Sir, Further to the letters (Aug 20 & 25) on a single exam board, I was an examiner of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, and set papers in auditing taken by more than 200,000 students over a 17-year period. I agree that the current system leads to lowering of standards, as the most popular exam boards will have the easiest papers, which will encourage other boards to follow suit.
The solution is to have a fixed percentage of students passing at each grade: the 10 per cent of students gaining the highest mark should be awarded a A*, the next 10 per cent an A, the next 15 per cent a B, the next 15 per cent a C, the next 15 per cent a D, the next 15 per cent an E, and the final 20 per cent a fail.
With these fixed pass rates at each grade, employers will be able to assess the standards of students. And, it will minimise the variation in standards between exam boards.
David Towers
Nottingham
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Sir, To nationalise exam boards would be to make exams even more of a political matter than already they are. It would be better to create, by royal charter, a fully autonomous Royal Institute of Education. The initial selection of the institute’s members and council would be a matter for debate, but the eventual membership would be drawn from those qualified by the very examinations that the institute would control. Alternatively, the Royal Society of Arts might be offered the role.
Professor Geoffrey Hartwell
Wallington, Surrey