Dumbed down

I took the 11-plus examination in 1934 and would think such questions far more suitable for that examination than for GCSE.

I do feel it would be most interesting if it were possible to access 11-plus papers for comparison.

I saw a GCSE physics question in a newspaper, which said: “What instrument would you use to examine celestial bodies – a microscope, a stethoscope or a telescope? I had a great aversion to physics at school but had the matric questions been of that nature I would have made physics my first choice.

I do not blame students in any way for this fiasco but I do question the sense of allowing them to take calculators to school right throughout the term time, which I understand is the norm, and then to ban them at examination time. But what do old duffers like me know?

R F Reeve, Hawkins Crescent, Shoreham