Post-16 curriculum reforms - United Kingdom

From September 2000 the Government wants young people to take a wider range of subjects at A level than the traditional two or three, or to study A levels alongside the new Key Skills qualification or a GNVQ. These changes will include:

• a new Advanced Subsidiary (AS) qualification, representing the first year of the full A level and worth 50% of the marks. The AS is designed to encourage take-up of more subjects, especially in the first year of post-16 study, to provide better progression from GCSE into advanced level study and to reduce the numbers who drop out with nothing to show for their efforts;

• new A level syllabuses, normally made up of six units, set at the same standard as current syllabuses and offering candidates the choice of linear (end of course) or modular (staged) assessment, to the same standards in each;

• a new requirement for a significant element of "synoptic" A level assessment, which tests understanding of the syllabus as a whole, whichever assessment option is chosen;

• new "world class tests", aimed at the most able students, which will be designed to be more accessible than current special papers;

• a revised GNVQ at foundation, intermediate and advanced levels with a more rigorous and more manageable assessment regime based on the revised model that has been piloted since September 1997;

• a new six-unit GNVQ at advanced level equivalent in size and demand to a single GCE A level and graded on a similar A-E scale. A small number of three-unit qualifications, equivalent to a single AS, may also be introduced;

• a change in the relationship between Key Skills and the GNVQ so that the Key Skills of communication, application of number and IT remain integral to all courses but are separately certificated; and

• a new Key Skills qualification to encourage all young people to develop the essential skills of communication, application of number and IT, drawing on evidence from their programme of study.