Every time the academic standards in the UK education system expose failing standards, those in Educational planning and those in power immediately want to cover it up by grade inflation or fiddle with changes to the 'curriculum' - 'Nothing to see here'
The amazing hypocrisy here is that Scotland had an excellent schooling system of exams called 'Highers' and students in years 12/13 would takes a greater number of 'Highers' giving a broader knowledge base than the equivalent subject intensive A-Levels. In the UK when it became apparent that not all students were academically suited to A Levels, AS Levels were introduced.
Scottish education used to be a leader in academic educational standards. In Scotland, the broad based education system of 'Highers' were disbanded and the dumbed down political 'Curriculum for Excellence' introduced across all Scottish schools. Guess what? Academic standards have plummeted since, and so have standards in basic literacy and numeracy. Education in Scotland has been deliberately politicised and Scotland now languishes near the bottom of the league tables of Western nations. Precisely because it has no rigour in knowledge and fact based education.
Everyone is now expected to get a degree (which devalues this qualification) and students are forced to continue Maths and English to the year 18 because it has never been taught properly from Primary school level to a student leaving school. There will continue to be a loss of confidence in educational qualifications issued by schools and some Universities, and students will not be helped by fiddling with these qualifications.
If our schooling curriculum was so good we would just use the International Baccalaureate. We have to have a specific 'British' Baccalaureate because Ministers know our state educational standards are not even close to the International one.