Eighty six per cent of school and college leaders have
called for GCSEs to be reformed or scrapped in a survey carried
out by ASCL.
The survey of 799 school and
college leaders in England revealed
widespread dissatisfaction with GCSEs, which have been reformed
since 2015 to make them deliberately harder with more content and
exams.
Most respondents said GCSEs do not work well for all
students, and raised concerns that these qualifications are not
accessible to a significant proportion of lower attaining
students, including those with special educational needs.
They said that GCSEs left too many pupils demoralised, and
increased anxiety and mental health problems.
The future of GCSEs
We asked whether GCSEs should be scrapped and assessment
reviewed at 16; retained but reformed; or retained in their
current form. These were the results:
|
Scrapped and assessment at 16 reviewed
|
39.55%
|
316
|
|
Retained but reformed
|
46.93%
|
375
|
|
Retained in their current form
|
13.52%
|
108
|
|
TOTAL
|
|
799
|
Rachael Warwick, President of the Association of School and
College Leaders, will tell 1,000 delegates at the association’s
annual conference in Birmingham today (Friday 13
March):
“Is it really too much to ask that the government looks
again at GCSEs? That it recognises that the reforms it introduced
to deliberately make GCSEs harder have resulted in life becoming
even more difficult for the very children who most need our
support? Surely, the fact that this is being said by school
leaders – the people who deliver these qualifications – should be
listened to.
“The pressure of a large number of terminal exams and the
ignominy of Grades 1-3 are creating young people who exhibit
unprecedented levels of stress and anxiety.
“Add to this the pernicious potential of social media to
attack self-esteem and perpetuate bullying, and the fact that
nearly a third of the country’s children grow up in grinding,
relentless poverty, and we have a perfect storm.”
Those calling for GCSEs to be scrapped felt that it was
time to review assessment at 16 in an era when young people are
expected to remain in education or training until 18 and that a
lighter-touch system of assessment was needed to facilitate
onward progression.
Those favouring reform suggested changes such as reducing
the amount of exams, the volume of content in courses, and the
emphasis on having to recall large amounts of
information.
A common theme among many respondents was the need for a
broader range of alternative qualifications to GCSEs, in
particular vocational qualifications.
Comments from school leaders included:
-
“Because GCSES are now so content-laden and deliberately
harder, they disenfranchise many students for whom these exams
are just too daunting. This is leading to greater anxiety and
mental health problems for these students.”
-
“They are not accessible for many learners and this leads
to a lack of engagement and limits their opportunities for
future progression routes as they are not able to achieve and
be successful. It can also lead to a detrimental impact on a
young person's motivation and mental health as they view
themselves as a failure.”
-
“Basically any child who doesn't get a grade 4 gains no
benefit, and in the case of English and maths it can actually
be a lifelong disadvantage.”
The
full results of the survey can be accessed
here.
