FARNHAM students celebrated their A-level success last week, refusing to allow criticism that the exams are getting easier to cloud their achievements.

Leading this yearÕs impressive results were Frensham Heights, with a 100 per cent pass rate, and All Hallows Catholic school in Weybourne, which achieved a 99 per cent pass rate for the second year running.

All Hallows head teacher Elizabeth Lutzeier is pleased the school has maintained its high pass rate and singled out pupil Daniel Hill, who despite serious visual impairment had achieved four grade A passes and will read Computer Science at Oxford.

Year 12 pupils Chris Eades and Chris Overd both obtained grade A in Maths despite taking the exam a year early, and their efforts were praised by head of Mathematics David Spare.

ÒThis is a real achievement. Maths is a hard subject and to achieve a grade A pass after just one year in the sixth form is a real bonus,Ó he said.

Farnham College improved its results from last year by five per cent to achieve a 98 per cent pass rate, with 25 of its pupils obtaining an A grade in all their subjects.

Principal Sally Francis is delighted with the results and is quick to rebuff claims that the exams are getting easier and standards are falling.

She attributes the year-on-year improvement to three key factors - highly focussed students and better organised teachers, a wider range of assessment used including multiple choice papers, oral and practical examinations and course work, and the major reforms in the A level system with the introduction of the AS level qualification.

Ms Francis explained how the one-year AS level course enables students to assess their strengths at advanced level after GCSE.

Most students take four subjects at AS and they can drop a subject they are struggling with at the end of the first year and continue with their favoured subjects to full A-level.

ÒThe courses are modular so students can be examined at frequent intervals. When students are presented with evidence of their success as they go along and they do not have to risk two years of fruitless study in subjects which do not suit them, they achieve higher levels of success, which is not surprising.Ó

However, the ongoing debate that A- levels are getting easier has been fuelled by local MP Virginia Bottomley, who has called for an independent review of the examination system.

She said: ÒSadly, as with previous years, these grades have led to a fair share of controversy.

ÒIt is no secret that the Conservative Party has called for the AS-levels to be scrapped, looking instead to widening the curriculum for those in the sixth form and introducing an improved and more demanding version of the general studies course.

ÒStudents have worked extremely hard. However, in order to produce such results stress levels have increased considerably and we have to ask if the current system is doing more harm than good,Ó Mrs Bottomley commented.