Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 2:59 pm on 9 October 2002.
My Lords, in our 14 to 19 strategy, we have laid out the issues that we believe to be part of the debate. In the current context, we want to make clear that we have full confidence in ensuring that our A-level system works efficiently. But we always want to have a continuing debate—noble Lords have been part of this process for many years—about the breadth of subjects that students should study. Indeed, it is on that basis that we introduced the AS-level. Noble Lords will want to be part of that debate, but I do not want to detract from the current situation by entering into it now.