Blame Michael Gove and not Tony Blair for A-level fiasco – Yorkshire Post Letters

I’M currently a university student but I sat A-levels in 2018, the ‘guinea pig year’ for A-level reforms put in place by Michael Gove as Education Secretary.

When browsing your website I saw a letter (The Yorkshire Post, August 22) about how Tony Blair’s university reforms caused the current exam crisis and I’d argue in response that it was Michael Gove’s A-level reforms.

I truly believe the need for the algorithm at all came from the A-level reforms, which removed AS levels, previously the main indicator of university offers.

Additionally, much coursework was removed, which would have been another indicator. By removing any form of assessment, the need for teacher predictions and therefore the algorithm, came in.

This seems very clearly a large part of the issue to me and one for which Michael Gove is not being held responsible.

Furthermore, I believe part of the reason the teacher predictions were so much higher than results generated is partially because the new A-level reforms give results partially outside a student’s control.

Two years of work is based only on the performance of a single day. One day does not accurately represent two years, meaning many students miss their predicted results.

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Thank you

James Mitchinson

Editor