Sowing the seeds of discontent

The schools standards minister, David Miliband, this week tried to forestall the doomongers who claim rising A-level pass rates mean standards are slipping.

But, as Mr Miliband knows, accusations of dumbing down are far from new. In a speech made at Imperial College, London, the minister quoted the 18th century philosopher Bernard Mandeville, who complained that education would "initiate the poor into a life of crime, sloth and discontent, and permanently incapacitate them for hard, honest labour."

So, what else has been said over the years? We trace the sad tale of apparent decline


2004 The Bow Group
Nine out of 10 academics think that the A grade at A-level has been devalued over the past 10 years.


2002Ruth Lea, Institute of Directors
"We see variable and, arguably, declining standards along with endemic grade inflation within the secondary school system."


2000Chris Woodhead, former chief inspector of schools
"The way forward is clear. GCSE and A-level exams must be made more demanding. If this means more candidates fail, which they will, so be it."


1998 Sir Rhodes Boyson, former Conservative education minister
"There is a risk to the integrity of the A- levels - the more pupils of different abilities sit the examinations, the more we must ensure that the currency is not destroyed."


1996 Sir Rhodes Boyson
On modular A-levels: "They are not worth the paper they were written on."
On rising pass rates: "I just do not believe that over the past 30 years there has been such a vast increase in the brain power of the nation."


1995Sir Rhodes Boyson
"Has the educational establishment pulled off its annual conjuring trick? Far more children of lower abilities are taking these exams, but we are expected to believe that they are more likely to succeed than when only an elite group of the most academic students took A-levels."


1994Sir Rhodes Boyson
"While I welcome the fact that more are passing A-levels, I wonder how this squares with the claims by employers that standards are falling?"

1992Sir Rhodes Boyson
Sir Rhodes requests an independent investigation into A-level marking standards.

1988Sir Rhodes Boyson
Sir Rhodes opposes the introduction of GCSEs, saying O-levels should be retained for the more able pupils.


1952Daily Mail
A-levels are introduced. To prove the invalidity of the new qualification when girls perform better than boys, the paper wrote: "This scarcely tallies with most married men's experience of their wives' reasoning or logic."

1862Matthew Arnold
School examinations are "a game of mechanical contrivance in which the teachers will, and must, learn how to beat us".

1714Bernard Mandeville
"There are many examples of women that have excelled in learning, and even in war, but this is no reason we should bring 'em all up to Latin and Greek or else military discipline, instead of needle-work and housewifery."

1900 BCScribal training centre, Babylonia
Standards in cuneiform (written characters) are said to be slipping. "Graduate of the scribal academy, where did you go in olden days? I went to school. What did you do in school? I read my tablet, and copied my tablet. They prepared for me my prepared lines - let me tell you what my teacher told me - even a fool could easily follow his instructions."