Predictions on whether GCSEs will be gone at some point in the nearish future

[heartshapedflower]

Does anyone think GCSEs will be gone? There is talk of them going. What will replace them in the current system.

Dc have to go to school until 18 my dc is 9 so I'm wondering what the future holds for them.

They will be gone in Wales reasonably soon. The new Welsh curriculum is starting its faze in from September. The currents year 4s (I think) will be the first year going through it, so my understanding of what I've read is that they will be the first to do different year 11 assessment, but as far as I know the secondary level new curriculum hasn't been published yet.

So 2030 maybe here in Wales.

It's a good way to decide where and what children study. Working in FE we had children arriving with different grades and they could start at level1 (old GCSE grade D-G), level2 (GCSE old A*-C) or level 3.

I do think there should be changes to education but I think there is a lot to be said for taking a mixture of level 1 and level 2 qualifications in school, particularly in subjects being dropped when options come along.

FE colleges often have better facilities than schools for things like catering, plumbing, hairdressing and when I rule the world more children would leave school at 14 but go to colleges if they want to do vocational subjects.

The e-bac needs to go though.

I come from a country where the top schools did away with GCSEs as it was assumed that all their students were going to end up in university anyway so didn't need them. In my country, you only did A Levels if you were certain university for you, failing that you went to a polytechnic which prepared you for the job market (and you could still go to university after polytechnic).

I think they were right,99% of the people at the top schools did end up at university, my DSIS and i both went to such schools. there was probably a few people every year who didn't do well enough in their A Levels to get into university or failed entirely (so their highest qualification was our equivalent of the eleven plus! which isn't great). I guess they had to retake?

Life is pressure. Exams teach young people about that pressure

My year 11 Dd has had constant exam pressure since the start of year 11. She’s on her 4th set of exams and hasn’t even sat GCSE yet. She’s vomiting with anxiety.

I was a secondary school teacher for 26 years. Students always crying and snapping under the pressure.

It’s disgusting the amount of stress placed on what are still classed as children. British children are some of the unhappiest in the world. At 58, l can’t think of any situation where I’ve been under this much constant pressure.

How useful is it?🤷🏼‍♀️

She’s on her 4th set of exams and hasn’t even sat GCSE yet. She’s vomiting with anxiety.

To be fair that's due to the pandemic though and the requirement to have three mocks from which to draw assessment of this summers exams are cancelled. though - it's been very tough on kids the last couple of years.

Yes, it is due to the pandemic, but they could have had TAG’s.

l left teaching last year. Every year group had an ‘assessment’(exam) every term. So it’s not that different.

It’s evil what schools do to children.

I already sit pretests for jobs.

Yes, but companies filter who sit those pretests on the basis of qualifications.

Maths and English GCSE are big filters.

Interestingly, I'd say that not having sat GCSEs has had a detrimental effect on Y13. They are finding it more difficult to prepare for high stakes exams having never done it before and are more stressed about the process not having had the experience of having done it successfully.

Found this with a quick search www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/gcses-alevels-government-england-alevel-b928302.html

I sat mine in 1996 and they were useful after that as entry jobs asked for them. But as soon as I began getting work experience that all changed and the only thing employers cared about was my work experience.

I entered the workplace at age 17 and that was that. But they became relevant again when I applied for A-levels, then it was the A-levels that got me into university, then it was that degree that got me onto post-grad.

It was work experience and my degree then that got me into my other jobs.

Now, my GCSEs are not only irrelevant but are they even on any system anymore?

My daughter is home educated and I plan to put her in for educational certificates as she gets older, which could be GCSEs, or whatever will gain her access to what she wants to do. We're flexible.

They've existed for so long one would think they would be updated at some point.

They were updated in 2015. Remember the huge overhaul of the curriculum and switch to 9-1 grades?

But this is a blanket policy, which governments have to put across because people need to delegate things like education because of necessity to work. If you feel there's a better way, as I do, then do it; via home education.

I don't want to delegate my child's education, it doesn't feel right for me personally, so I don't.

But most people will have to conform to blanket policies where time doesn't allow for them to do anything but.

School is about producing good employees, which we need. If you can move out of this system then great, but it's certainly not desirable for most people to, as we need a system which relies on all types of jobs from menial to skilled.

