Top universities help redevelop A-levels

In a deal with the Department for Education, top universities will have a say in the redevelopment of A-levels.

Despite concerns that the deal could reduce A-levels to a university entrance exam, Russell Group universities will now have greater input into the design and content of A-levels.

The agreement came after education secretary Michael Gove invited universities to have a greater say in the redevelopment of A-levels.

The Russell Group will be establishing a new body, the A-level Content Advisory Body (Alcab), to coordinate input from university experts and specialists.

The Group said that the new body will take in the views of other education institutions to “engage with a range of education bodies and learned societies” on A-levels.

In a letter to Gove, Professor Nigel Thrift, vice-chancellor of Warwick University and chair of a Russell Group working party, wrote: “We see a clear need for authoritative leading university input to the development of qualifications.

“We aim for any higher level contribution to be as light-touch as possible, whilst sufficient to add real value to the design of A-levels.”

Under the deal, Alcab will advise the qualifications regulator, Ofqual, on the content for A-level subjects that the Russell Group regards as ‘necessary preparation’ for higher education: Maths, Advanced Maths, English Literature, Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Geography, History and Modern and Classical Languages.

Though Alcab will set up a panel of university academics and experts to design the initial content of the new A-levels, Ofqual will retain its final say in the structure of the exams.

Gove’s proposals were criticised by organisations including teaching unions, Universities UK, the 1994 Group and Cambridge University.

The proposals had been attacked by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers Union for “reducing A-levels to a test of students’ abilities to go to university”.

A spokesperson for the University of Warwick, however, commented: “[The deal] will provide for a more seamless educational experience between school and university – ensuring more young people are prepared to get the very best out of our leading universities as soon as they arrive.”

In response to the view that A-levels would be reduced to university entrance exams, he defended the deal, saying that “[It] only applies to the group of A-levels that are seen as ‘facilitating subjects’ most commonly required for entry to our leading universities.”