End of business adjournment debate (Commons) on Educational Assessments - Mar 17

Mrs Flick Drummond (Meon Valley) (Con)

I thank Mr Speaker for allowing me to bring this important debate to the Chamber, and I thank the Minister for being here, particularly much later than expected, to respond.

The Minister will be aware that I have been working on this important issue for some time. It is something that I am passionate about and wrote about in my One Nation paper in summer 2020. It is not just me: we now have five commissions reporting on the reform of educational assessment, so this is a good moment to debate the merits of reforming our present system.

Even before covid, 21st century society was rapidly changing, but our education is still stuck in the 20th century. Even its original architect, Lord Baker, argues that it is due an overhaul. Covid has given us the chance to re-look at various policies, not least how we assess our children. We need to grasp that chance.

As Professor Bill Lucas, co-founder of Rethinking Assessment, states:

“Across the world assessment is not working. We are not evidencing the kinds of dispositions and capabilities that society increasingly wants. Educational jurisdictions are placing too much reliance on high-stakes, standardised testing. They are testing the wrong things in the wrong ways. High-stakes assessment is having a damaging impact on the health and wellbeing of students and it is not giving universities, colleges or employers the kind of information they want.”

Let us unpick those words. What does society want from education? Our assessment system currently dominates our entire schooling, influencing what is taught and how it is taught. As Professor Lucas says, we have a system focused on performance in a narrow range of high-stakes academic standardised testing.

It is important that I say that standards are vital, but increasingly employers do not understand the myriad qualifications and whether they are gold standard or not, especially when GCSEs are reduced to a milepost in a young person’s journey to 18, when they leave for university or work. The House of Lords’ Youth Unemployment Committee states:

“Skills gaps and shortages are clearly a major driver of youth unemployment and damage labour market productivity”.

The Times Education Commission’s interim report has been very focused on asking employers what they are looking for, and they agree that young people are not coming out with the life skills that would help in the workplace.

We have a knowledge-based curriculum, but we also need to build skills into the curriculum. It does not have to be a binary choice of knowledge versus skills; we need to marry powerful knowledge with the skills and attributes needed to apply them to real life. Are we testing the wrong things in the wrong ways? The figures seem to show that we are. A third of all students every year do not get grade 4 and above, which is considered a pass. As 613,000 young people took GCSEs last year, a third of that means that some 200,000 young people did not make the grade—a huge number. They are leaving education without substantive qualifications because our system fails those learners, who are better served by practical, technical and vocational ways of learning and assessment.

The Department for Education says that exams are the fairest way of everyone being tested the same. Really? Is that why girls do so much better? In 2019, 72% of girls received grade 4 or above GCSEs and only 63% of boys—a 9% difference that has not changed over a number of years. Are we saying that girls are much cleverer than boys, or is the reality that this is not a fair way of assessing everyone? We know that girls and boys learn differently.

I became increasingly concerned about the failure of our assessment system when I was the MP for Portsmouth South. I heard how many young people at college were taking their maths and English GCSEs over and over again. That seems ridiculous. Surely there is a better way of engaging pupils in maths and English that makes sense to them and enables them to achieve a certain level, not necessarily through an exam—I stress that I am not against exams, but against what I consider to be unnecessary exams at 16 that are narrowly focused when we are expecting young people to stay in education or training until they are 18. It would make far more sense to assess young people at 18, especially when there is ample evidence that assessment at 16 does not work and is harming our children. Professor Lucas says exams at 16 cause

“a damaging impact on the health and well-being of students”.

Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, professor of psychology and cognitive neuroscience at Cambridge University, has done a huge amount of research into how teenage brains develop. She spoke to us at a fringe event at the Conservative party conference in 2021. She says that high-stakes exams put huge pressure and stress on teenagers, reducing motivation during a critical time during their development. The yearly Children’s Society’s “Good Childhood Report” raises young people’s mental health as an issue. In 2018, children aged 15 in the UK had the greatest fear of failure and the lowest life satisfaction in school of children across 24 European countries. The 2021 report found that school, followed by friendships and appearance, continue to cause the greatest dissatisfaction in adolescence. In the Children’s Commissioner’s Big Ask survey, young people highlighted that stress related to high-stakes exams or assessment remains a significant concern to them.

Not just young people but parents and teachers are concerned. Of course, we all have to cope with stress and deal with it throughout our lives, but not when it is going to have a big impact on the future of a young person. For the record, I do not accept that the term “snowflake” is fair in any way for this generation. It is simplistic and lazy, and makes no allowance for the complexity that young people face today.

