ABSTRACT
The Curriculum 2000 reforms of advanced level qualifications are perhaps best known for their problems and weaknesses. From December 2000 onwards Curriculum 2000 was barely out of the press, with students, teachers and parents complaining about workloads, examination stress and lack of guidance from examination and awarding bodies. At the end of its first year of implementation, in June 2001, the public concern over the first AS examinations led Estelle Morris, the new Secretary of State for Education and Skills, to instigate a review of the reforms. By the end of their second year of implementation, there was an even greater outcry, led largely by the independent school sector, about the ‘manipulation’ of A level grades. On this latter occasion, there were calls for the resignations of those involved and a radical overhaul of the whole examinations system.
