A NOTTINGHAM professor was one of 100 academics who wrote a letter to a national newspaper expressing concerns about changes to the national curriculum.
Education Secretary Michael Gove wants to scrap the modular system in favour of exams at the end of GCSE courses.
It would also see more weight given to spelling, punctuation and grammar and earlier learning of times tables, algebra and geometry.
The academics wrote to The Independent as they feel it will harm children's learning.
The signatories included Professor Michael Bassey, of Nottingham Trent University.
The letter said: "A system which is very heavily prescribed and which encourages cramming through tests actually reduces fairly sharply the development of thinking.
"Much of it demands too much, too young.
"Whatever the intention, the proposed curriculum will result in a 'dumbing down' of teaching."
