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剑桥大学降低新生入学标准

剑桥大学日前正在申请降低学生GCSE成绩标准来吸引更多学生申请入读。据悉，到目前为止，剑桥是唯一一所坚持对本校部分重点学科申请人要求GCSE A到C的成绩作为入学标准之一的大学。

但该规定有望在明年9月废除，剑桥将下放该权力到其各院系来自行决定入学学生是否必需GCSE成绩。据悉，剑桥大学做此调整的一个原因来自于英国政府关于14岁以上学生必修一门外语。

剑桥大学表示，此次调整对大学仍将产生重要影响。举例来说，2000年80%左右的剑桥就读学生都拥有GCSE至少一门外语的成绩。这个数字在今年已经下降到50%。据悉，在英国国立大学14岁以上学生要求学习外语的数字仅为17%。

剑桥大学的行政部门负责人Geoff Parks表示：“对于一些学生来说，这样的调整将降低申请剑桥大学的入学门槛。”(2008年3月14日)

译者注：GCSE是英文General Certificate Secondary Education的简称，即英国普通初级中学毕业文凭。相当于中国国内的初中毕业考试文凭，但实际上，GCSE是英国中学4年级和5年级的学习课程，程度和要求都比国内初中毕业生要高，从理论上说应该是国内的高一学生申请较为合适。经过两年GCSE学习后，学生方可进入A LEVEL阶段的学习。学生GCSE的成绩将被作为A LEVEL甚至大学录取的参考。

Cambridge drops foreign language requirement

The University of Cambridge is proposing to drop the requirement for a foreign language GCSE as part of its admissions criteria to attract more children from state schools.
Cambridge said it is the only university that still insists on a core of subjects students must have studied if they want to apply for a place at one of its colleges, which includes a GCSE level A to C in a foreign language.

But from next September Cambridge wants to scrap the system and leave it up to individual departments to specify the subjects and qualifications required.

One reason behind the change was the government's decision to drop a compulsory foreign language from the national curriculum after 14.

The change in the curriculum has been significant, the university said. In 2000 80% of all school students - from both the private and state schools - took a foreign language at GCSE, but that has now fallen to below 50%. The number of state schools where students are required to study a foreign language after 14 is now around 17%, the university said.

Geoff Parks, director of admissions for Cambridge colleges, said: "This change would remove something which has, unfortunately, become a significant barrier impeding access to Cambridge."

Dr Anne Davidson Lund, director of policy research at CILT, the National Centre for Languages, said: "This is only one university - all the other universities have taken out the requirement of a modern language some time since." She said a trend of modern languages only being studied by pupils in the independent sector or at grammar schools after the age of 14 was creating a culture of "elitism in languages".

Debbie Andalo
Saturday March 15, 2008
The Guardian
Guardian Unlimited