Technology and the secondary school: 4 The question of examinations Available to Purchase

So far, the main argument about examinations in school applied science has been on motivation. Clearly, since most sixth‐formers are primarily concerned with getting a university place, it would be unrealistic to expect them to devote as much time and effort to school subjects for which there are no A‐level examinations. It is for this reason that most schools introducing applied science work want to see papers alternative to the more traditional mathematics and physics. On the other hand, some headmasters have been quick to draw a distinction between the spontaneous ‘open‐ended’ project work and the more formal studies in physics for A‐level. They fear that to introduce examinations would soon blunt this spontaneity so that the applied science work would be no more exciting than the usual A‐level studies.