It's fucking simple from where I stand - you can't have 100% of children all passing bloody 5 x GCSEs at grade C or above! Once we accept that and accept that some children have different skills and talents that need to be nurtured and VALUED then the whole exam fiasco goes on.
Same cycle about every 10 years. Exam results peak and flat line but aren't as good as Finland/Sweden or more lately Singapore/China or wherever else in the world the govt decide to compare with. Some business group or other are trotted out by our delightful teacher bashing media to tell us all how appalling the levels of literacy/numeracy are in school leavers and everyone over the age of 35 agrees ("wasn't like this in my day") No one ever seems to comment how one of the smallest countries in the world continues to have the 3/4/5th largest economy in the entire world despite producing such apparent half-wits - this is never explained!
So a new Govt will bring in new exam to "raise standards". These are written by which every lackeys are currently in favour, bought in too quickly, with no training for teachers and loaded with errors etc so there is a crash in standards. Govt use this as "proof" that teachers are rubbish, lazy etc. Everyone agrees that "it's not like it was in their day" and the teachers are to blame. In the following years, teachers get to grips with the new exam and curriculum so more children pass when teachers know what they are supposed to be doing - they'll be more successful at getting children who can to pass. The govt however claim sole credit for raising standards through their (shite) policy. About 5 years in, results flat line because if an exam is worth the paper it's printed on, then really about 65% of children passing is about right isn't it? I mean there are about 20% of children on the SEN register - are teachers and parents making that figure up?? Sure some children are on it for EBD needs and so, with the right support, can pass but most are on for Learning difficulties and they aren't going to pass a maths GSCE unlss you lower the pass mark. They can however be awesome care assistants, plumbers, electricians, beauticians etc but we don't give a shit about that because we only care about gcse's and sending every child to university to take increasingly worthless degrees. Successive Govts demand more children pass so grade inflation occurs until the new govt decrees that teachers are all lazy, useless bastards and we don't compare to wherever etc etc and we begin again and introduce a "new curriculum" and " tougher exam" to "raise standards" AGAIN.
And off we go again!! During these time, the teaching profession leaves in droves but no one gives a fuck because we get 13 weeks holiday so we are "lucky" and have no idea about "real work"
Sigh