The realisation that Michael Gove’s exam reforms have disastrous consequences for the curriculum should call a halt to them. As the coalition of creative subjects has realised, those subjects not on his English Baccalaureate list will wither on the vine. However, even those on the list should oppose the reforms.

There are fundamental questions to be asked of exam reform and the role of the regulator, Ofqual. It has just decreed that all GCSEs will be end-of-course exams, a key Gove objective. More worryingly it has emerged that the new English Baccalaureate Certificates will not be trialled but rushed straight into production. Are we seeing the start of fresh crises like the one in the summer? And, more fundamentally, is Ofqual genuinely independent? There is merit in shadow education secretary Stephen Twigg’s call for the minister to shelve the proposals and start a genuine consultation.

Trevor Fisher, Stafford.