Tories are testing kids

CONGRATULATIONS to every pupil who did well in their GCSEs, and commiserations to all those forced to be guinea pigs by the meddling Tories.

Ditching the tried, trusted and widely understood A* to G grades for 9-1 smacks of nothing but an ego trip by education ministers.

When the Government insists that the interference is intended to produce higher standards, while also shifting the grade boundaries, the intellectual argument – as far as it exists – behind the changes is undermined.

Employers will grasp the new system eventually but the test subject students will suffer.

We need exams that educate, encourage and measure the progress of every child.

Constant upheaval isn’t helpful but the new GCSE structure has to go if it isn’t working as well as the one it is replacing.