Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for her attention to my amendments. She illustrated rather neatly the power that JACQA gives to the Secretary of State and the impotence of any form of publication about what it does when she said that the IGCSE had never been submitted for approval. It was never submitted for approval because the Secretary of State, or rather the Minister for Schools, indicated that, if it was, he would not fund it anyway; so, unsurprisingly, no one has gone to the trouble of submitting these things for acceptance. However, if it was clear that the Government were prepared to fund them, they would be submitted like a shot because there is a big market for them in grammar schools. Indeed, grammar schools would take to them like a duck to water, as have many independent schools now. Particularly for bright kids, but generally for someone of a more analytical frame of mind, they are a great replacement for the rather degraded set of examinations that are GCSEs. This power is a great weapon in the Secretary of State’s armoury, and I agree with the Minister that it is entirely appropriate that the Secretary of State should have it. He can receive all sorts of advice from all sorts of directions, but he must decide these things. It is his responsibility, and I am delighted that the power remains with him. As my noble friend Lady Perry said, the IB is at a very inflated rate in the performance tables. It is rated as five A-levels, even though the teaching time for it is perhaps three-and-a-half A-levels, which, to go back to Amendment 261, is another reason why I should like there to be a proper independent rating of these things. However, I very much hope that in the future we will see arrangements whereby the state sector is again allowed to innovate. It is wonderful that independent schools are getting back to innovating, are bringing in the IB and are supporting the Pre-U and the IGCSE. But that should be happening in the state sector too, where it will require a degree of openness and encouragement. Some things really need to be done. For example, our IT qualifications at GCSE and A-level are miserable and boring. They are stuck in the IT of 20 years ago with spreadsheets and business practices. There is no programming or engagement with the web. Certainly, there is no Web 2.0 and interactivity, which is what all the kids are doing for themselves. IT should be a wonderful, exciting examination that sets students off at pace into the outside world. Instead, it is an absolute drag and is done only by those who cannot find more interesting things to do, which is a disgrace. All that needs to happen is for innovation to be encouraged and allowed, and better examinations would emerge. For now, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment 263 withdrawn. Clauses 151 to 153 agreed. Clause 154 : Review of regulated assessment arrangements Amendment 264 not moved. Clause 154 agreed. Clauses 155 to 163 agreed. Clause 164 : Annual and other reports Amendments 265 to 269 not moved. Amendment 269A had been retabled as Amendment 276ZZA. Clause 164 agreed. Clauses 165 and 166 agreed. Schedule 10 agreed. Clause 168 : The Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency Debate on whether Clause 168 should stand part of the Bill.