The last point in the quote is about education and employers not receiving the kind of information that they want. A YouGov poll commissioned by the Edge Foundation in 2020 found that 92% of teachers agree that the assessment system needs to recognise the full range of a young person’s strengths and skills through more than just written exams, especially as they place an emphasis on rote learning to the detriment of developing the skills and attitudes needed for work.

The Times Education Commission has been very clear that employers would like to see skills as well as knowledge. We are talking about skills of how to tackle and deal with any challenges during a lifetime, as well as other softer skills, including the value of oracy and team work. For example, disadvantaged children’s spoken language development is significantly lower than that of their more advantaged peers, although spoken language is one of the strongest predictors of a child’s future. However, the concentration and time spent on written exams does not allow for this development. That cannot be right or fair. Employers say that personality is more important than qualifications, and those of us whose exams were a long time ago know there is absolute truth in that, so why is it designed out of our present assessment system?

We are not just talking about exams at 16—it starts much younger in primary schools. SATs dominate year 6, and I am afraid there is teaching to the test to the exclusion of a wider curriculum. Pupils are reassessed when they get to secondary schools in any case. People say that SATs are needed as a measure of school accountability—really? We have Ofsted, and there are many ways of judging schools, such as quality of teaching and professional development of teachers for starters.

Parents do not look primarily at results when they are choosing a school—in fact, that is at the bottom of their list. They want a school where their child will be happy, achieve their potential and enjoy learning at the same time, alongside a wide range of activities. That is why so many people decide to pay to send their children to independent schools when they can afford it, but this is ridiculous as it is possible for every state school to do all of this. That is important because the Government’s Industrial Strategy Council highlighted that, by 2030, 7 million additional workers could be under-skilled for their job requirements. The skills gap is costing UK companies £6.6 billion a year.

Some people feel that education should be about inspiring young people through a knowledge-based curriculum only, or, as I would put it, learning information that they may never look at again. That is one argument, but it should be mixed with learning how to learn, learning skills that will make our children lifelong learners because it makes sense, learning because it interests and engages them and learning for the love of learning, rather than for a narrow set of exams. The Department for Education’s employer skills survey and findings from the CBI and other organisations, such as the World Economic Forum, all point to employers looking for skills such as problem solving, communication, self-management, team working, creativity, numeracy and digital skills. Those are not soft skills that come at the expense of knowledge. Knowledge is only useful where individuals have the skills to interpret and communicate it.

So what is the answer? I know this is not going to happen overnight—certainly not under this Government, although we will hear what the Minister says—but we will need to move gradually to a new system to give teachers, parents, young people and employers confidence in the changes. I am not calling for some radical seismic shift, but we must recognise that there is substantial evidence that there is a better alternative and work towards it—one that is multi-disciplined, offers a broad and balanced portfolio of assessment and blends the best of knowledge and skills.

The OECD and the programme for international student assessment, or PISA, are currently developing assessments to be used across the world, for example, in collaborative problem solving and creative thinking. The international baccalaureate model is used in 5,000 schools in more than 150 countries. There is good practice and systems out there that we can look at to design our own assessment at 18. We should have a 14-to-18 curriculum without a break for GCSEs which, as I have said, are no longer fit for purpose. We should have a broad and varied curriculum that enables young people to find their own path, whether that is academic or vocational with exams and/or assessment, be that a final assessment or continual assessment throughout those four years.

We should have a portfolio of achievement that includes English and maths in a format that is relevant to what that student wants to do; taking part in the National Citizen Service or Duke of Edinburgh award scheme and other organisations that bring character and skills; and a transcript that shows what a young person is really like, not just their ability to pass or fail national exams. That is particularly important in terms of equality. Young people from deprived and lower-income backgrounds often require more time and resources to realise their potential, and a more diverse and expansive range of subjects than the narrow curriculum we impose at present. An extended school day would help with that, too.

University technical colleges are already following the 14-to-18 model. They have been remarkably successful in identifying how an education can inspire and engage young people. I visited the Portsmouth UTC, which has been going for five years. Entry is by ballot and it has three applicants for every place. It gives young people the skills for the world of work, and those who do not go to university mostly go straight into higher-level apprenticeships. Time and again, it is a success story for those young people and it is in operation right now in this country.

A good education has the power to change lives and open doors to greater employment and lifelong learning. It leads to better health choices and active citizenship. Good teaching inspires and, crucially, assessment reform must give power back to teachers so that they can do what they were trained to do—impart a love for their subject to the next generation, rather than teaching to the test. If we do not change, we will continue to fail millions of young people in this country, including many from disadvantaged backgrounds. We will continue to struggle against our international competitors because we will lack the 21st-century skills that we need to be global Britain.

