Responding to a report by the Lords Education for 11-16 Year Olds
Committee warning the current education system is too focused on
academic learning and written exams, Geoff Barton, General
Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said:
“We agree that the education system in England needs rebalancing.
Government policies have prioritised a set of academic GCSEs, and
increased the time students spend sitting exams as well as the
amount of information they must memorise. It is not conducive to
good mental health or enjoyment of learning and has felt like an
attempt to recreate an education system from the 1950s.
“Central to this is the English Baccalaureate which is not a
certificate that young people receive but a performance measure
of schools designed to drive uptake in academic GCSEs. This has
resulted in a decline in entries to non-EBacc subjects such as
the creative arts and design and technology. We support the
committee’s call for an immediate end to the EBacc as this would
help rebalance the curriculum.
“On the committee’s other recommendations, we agree with the need
to reduce external assessment and make greater use of onscreen
technology and we think the best way to approach curriculum
reform is to establish an independent commission. However, a
broad and balanced curriculum is reliant upon schools and
colleges having the funding and staff they need. That is
currently a very long way from being the case and without a
commitment from the government to greater investment in education
and the education workforce existing provision is at risk let
alone any ambition for a broader curriculum offer.”
