will GCSEs be harder from 2016?

That's fair enough, but what's not ok imo is teachers getting sucked in and gearing all their "teaching" towards fitting answers to mark schemes.

I remember asking my teachers "Will this be in the exam?" 25 years ago. I think it's human nature to want to get the greatest possible credit for the minimum possible work.

there's a significant "need to know" for assessment feel.

And that maps through into university, too, although it's (some) students demanding it rather than either lecturers or "the system" demanding it. As we set and mark our own exams we can't blame anyone but ourselves if it happens, though.

Happens very much in primary as well - endless Sats practice!!

"The crazy high figures quoted between 1997 and 2010 related to"

That is convincing so I'll withdraw "stout" and leave that as a testament to the joy of league tables. You're not having maths though because that definitely took a dive

"things are always done back to front"

I didn't notice this at primary, but with DD now in Y7 there's a significant "need to know" for assessment feel. She'll talk about having learnt something but wasn't given the context, the story it sits in.

The trouble in this country as I see it is that things are always done back to front - endless staring at mark schemes and then training pupils over and over until they fit into that mark scheme, instead of teaching the subject/content and then the assessment being based on that.

what pedagogical magic increased the five stout GCSE pass rate from ~40% to ~80% in two decades?

I don't think it did, did it?

The figures for the past four years for five including English and Maths were 59%, 59.4% 59.2%, 53.4%.

The crazy high figures quoted between 1997 and 2010 related to (a) 5 GCSE not necessarily including English and Maths and (b) the use of a variety of crazy "equivalent" qualifications which were, bluntly, worthless.

O Level pass rates had gone up to around 40% by the end of their use because of structural factors. The "20%" figure one sees bandied around was prior to ROSLA and Circular 10/65, so O Levels were only being taken by those that passed the 11+ and voluntarily stayed on to 16, who were disproportionately boys. Just as the increase in university takeup in the 90s reflected as much as anything else the admission of the previously missing women, O Level pass rates increased because more people were being entered for them.

An increase from around 40% to 60% over thirty years when, for example, the incidence of university education amongst children's parents will have gone from 2% to 30%, the qualifications of school teachers will have increased beyond recognition and vastly more money is being spent on education doesn't seem, of itself, surprising.

I forget the exact figure, but I think in 1918 something like 2% of children got school certificate. Rather as with university admission, most people appear to think the year they did it the qualifications were worth something, but it's all been downhill since then.

"It hardly seems reasonable to continue to norm qualifications taken in the 21st century"

Confined to GCSE then: what pedagogical magic increased the five stout GCSE pass rate from ~40% to ~80% in two decades? Or ~50% to ~80% in the last decade?

That kind of big change should make a splash elsewhere (TIMMS, PISA and the like) and it didn't.

paper there's nothing to stop schools teaching those skills/techniques.

Indeed I think they should, but the essays need not count towards the ultimate exam.

kplunk / hayfever
you do know that coursework except for controlled assessments went several years ago

and that retakes went two years ago

this latest change is just Goveian micro meddling
its still not too late to roll it back.

If Nicky Morgan really has the interests of children at heart, and her own brain, she would do so.

How will even very bright students cope with this at university if they have only ever taken exams and never had to produce a different kind of assignment?

The same as they did before the introduction of coursework into schools?

Only later did the idea that a grade was a pass or fail come

Leaving aside the point that in the 1960s an O Level grade D often was a pass, because many boards used A-E to cover the range that A-C covered post the 1975 realignment, the key point is that O Levels replaced the matriculation requirement of school certificate, which was Credits in five subjects including English and Maths. So you needed five O Levels at a standard equivalent to a School Certificate "Credit" in order to matriculate, without which you couldn't go to university. For some universities this was "Form R", it had other names in other places. That was the case from the 1950s onwards.

The problem I see with removing all coursework (for GCSE's and A levels) in a system where, wrong or right, the ultimate goal is always university, is that university study requires lots of essays/coursework/assignments done over several weeks and handed in. I'm currently studying for my degree as a mature student (finishing in a couple of weeks) and despite being a first class student I've struggled with managing my time for essays and other coursework type assignments as my A levels (also taken in my 20s) were all exam only. I can revise and bash out some fab exam grades, but the kind of study involved in researching and writing an essay is very different. How will even very bright students cope with this at university if they have only ever taken exams and never had to produce a different kind of assignment? Exam only assessment doesn't prepare for university study, and doesn't really prepare children for work either, and the necessary time management and increasingly project based work of many occupations these days. I can't think of any jobs where your performance is evaluated entirely on one day out of two years.