With the right focus and commitment, young people from all backgrounds, who are engaged and who know that the point of their assessment is to realise their ambitions, will flourish, but they need time to study the subjects in which they are interested—academic or vocational—in depth, over four years. That would set up many more of our children for a lifetime of work and learning. We need to start working on a system that works for them as we enter the second quarter of the 21st century and as young people face all the challenges of this complex world.

5.41pm
The Minister for School Standards (Mr Robin Walker)

I genuinely congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Meon Valley (Mrs Drummond) on securing this debate and on the enthusiasm with which she has put her case. She has written extensively about examinations and assessment and she is a passionate advocate for children and young people.

There is a great deal on which we can agree, such as understanding the importance of young people’s mental health, the importance of skills as well as academic rigour in the system, and the importance of balancing opportunities across vocational and academic routes. I entirely agree with my hon. Friend that we do not want schools to be teaching to the test and that we want pupils to be engaged in activities as well as learning from which they can benefit.

I fear that we are fated to disagree, however, on exams and assessment reform. We stood on a manifesto that promised to ensure that

“every pupil gets the qualifications they need for a prosperous future, while learning in an environment where they will be…fulfilled.”

It is vital to me that qualifications align with our broader vision for education. The Government are clear that young people should be able to access a broad and balanced academically focused curriculum up until the age of 16. We believe that pupils should be introduced to the best that has been thought and said to familiarise them with the essential knowledge that they need to be educated citizens and to ensure that as many children as possible can lay claim to a rich intellectual inheritance.

Key to that, of course, is ensuring that they have the numeracy and literacy skills to access that broad and balanced curriculum by the time they finish primary school. GCSEs provide the basis for an academically focused curriculum from 14 to 16 and it is our ambition that, by 2025, 90% of pupils will sit a core set of academic GCSEs known as the EBacc.

We have taken steps to ensure that pupils have the opportunity to study high-quality vocational and technical qualifications alongside that core from 14 to 16. We have improved the quality of non-GCSE qualifications at key stage 4 by introducing a new approvals process for technical awards. Only those that meet our stretching requirements and are reviewed by Ofqual will be recognised in key stage 4 performance tables alongside academic qualifications.

With that broad grounding, all students, regardless of background, are prepared to fulfil their aspirations post 16. Pupils can specialise by choosing from a range of high-quality academic and technical qualifications and routes that then become open to them. As my hon. Friend rightly pointed out, the academic route is not the only path to success, which is why it is important that a range of assessment types and pathways is available, drawn from our rigorous and evidence-informed blend of qualifications, to ensure that all students can achieve their full potential.

Alongside A-levels, we have introduced T-levels. Our 10 new T-levels are being taught, including digital, construction, education and childcare, and healthcare science. More than 20 will be available from 2023 and they give students a clear path from their studies to their chosen career. We are also streamlining and improving the quality of post-16 qualifications at level 3 and below.

Sir John Hayes (South Holland and The Deepings) (Con)

The Minister is both diligent and thoughtful about these matters. The key thing is that many people’s tastes and talents take them down a practical route, yet we are still labouring under the illusion that the only way to gain accomplishment comes through academic prowess. The simple fact of the matter is that, as he suggested, we need to recognise that fewer people should be studying those degrees that confer neither intellectual rigour nor economic value. People should be studying practical, vocational, technical subjects for their own benefit and fulfilment and for the national interest.

Mr Walker

I do not disagree at all with my right hon. Friend, and he will see that some of the work our right hon. Friend the Minister for Higher and Further Education is doing with the university sector is about recognising precisely that, but I do not think that is an argument for removing GCSEs at the age of 16; it is an argument for ensuring that those vocational routes are available.

As we all know, the past two summers have seen unprecedented disruption to the familiar routine of exams and assessments. Teachers and school and college leaders across the country have coped amazingly well with the pandemic and with its associated disruption to exams—and I want to take this opportunity to again thank them from the Dispatch Box for their herculean efforts—but we know that exams are the best and fairest way of judging students’ performance.

Exams provide a shared understanding of what students know and can do—an even playing field with everyone being assessed on the same thing at the same time, independently. We know that exams and the preparation leading up to them can be motivating and lead to improved learning. Beyond that, exams provide students with an objective and accurate gauge of their progress and understanding of subject matter, which can inform their choices about where to go on to next. Exams are the most objective measure, which is why non-examined assessment and coursework is used only where knowledge, skills and understanding cannot be tested validly by an exam. Examples of this would include coursework in GCSE and A-level art and design. For all those reasons we are committed to exams continuing to play a crucial role in our education system, and we are firmly committed to their reintroduction this summer as we emerge from the effects of the pandemic.

