IN TODAY'S educational society here in Britain under the guidance of Labour, a statement is constantly repeated in the media while hardworking pupils are trying to get through tough modules consisting of exams and coursework.

This statement is: "A levels are getting easier."

This statement is one that puts pupils down who are sitting them across the country in schools and colleges. Even adult learners may feel aggravated by the suggestion, as they try to get a qualification at a later stage in a bid to help them pursue a job or career.

To put it bluntly, A levels are the most recognised qualification for young people in post-16 education in the world.

They are also not easy and taken in the form of AS and A2 - which are split in half across two years.

If the Government think that they are too easy, then they should think again. Pupils who start Y12 in school or first year in college only have a few months to prepare for their first module, when they are also going through a learning transitional period from GCSEs.

They have to face harder work with exams looming on the horizon. Also the introduction of the Diploma, that is set to come into effect in a year-and-a-half, is also another sign of how seriously the government takes A-levels.

The Diploma could be a very good qualification to have, but there will be travelling involved to get to other schools or colleges where they have that certain course, as the law now states that schools and colleges need to link up together to provide a: "whole wide range of learning."

Once again it comes to May, and thousands of pupils will be sitting their exams before the results come out in August.

They will be telling us that they are getting easier and easier and then come out with more mainstream ideas about how to tackle education. Things never change.