The call follows a letter from Education Secretary Michael Gove to the examinations regulator, Ofqual which asked for formal control of A-level content to be passed from exam boards to universities.
NUS said that pigeon-holing the purpose of A-levels as university admissions or further restricting access to the top grades was not the right way to improve standards or demystify the university experience for potential applicants.
Liam Burns, NUS President said:
"The idea that A-levels should simply be concerned with admission to the traditional universities is at best hopelessly naive and at worst a purposefully elitist call to return to the top-down culture of the 1950s."
"There is no good reason why universities should be put in the uniquely privileged position of engineering an A-level system that must cater for a wide variety of learners and foster a wide diversity of routes to study and work which increasingly require flexibility rather than a linear approach."
"If Michael Gove truly wants to improve standards or demystify the university experience for those considering applying, then that is a laudable aim, but to pigeon-hole the purpose of A-levels as university admissions or to further restrict access to the top grades is not the right way to go about it."
ENDS
NUS Press Office - 0797 711 4623 /0786 669 5010 /pressoffice@nus.org.uk