“The evidence we have received is compelling. Change to the
education system for 11–16 year olds is urgently needed, to
address an overloaded curriculum, a disproportionate exam burden
and declining opportunities to study creative and technical
subjects.”
, Chair of the Lords Education for 11-16 Year Olds
Committee
A House of Lords report published today, Tuesday 12 December,
warns that the current education system for 11–16 year olds is
too focused on academic learning and written exams, limiting
opportunities for pupils to study a broad and balanced curriculum
and to develop core skills.
After hearing from a range of witnesses, including pupils,
teachers, school leaders, academics, and Ministers, the
cross-party Education for 11–16 Year Olds Committee calls for
bold reform. It argues that change is needed to the 11–16
curriculum and assessment model, to create more space for
technical, digital and creative areas of study, and reduce the
burden of GCSE exams. The report, Requires improvement:
urgent change for 11–16 education, also calls on the
Government to address the negative effects of the current school
performance measures, including by abandoning immediately the
English Baccalaureate (EBacc).
To achieve change, the committee urges the Government to:
1. reform the 11–16 curriculum by:
- reducing the dominance of rote
learning, freeing up capacity for schools and teachers to offer a
more varied, richer range of learning experiences and develop a
broader set of skills;
- providing more opportunities at key
stages 3 and 4 to study creative, cultural, vocational and
technical subjects, which will open up pathways to the full range
of post-16 options and nurture core talent for the future
economy;
- developing and introducing a basic
digital literacy qualification and a new GCSE in applied
computing;
- giving pupils the option to take
functional literacy and numeracy qualifications at key stage 4
which differ from, but are equal in value to, GCSE English and
maths;
- embedding opportunities for oracy
and communication skills development across the key stage 3 and 4
curriculums;
- embedding climate change and
sustainability education across the key stage 3 and 4
curriculums.
-
change how 14 –16 year olds are assessed
by:
- considering proposals to reduce
significantly the amount of external assessment undertaken by
pupils during key stage 4;
- introducing a greater proportion of
non-exam assessment;
- driving the move towards
introducing more on-screen assessment in GCSE exams.
-
revise school performance measures by:
- abandoning the English
Baccalaureate (EBacc) entirely, including the ambition for 90% of
pupils to be taking this subject combination, and removing all
references to the EBacc from Ofsted’s school inspection
handbook;
- refining the Progress 8 measure to
ensure that schools maintain an appropriate level of focus on the
core subjects of maths, English and science, while enabling them
to promote a broader range of subjects to pupils at key stage
4.
The Committee’s inquiry was established in response to growing
concerns that the present 11–16 system is moving in the wrong
direction, especially in relation to meeting the needs of a
future digital and green economy. The report therefore also
discusses, and supports the ambition of, recent proposals for
reform from other bodies, such as the plan for a Greater
Manchester Baccalaureate (MBacc) put forward by Mayor of Greater
Manchester, Andy .
Chair of the Committee, , said:
“The evidence we have received is compelling. Change to the
education system for 11–16 year olds is urgently needed, to
address an overloaded curriculum, a disproportionate exam burden
and declining opportunities to study creative and technical
subjects.
Immediate and longer-term reform is essential to ensuring that
our secondary system equips young people with the knowledge,
skills and behaviours they need to progress to the full range of
post-16 options, and to flourish in the future.”
