Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of decoupling AS Levels and A Levels on university admissions procedures.

Ofqual published an impact assessment on A level reform in November 2012. This can be found on GOV.UK: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140813095715/http://ofqual.gov.uk/qualifications-and-assessments/qualification-reform/a-level-reform/.

This assessment found that AS levels do not play a significant role in admissions processes, for most universities. It is for individual higher education institutions to determine their own admission arrangements.

We are working with universities and UCAS to ensure universities are informed of the changes to AS and A Levels when they make decisions about those arrangements.