APPENDIX 14
Memorandum submitted by the Joint Council
for General Qualifications
I am replying as Chair of the Management Committee
of the Joint Council for General Qualifications (JCGQ) to the
letter you sent me as Director General of AQA on 18 December 2001.
The Management Committee, the membership of which includes the
Chief Executives of the Unitary Awarding Bodies in England and
of CCEA and WJEC, met recently and noted that you had written
in similar terms to other Chief Executives.
It seemed to us appropriate to send a collective
response to your letter. We were, of course, interested to learn
that the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee is
to hold an inquiry into the Science curriculum for the 14-19 cohort.
We believe that the choice of specifications, in science generally
and the discrete science subjects at both GCSE and GCE as approved
by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, meets the needs
and aspirations of centres. All specifications have been developed
to meet the criteria which have been agreed nationally and which
are reviewed periodically. As the 14-19 curriculum is reviewed,
we will work closely and co-operatively with QCA in implementing
change and consolidating good practice.
I hope that these comments, on behalf of all
the Awarding Bodies which comprise JCGQ, are helpful.
January 2002
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