Stuart Fletcher says that most English O-levels were assessed through 100 per cent coursework in the 1980s. This is nonsense. There was almost no coursework for O-level English.
In the early Eighties, my department was involved in a small national pilot of coursework for O-level but it was shortlived.
The “16-plus” precursor to GCSE brought in coursework for O-level-type students. Its effect was electrifying, as almost overnight the motivation of male students improved dramatically.
Robert Vincent
138 Birstall Road, Leicester
