"In a nutshell more people of lower intelligence are achieving higher grades."

In a nutshell there is no evidence whatsoever for this. The aim of the "system" is that the right people are awarded the right grades. We have worked very hard to achieve that. I could tell you horror stories about how 'O' Level and 'A' Level exam papers were extensively "impression-marked" in the 70s and 80s. Though it was before my time, I can't think that it was any different in the 50s and 60s. Marking exam scripts is piece work. The faster you do it, the more you get paid. In the old days your moderator was probably of like mind and connived in that. These days, integrity and close scrutiny is the name of the game. The futures of thousands of young people who had worked hard to pass their exams and progress themselves was once in the arbitrary hands of those lazy bastards of old. We've come a long way since then. And what I'm telling you should make you think very hard before you ignorantly start to rattle on about "standards."