GCSEs explained
GCSES ARE WIDELY REGARDED INTERNATIONALLY AS THE GOLD-STANDARD QUALIFICATION FOR STUDENTS AGED 14–16. AS THE UK GOVERNMENT
CONTINUES TO PUSH THROUGH REFORMS TO DRIVE UP STANDARDS, WE TAKE A LOOK AT CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS.
he GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) is the main school-leaving qualification in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (Scotland operates an independent system of National qualifications). It is generally well regarded by higher-education institutions and employers for its rigour and breadth of study. However, in recent years, the examination system has come under attack for failing to address grade inflation and placing a heavy reliance on resits and modular coursework assessment. The government has responded by introducing a comprehensive programme of GCSE reforms, which are being rolled out in a phased approach until 2019. GCSEs are currently available in around 50 subjects and are usually studied full time at school or college, taking five terms to complete. The qualification mainly involves studying the theory of a subject, combined with some investigative work. Some subjects, such as Science, also involve practical work. They are assessed mainly on written exams, although there are elements of coursework in some subjects. Some subjects, such as art and design, have more coursework and fewer exams. GCSE exams are taken in May/June when pupils are in
T
Year 11, and the results are published in August. GCSE REFORM IN ENGLAND
Reforms to the GCSE system in England began in September 2015 and included a major change to the way in which GCSEs were graded. From 2017, English language, English literature and maths were the first subjects to be graded 1–9, with 9 being the top grade and set above the old A* grade. The new system is intended to
provide more
differentiation, specifically for higher-achieving students. The grading for all other subjects will be rolled out across 2018 and 2019. However, as the grading is being changed over three years rather than all at once, some students will receive a mixture of letters and numbers in their results.
The new exams are also said to be more demanding, with
content developed in coalition between the government and the exam boards. According to the Department for Education (DfE), the exams include “more challenging content”.
School Standards Minister Nick Gibb said, “This is the culmination of a six year process of curriculum and qualifications reform, which has involved wide consultation with teachers, schools and universities.
“The new GCSEs are more rigorous so that young people can gain the knowledge and understanding they need to succeed in the future and compete in an increasingly global workplace.”
John Guntrip, deputy head of Culford, a coeducational day and boarding school for pupils aged from 1 to 18 in Suffolk, believes greater differentiation through the new grading system will be beneficial to high achievers. “The new grading system allows our top academic pupils better differentiation in terms of the grades they receive. The system allows the marking to be more precise and provides a clearer way of grading,” he said.
Some experts believe that one of the more positive changes is how schools are ranked in performance tables. Rather than looking at the number of pupils achieving a C grade or above, which tempts schools to place too much emphasis on students who are attaining just below a C grade and too little emphasis on low- and high-achieving students, schools now receive a progress score – Progress 8 – that measures every pupil’s GCSE results against their Key Stage 2 tests, taken at the end of primary school.
For more information see Performance Tables: deciphering the code on page 74.
WALES AND NORTHERN IRELAND Following recent government changes, policies and regulations are no longer aligned in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, so examination boards cannot offer the same qualifications in all three countries. GCSEs offered by the Welsh Joint Education Committee
(WJEC) in Wales are retaining the A*–G grading system, although the WJEC’s Eduqas brand is offering 9–1 GCSEs for schools in England, Northern Ireland and the independent- school sector in Wales. However, in June 2016, Northern Ireland’s Education
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