Ministers urged to keep A-levels

The Government should stick by the A-level academic "gold standard" and call a halt to plans for reform, a teachers' leader said today.

Delegates at the Professional Association of Teachers annual conference in Harrogate urged caution in moves towards a European-style baccalaureate, arguing that parents would not understand its value.

Education secretary Charles Clarke has asked former chief schools inspector Mike Tomlinson to carry out a review of the structure of exams from age 14.

But today PAT vice chairman Barry Matthews urged ministers to resist all temptation to tinker with the existing system.