David Bell - Schools Inspector

The government's overhaul of the A Level system has failed to deliver significant improvements for students, a report by the education watchdog has said.

The Ofsted report said that the new A and AS Level regime may at best have had "a marginal impact on the curriculum of individual students".

The chief inspector of schools, David Bell, said: "Despite the added burdens placed on schools, colleges and pupils, Curriculum 2000 has achieved much less than was intended."

"The range of subjects taken has not broadened significantly, and the scope of teaching within subjects has narrowed, as teachers have concentrated on course specifications."

Whilst he said schools have put great effort into introducing the new system, he warns it must now be shown to deliver broader and higher quality education.

"Inevitably, most attention in schools and colleges has been focused on putting the new arrangements in place," said Bell.

"Now that has been accomplished, further consideration can and needs to be given to the underlying weaknesses that Curriculum 2000 was designed to address."

Whilst teachers have performed well in implementing the new strategy, Bell warned that pupils are failing to reap the benefits promised.

"Teachers' confidence in teaching the new specifications has grown considerably but, for most young people, the added breadth resulting from the new arrangements has been at best, modest," concluded his report.