increasing: Jenna Bays got six

There could be "anarchy" in the A-level system unless a starred A grade is introduced, a leading light in the independent schools' sector has said.

Geoff Lucas, secretary of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC), said the exams no longer marked out "the best".

This year more than a fifth of the A-level entries nationally - 21.6% - were awarded the top A grades.

In independent schools the figure was about 40%.

Top universities complain they are overwhelmed with applications from equally well-qualified students.

'Distinction' grade

In the GCSEs an A* was introduced in 1994, and this year 5.1% of entries achieved it.

The government's green paper on 14 to 19 education proposed having a "distinction" grade for A-levels, but in January it emerged that ministers had dropped the idea.

Writing in the Times Educational Supplement, Mr Lucas says the system is "crying out for some means of discriminating 'the best' from 'the rest'."

Few people, even within the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), believed that Advanced Extension Awards (AEAs) were really the answer.

These were introduced as part of the Curriculum 200 reforms with the intention of stretching the brightest candidates.

There were 7,230 entries this year across the 16 subjects and half failed.

Mr Lucas calls them "costly, de-motivating, exclusive and time-consuming".

Possibilities

He says a national solution is needed which is easily understood, requires little or no extra exam or teaching time, and is part of the A-level "not a bolt-on extra".

He suggests there are five options:

• extension papers - a higher tier of the A-level
• extension questions on the main papers
• giving candidates' marks alongside their grades, which some universities are using already
• having six grades instead of five, perhaps called one to six to avoid having an A*
• a fixed percentage being awarded a very top grade (norm-referencing)

Mr Lucas acknowledged: "Accusations of devaluation would be hard to rebut, at least until the new currency became accepted."

Mr Lucas said HMC schools' objections to the A* remained. It could devalue the A-grade and encourage more candidates to re-sit exams.

But he added: "The context for debate has changed.

"If no solution to the problem of discrimination at the top is found (and soon), the A-level itself and any concept of national standards will be replaced by anarchy and incoherence as universities and employers go their own way.

"It is time, at least, to re-open the debate on the A* at A-level."

The Department for Education and Skills said that, as Mr Lucas also mentioned, the former chief schools inspector Mike Tomlinson was looking at 14 to 19 reform as a whole.

"He will report next July and I am sure he will be interested to know the full range of views," a spokesman said.