ABSTRACT
When Kenneth Clarke was appointed as Secretary of State for Education it seemed that his first major policy decision was to throw out everything that was waiting in his in-tray and to start again. As far as the National Curriculum Council was concerned the biggest casualty was of course key stage 4 and, in a sense, the council itself. Once in the Education Department he seemed determined to distance himself as much as he could from MacGregor. The blame for the problems faced by schools in delivering the national curriculum and its attendant tests was to be pinned on the two councils which now had no more status than any other pressure groups, perhaps less. Both Baker and Rumbold believed there were dangers in the national curriculum if it passed into the hands of an unscrupulous minister and that the existence of National Curriculum Council (NCC) with a strong professional view would be a bulwark.
