The current test includes verbal and non-verbal reasoning, which are not taught in primary schools and need coaching but the new test may drop that element and place the emphasis on English and Maths, which are taught in classrooms, BBC South East Today's political correspondent John Young explained.
This point was brought home clearly by both Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's immediate verbal response to the North Korean nuclear test on Monday and by Iran's provocative launch of warships in the Gulf of Aden the same day.