Students do not have to stay in education until 18 except in the broadest sense of the word. About a 1/4 of our students leave school after GCSEs and do not go onto sixth form, I would imagine other schools might have an even higher %. They might go to college, but many enter jobs or apprenticeships, and without exams at 16 they would literally have nothing to show for all of their years of education, and they might need that, even if sometimes many years later.
Teacher assessed grades were a nightmare for staff and students and lack credibility with many individuals for obvious reasons. I think our y13s are so stressed is because they have never had any real exam practice, and for the record GCSEs are continually updated.

Same with my ds. They have one more set of TAGs next week then a little revision again before their actual GCSE’s. He has worked himself to the bone studying. He’s so stressed over them. I just hope he gets as good grades in the GCSE’s as he has the TAG’s it he will be distraught.

Apprenticeships have an educational quality to them, so there is space for assessment.

As for jobs, well they should by law have a qualification attached to them, but many don’t.

Thete should be an overhaul of post 16 education to enable assessment at 18 to take place and bring us into line with the rest of the world. They all seem to manage without massive stressful exams at 16

@noblegiraffe I've never been asked my gcse for a job. I don't out my gcse on my cv, I'm sure some jobs do require them to select for pretests but if gcse didn't exist they couldn't do that.

Back in the olden days, job agencies used to make you sit competency tests at their offices to see if you should be put forward for a job or not. Now some competency tests are sat at home as a way of selecting who will or won't be going to sit further tests.
Perhaps not stressing about a levels due to not having sat tests already @JaffavsCookie is because they didn't have enough prep at school.
My school did so many mock exams under exam conditions the real ones were just an add on to those. I didn't feel overly stressed.

I agree @ArseInTheCoOpWindow other countries seem to manage, I don't think 16 is the best age to be lumbered with exams.

Students don't sit 10 exams anymore at GCSE, the average is around 20. It is extremely stressful, whether you're a student who's super smart or one who struggles.
Personally, I think the focus should be less on how much you can remember in a 2 hour exam, and more on quality and quantity of coursework done over the previous 2 years. This should be for every subject, not just those that rely less on exams for the final grades, like Art or DT. At least then students who struggle with anxiety over exams, or are feeling ill when they sit the exam, will have a better chance at getting the grade they deserve, rather than going to pieces in a 2 hour slot and failing.

OP, I think you're missing the point a little. In your industry, GCSEs are clearly irrelevant. But not so in many other jobs and careers. I think if you go on to uni etc, then yes, they do become much less important. But there are a huge number of people who don't take that route. Eventually, their experience will become more important on job applications. But initially, those GCSEs are what helps a company sift through applicants who have no further qualifications. Not to mention helps further education decide on applicants. For the record, I still have to put my GCSEs on applications! When I recruit, GCSEs are included in the applications I read too. I do agree that they aren't really used at this level though.

If GCSEs were scrapped, they would be replaced with something basically similar. Even if there were no public exams, I can't imagine there would be no requirement for schools to 'pass' students which would mean assessments.

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow

Apprenticeships have an educational quality to them, so there is space for assessment.

As for jobs, well they should by law have a qualification attached to them, but many don’t.

Thete should be an overhaul of post 16 education to enable assessment at 18 to take place and bring us into line with the rest of the world. They all seem to manage without massive stressful exams at 16

Other countries manage because their kids are in full time education till they're 18, then they're examined. Our kids are only in full time education till they're 16 - that's why we examine at that age.

If you're arguing that we should do what other countries do, then you need to argue that the UK school leaving age is raised by two years.

It’s education, employment or training till 18. Not school.

Sorry I mean not just education

But the employment and training are meant to lead to qualifications.

If you're arguing that we should do what other countries do, then you need to argue that the UK school leaving age is raised by two years

It currently is in England. The leaving age from education is now 18 not 16 and has been for some time.

l left secondary teaching last year. It’s been 18 for a while.

I don’t think that’s enforced or checked?
The gov.uk page says employment/ volunteering must include education or training. Does that include an expectation of qualifications to be gained?

School leaving age is 16 according to this with caveats

www.gov.uk/know-when-you-can-leave-school

SCHOOL leaving age is 18.

Education leaving age is 18