www.sec-ed.com


Anger at Gove crackdown on early entries


by Dorothy Lepkowska


Headteachers have reacted angrily to government plans to ask Ofsted to intervene where they find schools entering pupils for GCSEs early. Education secretary Michael


Gove has written to Sir Michael Wilshaw, chief inspector, to ask him to look into how the practice can be “discouraged”. Mr Gove said there were


dangers in students taking exams before they are ready. In the letter, he adds that taking


More than 38,000 GCSE and A level grades are altered


More than 26,000 GCSE and 12,000 AS and A level grades were changed following appeals after last summer’s examinations. Data released by exams


watchdog Ofqual shows after the publication of A level and GCSE results in 2011, a total of 204,600 enquiries were made by schools believing some results to inaccurate. There were more than 5.8


million GCSE and 2.5 million AS and A level awards in England, Wales and Northern Ireland last year and around 15.1 million scripts had to be marked during the summer. Schools can make enquiries


over results if they believe grades to be inaccurate and if the review discovers a marking mistake or an error in processing then the awarding body will change the result to the appropriate grade. However, grades can be moved lower as well as higher. Schools are permitted to


make two further appeals if an awarding body refuses to alter the mark in question.


A stage 1 appeal results in


the paper being reviewed by a senior member of the awarding body while a stage 2 appeal is considered by an independent panel. At both GCSE and A level there was a 20 per cent increase in stage 1 appeals – 401 compared to 333 in 2010 – and of these, 71 complaints were upheld. There were 40 stage 2 appeals


– an increase of 38 per cent from 2010 when 29 were heard. Of these, six were upheld, four of which resulted in changes to subject grades. Overall, 48 of the 401 stage 1


and 2 appeals resulted in changes to grades – compared to 24 in 2010. An Ofqual statement said:


“The number of appeals received and those resulting in grade changes have increased from 2010. But when looking at the last five years, there has been a downward trend in the number of appeals received. The number of successful appeals resulting in grade changes has remained fairly consistent.”


a GCSE early “can be beneficial where it is undertaken as part of a planned programme of accelerated progression through to A level and beyond”. But he warned that it had become a “damaging trend that is harming the interests of many pupils”. However, Brian Lightman,


general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the proposal was “an astonishing move back to centralised diktats that the government has hitherto rejected”. He said: “I am astounded that


the secretary of state has asked Ofsted to intervene directly in the way schools choose to manage their GCSE entries. This u-turn contradicts the government’s declared policy of giving professionals the freedom and autonomy to manage their schools. “Examination entry policy is a


matter for schools to decide. Ofsted’s role is to provide an independent evaluation of the standards they achieve, not to tell schools how to operate or bully them into preferred modes of practice. “If a school’s examination


entry policy is a factor leading to underachievement, Ofsted will no doubt take that into consideration. Equally, some schools might use early entry to raise aspirations or provide challenge for gifted and talented pupils.” He added that the move


potentially eroded Ofsted’s independence. “Ofsted is in danger of losing its


credibility with the public and the profession, putting at risk its ability to assess our education system objectively.” According to research published


by the Department for Education, in 2007 there were 67,000 early entries in English and maths GCSEs. But in 2010 this rose to 326,000. Almost a quarter of pupils took English and 27 per cent of pupils took maths before the end of Year 11. In that year, 29 per cent of early


entrants got an A*, A or B in maths GCSE – compared with 37 per cent of all entrants, and 41 per cent of end-of-course entrants. In English, meanwhile, 30 per


cent of early entrants got an A*, A or B, compared with 41 per cent of all entrants, and 45 per cent of end- of-course candidates. The research found that


successful state schools were less likely to enter pupils early than lower attaining schools. The move to involve Ofsted was


welcomed by Andrew Hall, chief executive of awarding body AQA, who said he was worried “about the students who are entered too early being scared off the subject and joining the pool who believe they can't do maths”.


• See page 6: Editorial


Six in 10 good or better after final 2011 Ofsted inspections


Nearly two thirds of schools were rated “good” or “outstanding” during the last three months of inspections under the old Ofsted framework. Data from the inspectorate shows


that between October and December last year, 16 per cent of schools were judged outstanding and 47 per cent good for their overall effective- ness. A further 31 per cent were rated as “satisfactory” – the category that is to be re-named as “requires improvement”. Of the 237 secondary schools


inspected during this period, 49 were outstanding and 87 good for their overall effectiveness. Elsewhere, 61 of the 77 special schools inspected were also rated good or outstanding overall.