Though I agree constant retaking should stop. Retakes should only be allowed once and only to bring a child up to the now required C (or 5 or whatever it is), accepting extenuating circumstances such as illness, or the death of a close relative for example which would need medical verification (As it works at universities)

Though on the subject of O levels and C grade passes, the notion of there begin a 'pass' grade at all is a pretty new invention. O and A level exam grades were never meant to denote a pass or fail, they were simply the level to which you were able to work. A D grade wasn't considered a fail in the 60's it simply told employers that that was your level of say, maths or english. Only later did the idea that a grade was a pass or fail come, and every child must meet a certain standard for it mean anything, instead of it simply being a representation of what you were able to do.

I agree KPlunk. The system as it stands is too open to "gaming." I have a very conscientious DD and I am sure the present system would suit her dogged and perfectionist style. But I still think the changes are good and more "fair."

It may help improve boys achievement too.
Here's an interesting digression on why girls tend to do better in school than boys, if you have the time! US based research, though.
www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/09/why-girls-get-better-grades-than-boys-do/380318/

Yep, my DS, currently year 9, will be one of those fortunate ones.

DD currently doing GCSEs doesn't know how lucky she is.

By the time DD2, year 1 will be year 11, things will have changed again.

I think the controlled assessments had to go.

They're no real indicator of aptitude and they take up far too much teacher/class time.

But the new exams have been terribly rushed .

My DD is currently in year 8, so I think she will be among the first to do all the new exams?

I'm hoping that by the time DS and DD (currently in year 6 and year 4) are doing GCSES that there may be some idea what's going on. Although that will be in 2020 and 2022 so not really that far away. And then A Levels will probably get revamped...

I really wish that education policy was independent of government.

That didn't really work for O-level/CSE to GCSE.

"Five subjects including maths and English all at C or better", which has been one of the benchmark targets for schools is school certificate in all but name. The O Level pass was normed to school certificate when O Levels were introduced in 1951, and the five subject thing is again from school certificate (hence the "General Certificate of Education" name).

It hardly seems reasonable to continue to norm qualifications taken in the 21st century by a vast cohort of children in modern schools with modern education techniques and huge amounts of pedagogic support against a qualification introduced in 1918 and taken by the tiny proportion of the population that made it through to 16 still in school.

O Levels weren't even consistently graded for about about 20 years. Some boards used letters with C as a pass, some used letters with E as a pass, some used numbers in various forms. The harmonisation into a single scale with C as a notional pass (ie, school certificate equivalent) didn't happen until the 1970s, and even then the grades weren't printed on certificates, you had to look at the results slip to know what grades you got, and no-one particularly cared so long as you passed. The focus on the grades of GCSEs is relatively recent: I went to what would now be a RG university in the early 1980s with O Levels that had a lot of Cs amongst them...

When GCSEs were first introduced, the orals were still as you described. I took German and we went in a room with an examiner for an unpracticed oral exam. We hadn't actually been taught German for 2 years so quite how they expected anyone to pass is beyond me!

Iwantacampervan - I was surprised at how relatively easy the French GCSE seems too.

I am shocked (obviously very naive) at pupils getting help for their controlled assessments. At my son's school they are done under exam conditions, provisionally marked by the teacher and then, as I understand, sent off for moderating. They don't know their marks until August and don't keep re-taking them. At least the new system will get rid of any 'cheating' from that.

BrendaBlackhead - I took my O Levels in the early 80s and was very surprised at the change in the french exam. I confused DD2's french teacher (admittedly she is french so she hadn't been aware of older style exams) by asking where was the dictation! Our orals for french and german were unrehearsed - we went into a room with the examiners (not school staff) and could be asked questions about anything.

My DC are past GCSEs thank goodness but it absolutely the right thing to do to get rid of coursework. It's too easy to cheat. I've known both teachers and parents helping way too much. One of my DC had a 'very' helpful teacher mark her spoken French and I have plenty more examples. My friends DC are at a private school where every kid seems to get 100% on all coursework. It's a bit suspicious

I also don't think kids should be able to take too many resits although they definitely should be able to take some. Maybe you should be allowed to retake the whole exam but not just the modules.

That's not great is it noblegiraffe.

When the changes were first announced I thought that grade 4 was supposed to be the new "good" grade but at our school presentation we were told that 5 will be considered good.

I think that 4 should remain acceptable for entry onto level 3 courses but 5 should be the minimum for A levels.

It's all going to be a complete mess. Children used as guinea pigs and schools and teachers will end up getting the blame .

i have had an advance look at one subject's papers. OH MY GOD YES

and the actual exam WAY longer

I really hope this time they know what they are doing.

No, we don't. Sorry.

I feel really bad for my current Y9 group, they would all have had a decent shot at a C, but with the new GCSE who knows if they will get a 4 or a 5 and if they get a 4 which is an old C whether that will be seen as worth anything any more.
The government should be ashamed at gambling with young people's futures in this way, to satisfy their election timetable.