MINISTERS TO LOSE EXAMS INFLUENCE

A new watchdog will be set up as soon as possible to monitor exam standards, stripping ministers of their role in the process.

Schools Secretary Ed Balls announced the move in a bid to restore trust in the system and end the annual accusations that exams are not "what they used to be".

Teachers welcomed the plan to silence the "whingers" but warned that the real problem schools face is too much testing.

Addressing the Labour Party Conference in Bournemouth, Mr Balls said: "I want parents, universities, employers and young people themselves to be confident that exam standards are being maintained."

Currently, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority watchdog reports to ministers on whether exams standards have been maintained.

But those same ministers are responsible for making sure exam results continue to rise every year.

Mr Balls acknowledged that this situation can make it more difficult to convince the public that A-levels and GCSEs are just as difficult as they always were.

The Government likened the proposals for a new watchdog to the decision to grant independence to the Bank of England in 1997.

QCA chief executive Ken Boston said he had always believed that reporting to ministers on exam standards had been "inappropriate".