Examination of Witness (Questions 500-512)
WEDNESDAY 4 DECEMBER 2002
MR MIKE
TOMLINSON
500. Was it unique the grade thresholds were
changed this year for individual modules? (Mr Tomlinson)
It was not unique, no.
501. In paragraph 64 of your report you talk
about criterion-referencing and you say, "Effective use of
statistical information will provide results which are closer
to those that would result from effective criterion-referencing".
Is that not like saying that genetically modified food is more
authentic than the real thing? (Mr Tomlinson) No. What
that is saying is there is no such thing as a perfect criterion-referencing
system.
502. Nowhere. Nowhere in the world? (Mr
Tomlinson) No. Once you have criteria you are open to different
interpretations of those criteria by different people and different
interpretations of the work they are looking at against those
criteria. It is not an absolute science. You can get close, we
are close in this country, possibly closer than many others, but
at the end of the day you cannot be perfect. However, statistics
help you to get closer to that perfection.
503. Are you satisfied that overall in looking
at the syllabuses of all three examining boards across all subjects
the detail of the specifications are sufficiently close to criteria
and reference principle or is there room for a greater degree
of specificity? (Mr Tomlinson) I think in some subjects
that I have seen, I must say I have not seen and read every single
one of them, in those I have seen, it is a small minority of cases,
there could be much tighter specifications to help. That, of course,
relates to some of the issues that have been raised in the reports.
Mr Chaytor: Thank you.
Chairman
504. You talked about the "frenzy"
in the summer, who is responsible for stoking that frenzy, was
it the Headmaster and Headmistresses Conference, was it the Today
programme? (Mr Tomlinson) The frenzy that I refer to
is an annual one, the annual frenzy as soon as results come out,
how some people are unwilling to accept that as a result of harder
work and better teaching more students can achieve the standards.
We cannot call for improved standards and then as soon as we begin
to have them appear, and they are appearing, we suddenly decide
they cannot be real, somebody has lowered the boundary. I find
that very, very unacceptable. If that boundary, that standard,
is not being maintained year-on-year then I think those people
are right to raise those questions. One of the issues I raised
very clearly in my report is I do not think we can lurch from
answering that question from crisis to crisis, there needs to
be a systematic, consistent approach to looking at where the standards
are being maintained all of the time. If they are not we have
to be honest and do something about it. If they are we have to
accept the outcome and we have students achieving better than
they did previously. After all that is what we want. We do not
want it at the cost of lowering standards.
505. When the second part of your inquiry was
published Sir William Stubbs reported your inquiry exonerated
him by implication, he should never have been sacked. (Mr
Tomlinson) I make no comment on Sir William Stubbs. There
is a process in train.
506. You can exercise parliamentary privilege.
We cannot get you to say anything nasty, even about the Today
programme! (Mr Tomlinson) I apologise for not putting
blood on the carpet. I am more interested in making sure students
get what they deserve and that is not achieved by putting blood
on the carpet, it is about dealing with the system.
507. You banged the table with your finger,
Mr Tomlinson!
Mr Turner
508. Mr Tomlinson, is an AS level worth half
an A-Level? (Mr Tomlinson) It is at the moment, yes,
by definition.
509. Even though both the former secretary of
state and Dr Boston say that the AS paper is easier than the A2
paper? (Mr Tomlinson) Of course it is, an A-Level paper
in the past contained an easier group of questions and a hard
group of questions. When you are testing over a two year period
any A-Level paper, any student and any teacher will point out,
there are an easier set of questions and there are harder ones.
510. One qualification is based on easier— (Mr
Tomlinson) It is based on one year of study, not two. I would
argue that your maturity level, your capacity to synthesise and
to analyse increases and improves not necessarily linearly but
it does improve. You can ask more difficult and demanding questions
after two years than you can after one.
511, What about somebody who takes an A-Level
at the age of 30? (Mr Tomlinson) They are judged by
that standard and very often they do well because they bring to
bear an awful lot of maturity and experience.
Mr Pollard
512. Are you satisfied that vocational examinations
are okay? (Mr Tomlinson) I am insofar as I have looked
at them partly because they do not follow the model of the AS
and A2, all units are graded at the same level.
Chairman: Mr Tomlinson, we promised to
release you at 10.45, it is now 10.45. We have found this a most
useful session. Thank you very much.
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