Over the course of the last 10 years our reforms to secondary and further education qualifications have created a gold-standard exam system that is respected around the world. Our qualifications exports in 2018 were worth £3.3 billion to the UK economy; this points to a model of success of which we should rightly be proud.

My predecessors in the Department reformed and strengthened GCSEs from 2013 to address concerns from higher and further education institutions and employers that the previous qualification did not adequately prepare young people for the demands of the workplace and higher studies—points my hon. Friend the Member for Meon Valley made. Our reformed GCSEs rigorously assess knowledge acquired by pupils in key stage 4 and are in line with expected standards in countries with the highest-performing education systems.

Our reforms strengthened GCSEs in a number of ways. Qualifications became linear, with exams sat at the end of a two-year course so that less time is spent preparing for modules and resits and more time is spent on teaching and learning. My hon. Friend raised the point about teaching for tests. I have frequently discussed that with Ofsted, which takes it very seriously; its new inspection framework encourages schools to keep a focus on the breadth of curriculum, particularly at key stage 3 and earlier, and discourages teaching to the test.

Ofqual was formally established as the new independent regulator in 2010, with a statutory responsibility to maintain standards. It put in place robust arrangements to maintain standards, which led to year-on-year stability in grades over a long period. Ofqual also introduced a new grading scale, from 9 to 1, with 9 the highest and 1 the lowest grade, in place of A* to G, to signal that the standard of qualifications had changed and to allow greater differentiation of performance at the top end. In 2017 Ofqual also introduced a national reference test to capture improvements in attainment in English and maths so that these could be reflected in grading.

GCSEs serve a critical function as a measure of attainment and a vehicle for progression, and they do so because they are recognised and trusted. They have strong public recognition, with support from 75% of those surveyed as part of Ofqual’s most recent public perceptions and confidence study. That trust stems from a long history in this country of assessment at age 16, which has existed since at least 1918 when the school certificate was introduced, through to the introduction of O-levels in 1951, CSEs in 1965 and GCSEs in 1988.

Mrs Drummond

That was fine when young people were leaving at 16 because they needed some qualifications to take into the workplace, but we are now expecting all young people to stay in education or training until 18, so does it not make more sense to shift that exam at 16 to 18?

Mr Walker

That training can of course include the workplace, such as through apprenticeships and the vocational route, so I have to disagree fundamentally. It is important that young people have those opportunities to continue studying in school or, for those who are not suited to school, to go on to a vocational route to pursue further study and development of their careers in the workplace.

We know that half of students change institution at the age of 16, and it is because they have a shared and recognised qualification that they can transition easily post-16. GCSEs equip students to move directly into employment or apprenticeships at that age with a qualification in hand. GCSEs are long-standing, credible and well respected. At the same time, as I mentioned, we have worked with higher education providers and employers to reform A-levels to ensure that they better meet the needs of higher education. That includes decoupling the AS-level to reduce the assessment burden and enable A-level students to spend more time learning and developing their depth of understanding of subjects. Reformed GCSEs support reformed A-levels, and reformed A-levels support higher graduation rates in three-year degrees from our internationally recognised universities, with four British universities currently in the top 10 globally and 17 in the top 100.

I turn to vocational and technical qualifications, which we all recognise are important. From our reforms to the way in which grades have been awarded in the context of the covid-19 pandemic, we have sought to ensure parity between those receiving vocational and technical qualifications and those receiving GCSEs and AS and A-levels. As I mentioned, the new T-levels have been developed in collaboration with employers so that students can get the specific training, knowledge and skills required for their chosen career. Not only that: they include a nine-week high quality placement in a relevant industry, giving students first-hand experience of work during their studies.

Alongside the introduction of our T-levels, we are streamlining and strengthening the quality of all other post-16 qualifications at level 3, making the system easier to navigate and more responsive to employers’ needs. The changes that we are making will give students a clear route map to the high-quality technical and academic choices available—choices that they can trust to lead to rewarding careers.

My hon. Friend mentioned the role of UTCs. The Government are committed to providing young people with technical skills and knowledge to progress into further and higher education, apprenticeships and employment. Indeed, strong university technical colleges such as the outstanding UTC in Portsmouth to which she referred are succeeding in equipping their students with those vital skills.

