LIKE so many other education reforms, AS-levels were created with good intentions. Ministers wanted to broaden the scope of study for sixth formers. Unfortunately, the new examination was rushed into schools without proper consideration. Chaos and stress were the predictable outcomes.

Class sizes rose and clashing tests made drawing up an examination timetable a nightmare. On top of six million GCSE and A-level exam entries, schools were asked to supervise 750,000 AS-level entries. Then there were the new Key Skills tests, designed to make school leavers more employable.

All this placed a heavy burden on teachers. But it was the sixth formers themselves who were placed under the greatest pressure.

The State's mania for examinations ensures that children already sit national tests at age seven, 11, 14 and 16. If they stayed on for A-levels, there are more exams at 18.

The lower sixth form, or Year 12 as it is now known, offered a brief and welcome respite from the invigilators. In their first year of non-compulsory education, teenagers could begin to enjoy learning for its own sake.

They were also allowed some breathing space away from school books. Fun was permitted. At a time when youngsters are taking their first steps into adulthood, this is crucial for their social development.

Key Skills and AS-levels changed all that. Many of last year's lower sixth formers only enjoyed one exam-free term before their first test in January. The pressure is unrelenting.

Examinations are necessary. They allow students to assess their own progress, and parents to make a crude comparison between schools. But they are not the educational be all and end all.

Education Secretary Estelle Morris today agreed to reduce the number of AS-level papers. That is a step in the right direction. But she should have gone further, and reintroduced an exam-free lower sixth form. Our students need a break.

Updated: 10:26 Wednesday, July 11, 2001