In 1984, Conservative Education Secretary Sir Keith Joseph decided to proceed with a merger, on the premise that the new qualifications should be based on general and subject - specific criteria approved
by himself; that the O Level
exam boards should take responsibility for carrying
forward the O Level A to C grade standards into the new scale, while the CSE
boards should do the same for grades D to G, which were to be based on CSE grades 2 to 5 respectively; and that most subjects should be examined through tiered papers focusing on different parts of the grade scale, ensuring that each grade reflected «positive achievement» on appropriate tasks, rather than degrees of failure.