GCSEs, which would be absorbed into the "intermediate" level of the diploma structure, would be downgraded to a "stepping stone and a progress check, rather than the present artificial break-point".

BBC: NEWS | UK | Northern Ireland | Exam reform may not affect NI

Southerners also have a more highly developed sense of individualism because the social structure in the south is not graded into an infinite number of vocation-specific intermediate castes, as is the case in the north.

CNN: Center Cut