I turn to the immediate arrangements for qualifications. We recognise that students taking exams this year will have experienced disruption caused by the covid pandemic, so we have rightly worked closely with Ofqual to put in place a package of measures to recognise that. The measures will include unprecedented support to ensure that students can fairly demonstrate what they know and can do. They offer the right balance to account for the disruption students faced while providing students, teachers, schools and colleges with the consistency and independence of assessment and familiarity that exams deliver. The package of measures this year includes advance information on the focus of exams in most subjects for GCSE and AS and A-level students; a choice of topic or content in some GCSE exams where advance information is not provided; exam aids for use during some GCSE exams; and a range of adaptations for students taking vocational and technical qualifications depending on the purpose of the qualification.

In balancing public confidence in qualifications with fairness, Ofqual has also confirmed that 2022 will be a transition year to reflect the fact that we are in a pandemic recovery period and that students’ education has been disrupted. In 2022, the aim will be for grades to reflect a midway point between 2021 and 2019, with national results likely to be higher than pre-pandemic levels, providing a safety net for those of this year’s students who might otherwise have missed out on a grade. We are confident that those measures, alongside the direct investment of nearly £5 billion in education recovery, provide a pathway for a successful return to normal exams and assessments in the academic year 2022-23.

My hon. Friend rightly mentioned the importance of mental health. Exams and other assessments are an essential part of ensuring that young people have acquired the knowledge and skills that they need to study. The Government are clear that education providers should encourage pupils and students to work hard, but not at the expense of their wellbeing. I recognise that exams, like other things in life including job interviews, moving house or having a first child, are by their nature stressful, but when pupils receive the right support, many find the level of stress from exams manageable—and actually a certain level of stress can be a motivating factor. Schools and colleges should be able to identify signs of exam-related stress whenever they emerge and be in a position to respond appropriately.

Research shows that there is a clear difference between exam stress, which is not necessarily a bad thing, and anxiety, which is a cause for concern. Clearly, we do not want young people to be in a situation where pressure tips over into mental health problems. That is why we have provided schools with a wide range of training and resources to help them support pupils and students’ wellbeing. Our recent £15 million wellbeing for education recovery and wellbeing for education return programmes have provided free expert training, support and resources for education staff, helping to promote and support the wellbeing and mental health of pupils and students as they recover from the impacts of the covid pandemic. Ofqual has also issued guidance on coping with exam pressure. The information provides some techniques that students can use to help to alleviate or lessen anxiety they might have about exams, and it can be accessed through Ofqual’s website.

My hon. Friend mentioned primary assessments. We think it is vital that primary assessments go forward this year, not least because we want to ensure that that data is available to look at the impact on learning from the pandemic and that we can work across the system. However, I can confirm to her that we will not be publishing comparative data between schools this year, which I know has been a concern for the sector. Recognising that school tests and assessments will be returning for the first time since 2019 without the adaptations we have in secondary, the results will not be published in league tables.

Mrs Drummond

If that is successful, will the Minister continue it in future years? One of the problems that make the stakes high is that schools are put in league tables. That is why they are teaching to the test, because, obviously, they want to appear higher up in the league tables. If it is a success this year, will it be carried on so that we do not have league tables anymore?

Mr Walker

The specific measures we are taking this year are in recognition of the pressures the sector has faced. We will, of course, review their impact as we go forward.

I am grateful to have had the opportunity to debate this very important issue this evening. I must be clear that there are no plans for new wholesale reform of GCSEs and A-levels, which are internationally respected and enjoy high levels of public support. I am proud of the strides that this Government and previous Governments have taken to boost the quality of our technical and vocational qualifications. Our reforms since 2010 have already made a lasting improvement to qualifications, ensuring that they reflect the knowledge and skills pupils need to progress. Our GCSE and A-level reforms were substantial and designed to last, but some of the reforms to qualifications were quite new when the pandemic started. I am determined to continue the great work of my predecessors and embed them into our system. I am also acutely aware that schools, colleges and our brilliant teachers will benefit from a period of stability as we recover from the effects of the pandemic.

As we gear up for the return of exams this summer, I will close with a reflection on what that will mean for students across the country who are preparing for them. For the first time in two years, students in my constituency of Worcester, as well as in my hon. Friend’s constituency of Meon Valley and along with those up and down the country, will have the chance to demonstrate what they have learned through public exams. I am pleased that through their hard work and the hard work of their teachers, they will have the opportunity to secure the valuable qualifications they need to progress to the next stage of their careers.

Question put and agreed to.