No barring the Bard

The exams regulator in England is going ahead with changes to English tests for 14 year olds.

The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) made the announcement after a consultation.

From next year, a paper on Shakespeare will include just short questions on sections of text and no essay part.

Criticism of the exisiting paper was based on the fact that pupils were being asked to write about themes arising from Shakespeare's plays - such as jealousy or ambition - but did not need to have read the texts.

The QCA said the essay was marked on the standard of writing and not knowledge of Shakespeare and that children were sometimes confused about what they had to do.

Moving the writing test to another paper would solve the problem, officials said.

'Listened carefully'

The chief executive of the QCA, Ken Boston said there was no question of downgrading the importance of Shakespeare.

"Teachers asked us to look again at this test and we have listened carefully to what the overwhelming majority of professionals who took part in our consultation said."

"There will be no change to the number of marks awarded for the Shakespeare paper. It will carry exactly the same value within the Key Stage 3 test as before.

"We consider knowledge and understanding of the Shakespeare play to be valuable and have no intention of reducing its importance," he said.

The changes have the support of some teachers, including the Association of Teachers and Lecturers.

The union's general secretary Mary Bousted said: "QCA's recommendations are an important step in the right direction.

"It is never going to be easy to arrive at a consensus on thorny issues such as testing Shakespeare.