The decline of the British education system

The dumbing down of the British education system is one of the biggest crimes against our young people.

Up until 1987, school pupils studied for the Ordinary level (better known as the "O" level) which they would take when they were 16. Another exam, the Certificate of Secondary Education (known as the "CSE") was also available to 16 year olds, a grade 1 in the CSE being considered as an equivalent to the O level.

The O level involved quite a lot of work and revision, and it was rare for a pupil to take more than eight. Any pupil passing eight O levels was considered bright! If they went on to take the Advanced level (or "A" level) they would normally study three subjects, four was extremely rare. It took two years to complete the A level course, and anyone getting the top grade was lucky.

Since 1987, the exams have become progressively easier, as the GCSE was easier than both the O level and the CSE (I know for a fact that they are because I've taken all three types of exam!) then A levels had to be made easier to compensate for the dumbing down of the exam system.

Now we hear of 16 year olds getting 11 or 12 A* GCSEs, and then going on to get five or six grade As at A level, which would have been impossible at one time owing to the amount of work involved and the complexity of the syllabus.

The sad fact is that these "geniuses" are being conned into thinking they are super-intelligent. The fact that many cannot even construct a properly punctuated sentence, have no idea how to use the apostrophe (thinking it must always go before a letter "s" even when it is not being used to indicate the possessive!) and in many cases are unable to even spell.

Recently we went to an open evening at a sixth form college. On the wall were various displays of the work done by students, and the level of spelling was appalling. The fact that these bad spellers are being conned into thinking they are highly intelligent is nothing short of criminal.

The worrying thing is that this generation will be the next generation of professors, doctors, vets etc.

The exam system should go back to teaching subjects properly, ensuring that students are mentally taxed and are not allowed to opt for such ridiculous subjects as "media studies" instead of more valuable topics.

For an example of what I am talking about, read this report about how students did not have a clue how to answer old O level questions.