In the three-month period, 1,679


maintained school inspections took place and the inspectorate reported a close link between the judgements for overall effectiveness and quality of teaching. Since Sir Michael Wilshaw


became chief inspector in January this year, Ofsted has made a number of changes including the introduction of no-notice inspec- tions from September. Also, only schools with outstanding teaching can now achieve an overall out- standing grade. Of the 294 schools rated as out-


standing at the end of 2011, 88 per cent of them were judged to have good or outstanding teaching. Elsewhere, in 71 per cent of the schools inspected, the leadership


and management was also judged to be at least good. Brian Lightman, general secre-


tary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “These statistics don’t tell us anything about the education system as a whole because the sample was skewed toward lower achieving schools. Ofsted stopped inspecting outstand- ing schools and only inspects (good) schools every five years. “In the three months reported


on, proportionally Ofsted inspect- ed many more schools which fell into the satisfactory category in the previous inspection. Given the skewed sample, we should be cel- ebrating the fact that two-thirds of these schools are now rated good or outstanding.”


Four in 10 schools report EBacc boost in MFL take-up


Four in 10 maintained schools have reported a higher take-up of modern languages since the introduction of the English Baccalaureate (EBacc). A report by the CfBT Education


Trust shows that the performance measure is having a positive effect on the number of year 10s beginning to study languages. The report also found that


more than 70 per cent of heads of languages in maintained and independent schools believe more priority needs to be given to languages in schools. In the past decade, the number


of students gaining GCSEs in a foreign language has dropped by 45 per cent. The situation was not helped following the move to make languages at GCSE optional in 2004.


SecEd • March 15 2012 Both schools minister Nick Gibb


and education secretary Michael Gove have previously stated how concerned they are about the relatively small numbers studying foreign languages. Head of languages at CfBT,


Kathryn Board, said: “While the numbers of pupils taking a GCSE in a language is still declining, it is reassuring that the introduction of the EBacc appears to have helped improve the figures for the take- up of languages in many of our secondary schools. “Additionally, our research has


identified that more than 50 per cent of teachers across the board believe that curriculum time allocated for teaching GCSE and A level languages is insufficient and particularly does not allow enough


time for speaking practice,” she added. Elsewhere, the report said


although the EBacc is improving take-up of languages, maintained schools are dropping alternative language courses such as Asset Languages and NVQ Language units. Baroness Coussins, chair of the


All-Party Parliamentary Group on Modern Languages, said: “While it is very encouraging to see steps being taken in many schools to increase language take-up, a number of significant issues remain to be addressed in the areas of assessment, continuity between key stages and the time allocated for the study of languages in the curriculum.” Visit www.cfbt.com


Text a school nurse


Students are to be encouraged to use technologies such as email and text to contact their school nurse under new government plans. The proposals form part of Getting it Right for Children, Young People and Families, the government strategy for school nursing which was published this week. The document, which has been put together in collaboration with young people, sets out a vision for how school nursing services should operate. A Department of Health


statement said: “Too often pupils find it hard to see school nurses because they do not know how to make appointments or they are too embarrassed or shy to ask or an appointment through a teacher. Using technology such as emails and text messaging to contact their school nurse can overcome these problems.” So-called school nurse


champions – young people who have helped develop the strategy – are now to work with the Department of Health to come up with new ideas to help pupils get more access to their school nurses. Suggestions already made


by the students include giving young people a choice of a male or a female school nurse. Visit: www.dh.gov.uk/health/2012/03/ school-nursing


NEWS In brief Talks ended


The Treasury has formally announced the conclusion of negotiations over the changes to public sector pensions. It comes after a number of education unions signed up to a “heads of agreement” document in December which retained plans for a career-average pension scheme but include an improved accrual rate of 1/57th of salary each year. Also, teachers 10 years from retirement will be immune to the changes and those who miss the 10-year cut-off by up to 3.5 years will also receive some protection. The ATL and ASCL were


among those unions to sign up to the deal. The NAHT is still to decide on the issue while the two major teaching unions – NUT and NASUWT – have refused to back the offer. Among unions’ main


concerns are the proposed increases in employee contributions from 6.4 to 9.6 per cent by 2014 and plans to increase the retirement age to 68. Christine Blower, NUT


general secretary, said: “It has been clear throughout a whole year of negotiations that the government has never wanted an agreement. This government has always intended to impose its own views and cut our pensions regardless of the case for not doing so.” A Treasury statement said:


“The government has begun working on the implementation of these scheme designs and will introduce legislation as soon as Parliamentary time allows, so that new schemes can be in place by 2015.”


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