More evidence of what education minister David Miliband would undoubtedly boast as the unrivalled educational advantages put in the way of the Blair generation of schoolchildren by a government with an unrivalled success rate in raising education standards. The Times reports:

'The standards expected of students taking GCSE science examinations have fallen, the Government’s qualifications watchdog said yesterday. Changes to the structure of the exam, which is taken by nearly half a million pupils, had made it less effective for children at both the top and bottom ends of the ability range, a report by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority concluded. It blamed faulty questions set by the examining boards. It highlighted a “deliberate” lowering of demand for pupils and criticised the “disappointing” quality of coursework, saying some students received grades that they did not merit.

'The two-tier system made the exam “significantly more demanding” for less able pupils. By contrast, changes to the paper for brighter pupils had “resulted in fewer questions requiring higher-order skills such as extended writing, interpreting and evaluating unfamiliar information”. '

Now that is a truly brilliant achievement. Science GCSE is now too hard for less able children and too easy for the most able. Take a bow, Mr Miliband. The government's triumph goes before you.

Posted by melanie at April 2, 2004