EDUCATIONALISTS and business leaders in Bournemouth are at loggerheads following the announcement yesterday that GCSE grades have risen dramatically.

The new government figures claim that the proportion of pupils achieving five GCSEs at grades A* to C has gone up by 11.5 per cent in the past five years to a record 53.4 per cent.

Head teachers in the borough are adamant that exams aren't getting easier, while local businesses are complaining that their younger recruits increasingly lack basic skills in reading and writing.

The government says best performers are girls receiving a grammar school education are performing best.

At Bournemouth School for Girls, head teacher Alistair Brien says there is no question of exams "dumbing down."

He said: "The one-minute mile does not get any shorter, although the time it takes to run it improves all the time.

"What's changing is the way athletes train and prepare for it, allowing them to improve their times.

"This is the same with examinations. Teachers are becoming more adept at teaching the syllabus and better understand how to get the higher grades."

But vice principal of Dorset Business Chamber of Commerce, Chris Slocock, says this is not the experience among local businesses.

"The common whinge among members is that young people cannot spell properly or write neatly and lack the basics," he said.

"They come out of school with good computer skills but these are useless if they haven't got a grasp of the good old fashioned three 'R's.

"The government is now talking about scrapping GCSEs and A-levels and introducing another system. But it hasn't even got the old system right.

"And I've seen nothing in the proposals talking about the basics."

He believes the prevalence of computers, internet and mobile phones encourages youngsters to abbreviate their use of English and abandon spelling.

First published: October 23