ABSTRACT
There has been some controversy concerning standards at both GCSE and A-level, and also in universities. Since the 1990s there has been a massive increase in the number of students going on to university in the UK. This has been accompanied by an increased numbers of students passing school examinations at a ‘higher’ standard. At the same time, academic staff in the old universities have been complaining about having to ‘dumb down’ their courses and employers have been expressing misgivings about the basic language and numerical skills not only of school-leavers but also of graduates. When this possibility is suggested to political figures, school heads and teaching unions, it is met with a political ‘I consider such a suggestion to be an insult to our teaching staff and students. The ever higher standards are due to their hard work’. What is going on here?
