The UK should consider developing a standardised university admissions test, as A levels are no longer proof of readiness for higher education, a review commissioned by the Conservative Party argues.

The review, led by Sir Richard Sykes, former rector of Imperial College London, describes A levels as ¡°university entrance exams¡±.

But it argues that ¡°the usefulness of the system has been eroded by the politicisation of assessment outcomes¡± and ¡°universities¡¯ loss of confidence in A levels as a certificate of readiness for university study¡±.

The review says: ¡°The government should consult with universities on the benefits and challenges of developing a standardised university admissions test, to supplement A levels and other grades and assist with ranking decisions¡­If commissioned by the government, a university admissions test should measure language, mathematics and reasoning skills.¡±

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Such a system would be comparable to the SAT Reasoning Test, the standardised college admissions test in the US.

The group behind the review includes a number of notable figures from the academy, among them Julia Buckingham, pro rector (education) at Imperial, and Alison Wolf, Sir Roy Griffiths professor of public sector management at King¡¯s College London.

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The review also recommends A-level reform. The exams should no longer automatically be modular ¨C reinstating the traditional single exam ¨C nor required to include AS levels as components, it says.

It argues that universities should publish information on which sort of qualifications they prefer and require, and that ¡°meaningless¡± point scores that give equivalence to different types of 16-18 qualifications should be abolished.

¡°Since universities are the major users of A levels, they should have considerable input into their content and their structure,¡± it says. ¡°The primary determinants of the content and form of A levels should be the requirements of the subject and the users of the qualification (students and higher education institutions/employers).¡±

john.morgan@tsleducation.com