The responsibility for organising the curriculum for GCE A-level courses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland would be handed to universities and academics if the Conservative Party won the next General Election, party schools spokesman Michael Gove announced earlier this month.

The Tories would move to abolish the current organisation, the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency.

Gove has described this process as “taking control of the A-level syllabus and question-setting process out of the hands of bureaucrats and instead empower[ing] universities, exam boards, learned societies and bodies like Acme [the Advisory Committee for Mathematics Education].”

He continued: "We will make a radical change to the way in which A-levels are designed, and we must ensure that A-levels are protected from devaluation at the hands of politicians. The institutions with the greatest interest in maintaining standards at A-level are those which receive A-level students - our universities.”

Speaking to The Journal, Scottish Conservative Schools Minister Liz Smith agreed with her counterparts plans on education, drawing attention to her belief that problems in the rest of the UK are present in Scotland:

“I am totally behind Michael Gove. Although there is a historical difference in the educational systems of Scotland and the rest of the UK, we share the same three aims: parents having more choice over which schools their children go to, giving headteachers more control than they currently do, and especially breaking up the state monopoly on education policy.

“In Scotland we have the different system of 'Curriculum for Excellence' which gives more flexibility, and Michael Gove has the view that if we are driving the curriculum anywhere, we have to ensure that colleges and universities have some input. I definitely support this.”

Dr Rosanna Cross, Director of Admissions at The University of Bristol, said: “The university is interested to learn of the Conservative party's proposals, and looks forward to hearing more detail in due course.

"It is worth noting that the entire 14-19 curriculum has already been extensively reviewed over the last few years, including various modifications made to A Levels to improve rigour and enable greater differentiation between applicants, but it is too early to tell how these changes have affected the undergraduate applicant pool.”