Emerging movement to dissolve G.C.S.Es

[greengreengrass14]

In the papers today there is news of a 'Rethinking Assessment' movement with state and private school heads and others who seem to be realising that particularly in a pandemic the current pressure for young people to sit G.C.S.E s as it was in the previous form is not sensible in terms of their wellbeing.

This is a new discussion thread for anyone to add information about this development and discuss. Here is the initial article I found as background. www.theguardian.com/education/2020/sep/20/private-and-state-schools-bid-to-kill-off-gcses

There is a seperate support thread on there for those navigating the GCSE year this year as it stands.

Thanks for posting this OP.

Interesting. Will follow this closely as have a yr 10 ds.

There are too many exams as standard.

My Dd was due to do 20 and that was with 'only' 9 GCSEs and 2 of them having practical elements.

Why they need 4.5hrs of maths exams is beyond me.
I think the new GCSEs are too much for less academic kids.

But assessment based has its own problems.

My DS did GCSEs in 2019. He did 10 subjects, some kids at his state school do 11 if they take triple science, and it was in my view a very heavy workload. My DD is now in year 10 and the quantity of work she is expected to do is very high, she is also expecting to do 10 subjects (maths, double science, eng lit and Lang, German, History, art, food prep & nutrition & re). Neither of my kids are especially academic, they are average students getting grades 4-6/7 . I think the current system is poor and really discourages independent thought and creativity. The only way to get through the expansive syllabuses is to spend all school time cramming info into the students and by far too formal and regular detailed assessment.

Interesting. I would love to see GCSEs scrapped. Other than Maths/English, I can't see what purpose they serve?

crazy
I think the purpose they serve is

• filtering for A level
• something everyone can 'understand' as after that there are a variety of qualifications
• a general marker of academic ability

We've had something on leaving school since at least the 40s (and possibly way before).

I don't think the current GCSEs and system serve the less academic pupils as well as the old GCSEs. But they were open to abuse...

Agreed, but I don’t think they serve the academic kids that well either now. Particularly for girls, the volume of content is very stressful and overwhelming. I’ve heard of so many year 11 girls with mental health problems. There must be some other way of showing the requisite ability to do A Levels?

Having had an academic, hard working girl go through them (or not, due to covid!) I can’t imagine what a nightmare the process is for less academic youngsters. They’re not the ‘last qualification’ for most people now - even those who leave school/college tend to do further qualifications via an apprenticeship etc. So we really just need Maths/English and maybe Science grades at 16? Surely these would be enough to confirm whether a student was an A Level candidate? I say that in the knowledge that my son is likely to do worse in the core subjects than his options of RS/History/Music/Business. But if he only had to focus on exams in core subjects I’m sure he’d do sufficiently well for A Levels

@crazycrofter it is not only about qualifying for A levels but also general education before the either specialise or leave school. I doubt they would drop the rest of the subject because of that aspect. No clue what is best to do during this cold times though!

I for one hope Rethinking Assessment (RA) does not materialise. My boys are Y11 and Y13. Told them to rise to the challenge, and cover existing and new content by themselves; and I do work with them, too. Tbh, I do disagree with Ofqual’s insignificant tinkering of the exam composition for 2021. But, it’s set in stone and we must play the cards dealt to us. I don’t think RA will be executed in any guise; it’s folly, a waste of energy and futile. I have not been impressed with my sons’ teachers during lockdown. The players have changed but the game is still the same. By ‘game’, I mean the objective is still success in 2021. By ‘players’, Covid has enabled me to discriminate between the excellent, good, and average teachers - consequently, the new players are now online GCSE and A Level vendors and traditional tutors. Online learning has been a revelation. I prefer to manage my boys’ destinies rather than defer to poor teaching provision or the mythological RA.

Its worth considering that most other countries don't have high stakes exams at 16. And given that students now remain in education until at least 18, GCSEs no longer play a role as a final examination.

I'd rather a general certification at age 18, with compulsory subjects and many electives plus advanced classes for the more academic. Perhaps kids could choose to filter to different types of educational institution at age 15/16 depending on the electives but still be working towards the minimum standard certificate of mandatory modules.

I think GCSEs cause a social problem. Kids in the UK think they are fully grown adults at 16 because they have 'finished' school.

GCSEs create a milestone that doesnt need to be there.

@fortyfifty there needs to be a milestone on when compulsory school stops, and 18 is too late for that. So more than being fully grown adults at 16, is more fit to do some work at 16 if you prefer so (and the government would not o next as they need all kinds of labour)
I wonder if a bit of watered down GCSEs and an IB system would work better. But then you would need massive changes in the university system as students would not start with a level of knowledge or prep in their subject that A levels specialisation gives them. So the hidden fact here is also that UK universities get an easier job than other places. I still believe GCSEs are not a bad thing at all overall - teaches them to make an effort and graded accordingly. So if you end up with all Cs and below then you know, you are not going to be academic and you will think your options based on that.

I really don't think the academic pressure for high-achieving students just affects girls. I know some boys destroy their mental health trying to get the top grades and the huge pressure they put themselves under.
It is a personality type thing, not a gender thing, and only focussing on one gender means the other gender finds it harder to get the help they need.

I’m sure you’re right @ProperlyPdOff. I just happen to know girls who’ve responded that way rather than boys - and I happen to have a laid back year 10 boy too.

I'm sure you realise your experience only involves a very small proportion of pupils. My academic, hard working DS had exactly the mental health problems you describe for girls in year 11 and had to be referred to CAMHS. I don't understand why you think a girl would be more affected than a boy -- mental health conditions affect everyone and I'm sure you know that men/boys are much more at risk of suicide than girls/women. These gender stereotypes are not helpful and just make it harder for boys to get the help they need and more likely to be seen as failing to be resilient rather than having mental health issues.

But we do seem to agree that the massive pressure to do well at 16 years old with GCSEs has got out of control and out of proportion, especially when they have to go through it all again 2 years later with A levels.
When there were AS levels too, it must have been a really horrible 3 years with no let up and external national exams every year.
Since the government changed the grading to 1-9, the top-achieving students are no longer happy with an A, they want to get a 9, which means much more pressure and work.
All those grade 7-9s come at immense personal cost and mental health detriment for many students.

Absolutely, I wasn't meaning to suggest that boys don't suffer with mental health problems too. I'm sorry your son had such a hard time.

Statistics I've read suggest that more girls suffer with mental health issues relating to GCSE exam stress than boys (5 times more girls than boys is the statistic I just read), but you're right - this isn't about gender. It's not acceptable that any young people are put under so much pressure and the 1-9 grading system has just made it worse.
There's no need for such high intensity exams at 16 now.

Let's hope they come up with a system of nationally moderated continuous assessment this year that could be used permanently.