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Who are we?
Nevil Chiles:
Nevil Chiles was born in Birmingham in 1970. He attended Haybridge High School in Hagley in the West Midlands, successfully completing 11 'O' Levels and 4 'A' Levels before leaving school in 1988.
After a year in Australia Nevil attended King's College, London where he read History, graduating in 1992. In the mid 1990s Nevil worked and travelled extensively throughout South East Asia and Australia before becoming involved in education. Nevil worked as a private GCSE tutor to an influential family in Manila in the Philippines before returning to London to take up a full time post in the GCSE Department at Collingham School, Kensington in 1997.
At Collingham Nevil taught History and English at both GCSE and A Level. In 2002 Nevil left Collingham to set up Kensington & Chelsea Tutors Limited.
Dr. Anna Clark:
Anna Clark was born in Stourbridge in 1972. After leaving Mander Portman Woodward (MPW) in Birmingham in 1991 with 4 'A' Levels she went on to the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine to study Medicine. She qualified as a doctor in 1999 and became a member of the Royal College of General Practitioners in 2001. Despite her involvement in Kensington & Chelsea Tutors she continues to work as a GP.
UK examinations fail to pass the test
UK examinations fail to pass the test
London-based Education Specialist poses the questions
With the summer examinations for UK pupils rapidly approaching, once again questions are being asked about the integrity and validity of the UK examination system.
One of those calling for changes is Nevil Chiles, Managing Director of Kensington & Chelsea Tutors Ltd (www.kctutors.co.uk).
Chiles, a former teacher himself, set up the company in 2002 and is well placed to comment given that he's personally interviewed over 2,000 private tutors and supplied thousands of hours of tuition for students across London and the South East.
"Another exam season is nearly upon us and I hazard a guess that we are in for another record year!
"More top achieving students, more A stars, which I personally believe is a conceptual nonsense, and more self praise by the government for higher standards in education.
"Is any of this true? Better results could mean higher standards in the education system; teaching professionals do an excellent job under increasingly trying circumstances. But year in, year out? - I think not.
"The truth is that examinations are easier; it's as simple as that!" added Mr Chiles who has seen a marked increase in demand for his services in recent years from parents within the Chinese, Indian and Russian communities across the Capital and Home Counties.
He went on "Surely the point of testing is exactly that, to test and see what level of attainment a particular candidate can achieve in a particular field in order to measure them against their peer group.
"This can only be achieved by having examinations where achieving top marks is difficult.
"Doing well or badly in an examination should not necessarily be a reflection of standards in general, it should simply be a statement of an individual's personal abilities.
"If a particular candidate does not excel academically that should not be seen as failure in any way. Not everybody will rise through the academic ranks; there is no disgrace in that. There are many other attributes and skills which can be harnessed in life.
"If testing for commercial pilots was dumbed down so more people passed and took to the skies, would that be a cause for celebration? Would the aviation industry be benefiting?
"Testing should be to discover ability, not to misguidedly pretend that everybody can achieve top marks," said Nevil who broadly welcomed the recent proposals by Education Secretary Michael Gove in a recent blog at kandctutors.wordpress.com
"At last somebody in Government is recognising the obvious shortfalls in our Secondary Examination system. He [Michael Gove] is only saying what educational professionals have known for years.
"I praise him for at least having the guts to question the system but we do need a centralised examination structure. Do we really want to set up some kind of multi-university committee to decide on A Level content? How will they ever agree on anything?
"Universities should certainly be consulted on content but there should only be one examining body for school level examinations and it should be overseen by the government.
"The major Boards would not have to disappear; they could take on sections of the curriculum. Having multiple examination boards all setting tests for the same disciplines in tandem is another nonsense that needs to be reviewed.
"For example, two students may both have achieved 'A' grades in their GCSE Biology exams in the same year but may not have answered a single question in common. How can we possibly compare abilities in this way?
"Centralise the exams and make them hard. At least then we will know where we stand," concluded Nevil.
For more details visit www.kctutors.co.uk.