Literacy news

Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency (QCDA) to be closed

27 May 2010

The QCDA today received a letter from Secretary of State for Education Michael Gove saying that it will be closed following legislation in the Autumn. The agency currently has a budget of £128m and employs 500 staff.

The closure was widely expected after David Cameron said in July that it must go.

In a letter to the QCDA's chair, Christopher Trinick, Gove said he believed the Government and its agencies should not be involved in curriculum design "which is properly the domain of awarding bodies (exam boards)".

The letter also said that some of the agency’s work should continue, such as the administration of SATs tests for pupils aged 10 and 11: "We… currently envisage that the functions and the people that support the tests would be needed after closure".

Staff that worked on diplomas – Labour's flagship qualification – would be needed "until these activities are no longer required or can be transferred".

The QCDA was formed on 1 October 1997. It is the second education quango to be axed under the new Government. On Monday it was announced that Becta, the technology agency for schools, is to close.

Read the full story on the Guardian website

Read the full letter from Michael Gove

Tags: National Young Readers' Programme, Partners in Literacy, Policy, Reading The Game, Words for Work

Return to literacy news