Interestingly, it seems to be only the Guardian which has picked up the fact that the government's response to the Tomlinson report, which recommends a new, multi-tiered diploma for all 14-19 year-olds, is incoherent. On the one hand, Education Secretary Charles Clarke has welcomed it and showered it with praise. On the other, he and the Prime Minister are insisting that A-level and GCSE will stay. Tomlinson himself tried to finesse this at his press conference yesterday by claiming:

'"If you kept the names it would deny the fact that there is an integrity in the diploma. This is a very subtle point but it is an important one." '

This is absurd. The whole point of the diploma is that it would provide an entirely different qualification at 16 and at 18, a system of credits that arguably defeats the very idea of an exam, as I wrote in my Mail article yesterday. As the Times reports:

'But the report by Mike Tomlinson on reform of qualifications for those aged 14 to 19 made clear that the level of demand will be set much lower than for existing GCSE courses'.

And as the excellent Tony Halpin also notes:

'GCSEs and A levels would disappear as separate qualifications within two years as the last students completed their courses.'

To say this is 'keeping' A-level and GCSE is sheer casuistry. What's being proposed bears no relation to them at all. And as Daniel Johnson points out in the Telegraph, the real point of the proposed changes is to give more and more pupils a paper qualification by reducing what they have to achieve:

'At the heart of Tomlinson, there is a colossal non sequitur. By requiring less academic pupils to learn only basic maths, functional literacy, "communication" and computer skills, it is hoped that more of them will discover an aptitude for "employment and adult life". But why should they? If science, literature, history, languages, music, art, geography, religion and politics are no longer considered essential attributes of humanity, then the effect will be to accelerate the infantilisation of adolescence.'

Absolutely. The Tomlinson report embodies the rot that has all but destroyed our education system. But since the government has explicitly ruled out one of its bone-headed core proposals, that the 16+credits should be largely marked by teacher assessment,and has also declared its undying commitment to A-level and GCSE, maybe even this administration dimply recognises that this is an imbecility too far. Or, more depressingly, maybe they do buy into Tomlinson's 'all must have prizes' rubbish - but are well aware of the political elephant trap of being seen to destroy the A-level gold standard. Watch this space.

Posted by melanie at October 19, 2004