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Last week, I presented a review of vocational education to Michael Gove, the secretary of state for education. In your paper yesterday, the shadow education secretary, Andy Burnham, is quoted as saying: "Last week, Professor Wolf warned of a 'serious risk' that the English bac will lead to schools 'simply ignoring' less academically able students." This misrepresents what I said.
In recent years, the "five GCSEs A-C or equivalent" measure was the only one schools took seriously. This had very harmful consequences; but so would reliance on any other single measure. My own strong recommendation is for multiple measures; and it was in that context that I made the statements to which Mr Burnham alludes. They were not in any way specifically directed at the English bac and its content.
As far as I know, the government has not made any announcement to the effect that only the English bac will "count" in future. Obviously I hope that it will accept my recommendations for multiple measures, including taking account of the whole distribution of performance in a school. For the record, may I also note that the English bac subjects would normally absorb less than 80% of a teaching week. Both it and many other "academic" clusters are therefore perfectly compatible with my recommendations for curriculum balance for 14 to 16-year-olds.
King's College London
• "Every child deserves a fair start in life" is the noble aim of the special educational needs green paper (Report, 11 March). So it is ironic that much of its content seeks to turn back the clock. In particular, reference to removing "the bias towards inclusion" indicates a failure to understand the meaning of the term. While we acknowledge the substantial contributions to the education of children with SEN made by special schools, many who would previously have been placed in such schools have, over the last 30 years, benefited from an education alongside their peers.
The green paper infers that "inclusion" is a privilege to be earned, as opposed to a socially just and fair approach to schooling with benefits for all. For many, these proposals signal their likely exclusion not only from mainstream education, but also from whatever "big society" this government intends to create.
Professor Richard Rose
University of Northampton
Professor Philip Garner
University of Northampton
Professor Emeritus Klaus Wedell
University of London
Professor Juliet Goldbart
Manchester Metropolitan University
Professor Brahm Norwich
University of Exeter
Professor Sue Ralph
University of Northampton
Professor John Dwyfor Davies
University of the West of England
Professor Joe Elliott
University of Durham
Professor Saville Kushner
University of the West of England
Professor John Visser
University of Northampton
• Jamie's Dream School (Education, 8 March) just proves what a hard job real teachers have. Instead of constantly criticising, we should be praising our teachers and encouraging our children to value their education . Perhaps then we would have fewer children who feel "failed by the system".
Mary Reid
Bushey, Hertfordshire