Students are being forced to take additional exams to get into leading universities because good A-levels do not always indicate the brightest candidate.
Sixth-formers applying to courses such as medicine and law are being asked to sit American-style aptitude tests, which are designed to assess thinking skills, among fears that too many A-level candidates are getting top grades. Last year, almost one in six students applying to universities such as Oxford and Cambridge from independent schools had to sit additional tests to secure a place.
Head teachers criticized the move, which they said would pile more pressure on schools and students. But universities insisted that the reforms were unavoidable, because A-level exams were no longer an accurate barometer of ability.
In 1986, 40 percent of students starting at Oxford achieved straight as at A-level. Mike Nicholson, its admissions director, said that this year almost every candidate offered a place would get perfect grades. It meant the university had to stage additional tests to identify the most able candidates. “The ability to achieve three A grades is no longer the endpoint the admission process,” he said. “The potential to achieve three A grades will allow them to enter the race for a place.”
Oxford is not the only university turning to aptitude tests. At Cambridge, the number of students taking the university’s Thinking Skills Assessment shot up 26 percent to more than 3000. A survey of 16830 sixth formers applying to higher education from private school last year showed that 2860 had to sit at least one exam.
Earlier this year, the National Foundation for Educational Research recommended that most sixth formers should sit SAT tests—a standard reasoning exam widely used in American colleges—to make it easier to pick out the best candidates.
What is the attitude of head teachers to the reform?

A．Approving

B．Doubtful

C．Opposed

D．Neutral

Which British university first started to use aptitude tests to pick out the best candidates?
A. Harvard
B. Oxford
C. Cambridge
D. Washington D.C
What can we know about the A-level system?

A．It can indicate the brightest candidates.

B．It was designed to assess students’ thinking skills.

C．It is no longer an accurate way to assess students’ abilities.

D．It was recommended by the National Foundation for Education Research.

What can we infer from the passage?

A．The reform is more popular in America colleges than the British ones.

B．The reform will be applied by all universities in the future.

C．Universities used to depend on the A-level system to choose the best students.

D．Passing additional tests will allow the student to enter Oxford, regardless of whether he or she gets as.

What is the passage mainly about?

A．How to get into leading universities.

B．The disadvantages of the A-level system.

C．Different ways to identify students’ abilities.

D．Universities using extra exams to choose students.