Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Original poster

Fewer pupils studying tough subjects

53 replies

GeorgeT · 20/10/2011 17:14

According to Telegraph fewer pupils are studying tough subjects.

I am not surprised by this. Over 7 years ago I felt that many able pupils failed to take tough subjects leaving them with fewer options post 16 and beyond. I fear this is a symptom of league tables. While a Modern Language may not be for everyone I think it should be for many. Also many pupils opt for subjects with little writing so their only essay subject is English. Hardly surprising employers complain about written skills.Is it possible that parents don't understand the impact of the choices made at 14?

OP posts:
cricketballs · 20/10/2011 17:57

But the problem with the Ebacc suddenly being introduced is the fact that MFL was taken off the national curriculum for 14-16 year olds a number of years ago and therefore unless it was a specific language college it was an optional subject for GCSE and a lot of students chose not to study it.

If there was detailed survey into the results in terms of students whom would have achieved the Ebacc if they taken a language (thus, showing if they took history or geography) then the result would be a far higher percentage for the majority of schools as a large number have always chosen these subjects.

You will also find that if a student was capable of achieving the GCSE Science at grade C or higher, then these weren't the ones who were taking the BTEC Science as most schools kept the higher ability students on the GCSE route for this subject

The BTECs are only used (in the main) for vocational optional subjects and they are invaluable for allowing a lower ability student (especially those who can not undertake examinations easily) to achieve a qualification. And, believe me they are not easy to do; a lot of work has to be done for these

GrimmaTheNome · 20/10/2011 17:44

The EBacc isn't perfect, but at least it should do something to address this issue in schools motivated by league tables. Their sudden introduction was quite revealing. Some schools which had highish scores using GCSE A*-C % dropped way down.

inkyfingers · 20/10/2011 17:32

Schools are very influential with 14-16 subjects. Some encourage lots of BTECs for pupils who could do GCSEs although I think parents and teachers are wising up to this as they don't feature in the EBacc. many parents on here are concerned about single or double science etc in case it limits A level choice in science. Michael Gove has been talking about doing languages from 5 years old and I think was generally well received, but of course no significant funding so bit meaningless.

My DCs go to a school which was a 'language college' until last year and everyone took a MFL to 16 which I think is great.

Most pupils can't easily get out of 'written' subjects unless it's all dance/art/tech/PE/science. So poor writing skills are possibly a result of writing not being taken seriously in English/humanities they did.