Patten urged to drop plans for 'starred' A-levels: Adviser says new grade will not work

Plans to introduce 'starred' A- grades to stretch the brightest A- level candidates should be scrapped, John Patten, the Secretary of State for Education, has been told by his most senior examinations adviser.

Sir Ron Dearing, chairman of the School Curriculum and Assessment Authority, has told the Secretary of State that his plan for an extra grade for the top 5 per cent of pupils will not work.

The rejection of Mr Patten's plan, based on the view that it has become easier to get a grade A at A- level, is bound to prove an embarrassment.

When he launched the idea last November, as part of a drive to impose tougher standards on examination boards, he asked Sir Ron to put it in place by 1995.

However, the assessment authority's ruling council has rejected the idea as unnecessary and is exploring other ways of challenging the brightest pupils. Universities would not make the new grade an entrance requirement, members of the ruling council said.

Officials are now thinking of giving a new lease of life to Special Papers or 'S-papers', more advanced tests which pupils can take alongside their A-levels. S-papers used to be popular, but have fallen into disuse in recent years.

Alternatively, they may call for an expansion of the award schemes already run by the exam boards for top achievers. Formal advice will be sent to Mr Patten after Easter, but he has already been told that his plan has been rejected.

Starred A grades will be introduced this year at GCSE, which has always faced allegations of falling standards, but A-levels have a better reputation.

Mr Patten's plan has already faced criticism from employers, universities and public schools, who say pupils need a broader- based education rather than a more selective one.

Dr John Marks, a traditionalist member of the assessment authority, said it had far more important things to do than to introduce starred A grades.

Instead it should concentrate on improving other qualifications for 16 to 19-year-olds, such as the new vocational A-levels or GNVQs.

'A-level doesn't have a credibility problem, but the GNVQ does. I have always said that would be my first priority,' he said.

John Day, secretary-general of the Associated Examining Board, said he did not see any need for change. Exam boards were already giving students marks for each of their papers and this allowed universities to see what their strengths were. S-papers were uneconomical because in many cases the number of entries only reached double figures.

Mr Day added: 'There's nobody here who wants starred A-grades. They would be an unnecessary further complication, and in any case the standard of a grade A is very high.'