GCSEs in core subjects will be scrapped and replaced with harder O-level style exams under plans to be announced today.
More demanding courses will be developed for English, maths, biology, chemistry and physics, and pupils will be assessed in longer, end-of course exams. Teenagers will begin studying them from September 2015 and sit their first examinations in the summer of 2017 — with a single examination board for each subject.
New exams will follow in history, geography and modern foreign languages, probably a year later. In the longer term the move could be the death knell for most GCSEs, which will