The man in charge of setting and marking 11-plus exams for 10 years in Northern Ireland has spoken out against academic selection. But Alastair Walker, who was head of education services at the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment until 2004, has criticised politicians for getting rid of the 11-plus in 2008 while failing to agree on an alternative. Schools now administer their own selection tests, but these are not centrally controlled. Dr Walker says this has led to “the chaos of unregulated selection.”
