'Spoon-fed' students lack skills needed for university

The quality of first-year students at university has plummeted as teenagers are spoon-fed at school, a report warns today.

The Government's drive to get more sixth formers into university may have compromised quality, according to a survey of admissions tutors.

Many universities have been forced to offer remedial classes in maths and English to help new students, the Institute of Directors study found.

Despite the decline in quality, soaring numbers of teenagers are scoring As at A-level, making it "impossible" for tutors to identify the very brightest candidates.

The study came as a quarter of a million sixth-formers await their A-level results on Thursday. One in four A-level exams is now awarded an A grade.

The IoD survey of more than 100 university admissions tutors found 41 per cent thought the quality of first-years had declined. Just 28 per cent thought standards among students had risen.

"Tutors who had been in post for longer were considerably more likely to perceive a decline in quality," the study said.

The push to attract more students from poor backgrounds may have contributed to the problem, the report suggested. One admissions tutor told researchers: "Because we are recruiting more students to meet targets, there is an increasingly longer 'tail' of less strong students."

First-years turned up having learned "an essay-writing formula" at school and struggled with the independent study required on degree courses, tutors said.

English and maths skills were particularly weak, while many first-years were reluctant to use books and were used to researching essays on the internet. Universities had to introduce classes to combat plagiarism. The study came as a leading headteacher warned that many schools were ditching outdated A-levels in favour of continental-style diplomas.

The traditional "gold standard" exams no longer provide teenagers with the range of life skills they need, said Melvyn Roffe, incoming chairman of the Boarding Schools Association. He criticised ministers for making a string of "half baked" changes to A-levels over the past decade and suggested the exams should be phased out.

Mr Roffe said: "I wish the Government would say, 'A-levels were great 50 years ago', rather than saying, 'We have to keep to the gold standard'." A high quality, widely recognised qualification must be available for all sixth formers. "Whether it has to be called A-level, I have no particular reason for thinking it should," Mr Roffe said.

A spokesman for the Department for Children said: "There are always halfpint full critics who creep out of the woodwork every August. Our reforms mean that young people have a clear choice of qualifications which will prepare all young people for life beyond the classroom."