Doubt cast on spelling `failure'
JUDITH JUDD
Exam officials have cast doubt on a survey which suggests that teenagers' spelling and punctuation is worse in GCSE exams than it was in the old O-level.
A small survey by the University of Cambridge Local Examinations syndicate found that English GCSE students in 1994 were up to three times worse at spelling than O-level pupils in 1980 and had a narrower range of vocabulary.
There was a six-fold increase in the use of non-standard English.
The survey involving scripts from 30 boys and 30 girls awarded each grade from A to E at O-level and from A to G at GCSE found that pupils who failed O-level would have received a C or better at GCSE.
A spokesman for the School Curriculum and Assessment Authority which advises the Government on exams said: "This survey is based on two years. It would be instructive if it were a full sequence over a number of years."
The authority is conducting a full-scale comparison into exam standards over time but decided that there was not enough evidence to go back further than a decade.
The study, which is also examining whether there have been changes in A-level standards, will be published later this year.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies