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Have your say on the EBacc
EBacc to the future?
The Government plans to reform secondary qualifications, replacing the GCSE with the English Baccalaureate. Have your say – and contribute to the NUT’s campaign for alternatives.
The Government is consulting on its proposed reforms to GCSEs. The NUT wants to use this consultation to promote our vision for an exam system that is fair and fit for purpose. To achieve this we want to know your views.
There are good reasons to consider change – not least that the education leaving age is rising to 18. The NUT was in favour of the Tomlinson proposals for an overarching diploma. Discussions at the recent party conferences showed significant support for such a proposal.
We don’t agree with Michael Gove’s criticisms of GCSEs, nor do we support his proposals for the English Baccalaureate (EBacc). Prioritising some subjects risks marginalising others, and insisting on a terminal exam could lead to many students not achieving their potential.
There is a fatal tension between Michael Gove’s stated ambition of helping every child succeed and his allowing Ofqual to impose a limit on GCSE passes. There is also a flaw in the intention, while GCSEs still exist, to punish schools for being below a ‘floor target’ while capping the number of A* to C grades.
The NUT would like to see:
1 A diploma for each student at the end of secondary education, comprising externally and internally assessed elements, with many students taking both vocational and academic components (Tomlinson proposal).
2 Such a diploma would provide a statutory entitlement to a range of curriculum areas and learning experiences, while also allowing more specialisation as students mature.
3 A system of assessment, designed in consultation with teachers and experts, which could vary from subject to subject. This should be based on trust in teachers – for example using teacher-moderated assessment – with external testing to ensure consistency.
4 School accountability reform to remove pressures of teaching to the test by concentrating on inputs, not outputs.
5 External inspection by respected professionals, coupled with school self- evaluation, including a role for parents and students, to replace the current system of school accountability through league tables and Ofsted.
This is the system we want to argue for with parents, political parties and employers, and we would like your views.
The government's proposals
• GCSEs to be abolished.
• New qualification in English, maths, sciences, languages, history and geography, each to be called an English Baccalaureate.
• English, science and maths start in 2015. No start dates yet for others.
• Only one exam board per subject.
• No internal assessment in these subjects.
• No tiering in exam papers.
• Assessment by three-hour terminal exam.
• Students who do not pass get a ‘record of achievement’ instead, creating a two-tier system.
Have your say
Ideally we’d like members in secondary schools and colleges to meet colleagues and feed in their views so their school rep can complete a single questionnaire on their behalf. Otherwise members should fill in individual questionnaires and return them to their rep, for them to send to the NUT. We need all replies as soon as possible, at the latest by 23 November.
All NUT reps in secondary schools and colleges have been sent 20 copies of an NUT questionnaire on exam reform. Further copies can be downloaded from
www.teachers.org.uk.
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