The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) has announced its support for the call from the Council for Science and Technology that learned societies should mediate in the government's move to increase the influence of universities on science A-levels.
In a public letter to education secretary Michael Gove, the Council for Science and Technology welcomed intentions to transfer more control of the content and assessment of A-levels to universities, although recognised the plans for achieving this goal remain 'unclear'. The letter was signed by the council's co-chairs Mark Walport and Nancy Rothwell.
According to the RSC's Executive Director of Education and Science, Professor Jim Iley, the Royal Society of Chemistry are more than willing to take up this offer and it is a very welcome endorsement of the proposals that the Society, the Institute of Physics and the Society of Biology have been offering for almost 18 months.
The RSC also welcomed the council's accompanying briefing note, written by the Wellcome Trust and the Gatsby Foundation, which recommends that no science GCSE or A-level qualification should be awarded 'without evidence that students have developed hands-on practical scientific skills'.
