Log in Free trial  Education: So, `Pulp Fiction' This Week,
Global Warming Next. ; Teachers and Examiners Agree That General
Studies Courses Produce Pupils Who Are Widely Read and Well
Informed. So Why Do Universities Dismiss the A-Level? Lucy
Hodges Explains Why They Should Think Again  Article excerpt
One week you're arguing over the merits of the Tarantino movie,
Pulp Fiction; the next, you're trying to weigh up the evidence
about global warming, or deciding whether to support the
globalisation protesters. Then you might move on to some
mathematics, and some more science. Is there life on Mars? To
what extent is human intelligence genetically determined?
Welcome to general studies A-level, a subject taken by almost
88,000 pupils this summer and regarded by many heads and
teachers as a brilliant way to make their pupils think. Often
taken as a fourth A-level, it makes fewer demands on pupils in
terms of time (usually one hour a week at the most), and is an
antidote to the narrowly academic English curricu