UK News 19-10-2004 Blair insists A-levels will stay who: Tony Blair what: Says GCSEs and A-levels are not going to be scrapped where: LONDON when: Yesterday snippet: Prime minister Tony Blair has insisted that GCSEs and A-Levels will not be scrapped in a massive shake-up of the exams system, says The Evening Standard`s website, thisislondon.com. The PM says proposals revealed yesterday by former chief schools inspector Chris Tomlinson "were aimed at improving the existing system, not replacing it". However, says The Independent`s education editor, Richard Garner, Mr Tomlinson has made it clear that the present system has too many "weaknesses" to survive and should be scrapped within a decade and replaced with a diploma. "In the Commons, Education Secretary Charles Clarke said some exams would stay, but the number and nature had to be reviewed," says The Sun. "He said no change was not an option then put off a decision for a year." "Publishing his report at a briefing in London, Mr Tomlinson stressed that reports of the death of the A-level and GCSE were premature, and that they would be part of the diploma framework as `components`, even if not as free-standing qualifications," clarifies The Guardian. "But he said he hoped that the names would eventually disappear so that the diploma had full integrity." [... more]

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