Exam chiefs finally admit it - A-levels ARE easier

Exam chiefs finally admitted yesterday what everyone has known about A-levels for years.

The so-called "gold standard" tests for school-leavers simply cannot be compared to those from a decade ago.

Since A-levels went modular in 2000 and more students took them, they have lost some of their ability to prepare the brightest students for university, MPs were told.

As a result, A-levels need to be made more challenging again to stretch the cleverest sixth-formers.

Jerry Jarvis, managing director of Edexcel, said: "It is very difficult to compare an A-level taken in 2007 with an A-level taken pre-2000. The structure is different. Access to A-level is very different."

Greg Watson, chief executive of the OCR exam board, agreed. "The role of A-levels has changed," he said.

"There was a time when A-levels were for those entering higher education. A-level has become effectively the standard school leaving qualification.

"There was inevitably the trade off between maintaining a qualification that's suitably motivating and providing the right structure for learning for a wide range of young people and making sure it is a good basis for university entrance.

"We have lost a little bit and have moved to introduce a bit more stretch and challenge for the most able candidates."

Students now face 57 university admissions tests because tutors cannot distinguish between A-grade candidates.

Last summer, one in eight sixth-formers achieved at least three grade As at A-level.

Ministers have promised to reform A-levels to include an A* grade, more essays and fewer structured questions.