What the reforms are intended to do:

In his January 2013 letter to Glenys Stacey, Michael Gove writes to “set out [my] policy steers about A level reform”, emphasising that “it is important that Ofqual has regard to my views.” (Gove, 2013a). There is no record of a reply to this letter (which in 2011 and 2012 was the normal practice), however the two correspond regarding GCSE reform in early February 2013 and refer to “GCE reviews” (Gove, 2013b). Both meet with Elizabeth Truss (then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Childcare) and Professor Sir Nigel Thrift (Vice-Chancellor of the University of Warwick24_{) to discuss A level linearity. This}

meeting results in a second letter to Glenys Stacey regarding Michael Gove’s policy stances and together these documents highlight Michael Gove’s thinking following a year of

discussion, debate, and reports regarding educational reform, before any reforms had taken place “to restore their reputation”25 _{(Gove, 2013c).}

“I would like as many subjects as possible to be in place for first teaching by that date (September 2015). It is essential the new A levels command the respect of leading universities: I would therefore expect that Awarding Organisations should draw on the expertise of university academics in making any necessary changes to curriculum content for these subjects. We will look to you to define how this requirement should be met. The Russell Group will be setting up subject panels to advise on subject content in the facilitating subjects and as far as possible you will also want to draw upon these for advice once convened.”

(Gove, 2013c) “We should also clarify that an AS is a qualification in its own right, so performance in an AS will not count towards an A level.”

(Gove, 2013c) “There is a critical task to make sure that new qualification are reviewed each year so that they are supporting the rigorous and high quality education that is needed. It

24 _{and future Chair of the A level Content Advisory Board}

25 _{While the reforms had been discussed widely in the media over several months, the only two changes had}

been an announcement that Ofqual would remove the January examinations within the A level qualifications, and change from the intended ‘first teaching’ from September 2014 to September 2015 following advice to the DfE from Ofqual.

is right that Ofqual should lead this process, but I am pleased that the Russell group has agreed to be involved. I am very keen for you to engage their advisory board and subject panels, once established, at the earliest possible stage in the post- examination review cycle.”

(Gove, 2013c) “It will be important that the new core mathematics qualifications are valued and respected by universities and are able to be taught alongside reformed A levels. We also need to ensure that the mathematics A level is able to keep pace with wider development. I would be grateful for your advice on this and it would be extremely helpful if you could discuss this further with Elizabeth Truss. Her office will be in touch to arrange a meeting.”

(Gove, 2013c) As mentioned previously, Ofqual report to Parliament but the ‘policy guidance’ that they follow is produced by the Department for Education. They are an independent body who, until this point took direction from policy documents produced by the government to outline the nature of a qualification and what it should contain. However, seen above in the highlighted sections are the Secretary of State’s clear goals and tasks, in the guise of advice and explanation. Raised here is not official policy, but policy intentions yet it is notable that the Secretary of State does not give specific instructions that must be followed. Instead he asserts his authority over Ofqual through a language of command, persuasion, and control.

On 21st _{March 2013 Glenys Stacey writes to Michael Gove to thank him for his}

correspondence and outlines Ofqual’s understanding of “your policy intentions, and what we plan to do” (Stacey, Letter to Secretary of State for Education, 2013). While this letter is useful for the latter of these functions, it is its interaction with the former that is particularly pertinent. At several points Stacey comments to demonstrate that she understands Gove’s aim, but that there are potential challenges or difficulties with implementing them. The following table summarises Stacey’s responses to what she believes are Gove’s policy intentions:

Policy Intent Comment Reduce the number of A level

resits “We are removing January assessments. This will limit resit opportunities and provide more time for teaching and learning.”

Teaching from September 2015 “You have proposed an ambitious timetable for the full redevelopment of A levels in England, alongside GCSE reform.”

“Qualifications need to be in schools and colleges by autumn next year. That is challenging for exam boards and for Ofqual.”

Alter the structure and assessment of A levels by decoupling the AS, introduce more synoptic

assessment, and make all qualifications linear

“In some subjects, it may be appropriate for the AS to be designed to be co-taught with the first year of the A level.”

“The priority for exam boards will be to make sure that both the A level and AS qualifications in each subject are coherently designed and assessed.” Decisions about structure are

curriculum policy decisions for Government, provided they do not affect our ability to meet Ofqual’s objectives

“Your decisions do not jeopardise our ability to maintain standards and meet our wider objectives. However, they may affect the volume of

assessment and the costs of qualifications.” A level subject content should be

reviewed and further reviewed following every exam series

“Exam boards will now be reviewing the content requirements in these subjects over the coming months, using their established subject review arrangements to see if any change is needed.” “We will welcome any advice from the Russell Group.”

Reformed A levels and reformed GCSEs should be introduced simultaneously

“This promotes coherence between the subject content for new GCSEs and A levels.”

“The introduction of new GCSEs and A levels at the same time will place a considerable burden on schools and the effect of this should be monitored.” A levels should command the

respect of universities “The process we are now putting in place will allow us to oversee real, evidence- based improvements to A levels, so that they support and recognise high quality learning and meet the needs of universities.” Figure 7: A summary of Michael Gove’s policy intentions, as understood by Glenys Stacey (2013)

Glenys Stacey’s comments and Ofqual’s next steps are notable in that they do not oppose Michael Gove’s wishes, by rights they cannot, but present ‘public’ notes of caution that contribute towards the considerations of power in the reform process.

For example, Michael Gove expresses in his January 2013 letter that he “would like the AS level to be as intellectually demanding as an A level, covering half the content of a full A

level and delivered over one or two years” (Gove, 2013a). Glenys Stacey’s response

highlights how the AS qualification could be ‘co-taught’26 _{and that some exam boards would}

likely pursue this (Stacey, Letter to Secretary of State for Education, 2013). That indeed did happen with the exam boards who produced A level science specifications that were subsequently accredited by Ofqual.

This co-teaching aspect is not referred to in Michael Gove’s policy intentions, and is not responded to publicly, however in addition to Michael Gove, Glenys Stacey sent copies of her letter to the chief executives of the four exam boards who offer A levels in England27_.

While Michael Gove is firm on the decoupling of the AS and A level qualification, it is Ofqual who first publicly suggest to the awarding organisations that this may not necessarily result in isolated courses. Additionally, although the exam boards could have produced

qualifications that treated an AS as a wholly separate, new, two-year qualification, they did not.

These three players (the DfE, Ofqual, and the Awarding Organisations) work separately, producing documents for the others that relate to an accreditation process that becomes increasingly more technical. Alongside this are the contributions of universities and learned societies who are engaged by all three players in the production of their respective

documentation, and can, therefore, wield potentially significant influence. This influence, however, is predicated on the three key policy players accepting the views of the

universities and learned societies that they engaged. The reality of their contribution to the reform process in reality will be discussed later, as too will be the relative power of the DfE and Ofqual demonstrated within this process.

In the next section the regulatory structures and accreditation process is examined in more detail, demonstrating how policy intentions and external contributions are ultimately codified into policy.

26 _{This is where the AS and the first year of the A level contain identical material so that the students may be}

taught in the same class – generally this is done as it reduces the number of classes required, alleviating various pressures on schools.