Plymouth councillor questions further exam changes
A Plymouth councillor is calling for a halt to "last minute decisions" being made to the education system after the Government announced a further change to school GCSE examination results.
The Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, announced at the Conservative Party's conference that, with effect from 29 September 2013, only a student’s first GCSE result will count in their school’s performance tables.
Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, Labour Councillor Nicky Williams, believes that changing the way GCSE results are recorded in school league tables "at the last minute" is not acceptable.
She explains: “Schools are literally reeling from all the changes being made, it’s relentless. I feel incredibly sorry for the pupils caught up in all of this - it’s their education that’s affected. Pupils already revising for their November exams may find they can no longer sit them. I feel strongly that these kinds of decisions should not be made at such short notice without any consideration for the young people whose lives are being affected.
“It’s fair to say that some early entries have been used by schools to ‘bank’ results but the majority enter pupils who are close to the pass/fail mark to spur them on to achieve more. The confidence gained from getting a ‘C’ motivates some on to higher grades. It also allows pupils to focus on certain subjects if necessary.
“It seems to me that this is more about Gove wanting to control schools by dictating how they manage their exams and not about consideration for pupils. It’s inevitable that the figures will be skewed by this further tinkering with GCSEs.
“My biggest concern though is about the bigger education picture – councils and schools are hearing about these changes through seemingly random announcements. Piecemeal policy-making is no good to anyone, these are children's lives. Every change costs huge amounts in time and planning and reduces confidence in the system. Young people just want the opportunity to thrive and prove how good they are, we should stop putting barriers in their way.”
Those who have not yet taken a GCSE will have only their first GCSE taken after 29 September 2013 count in performance tables. This change will affect all EBacc subjects and both GCSE and IGCSE examinations. For performance tables published in January 2016 and subsequently, the changes will apply to all non-EBacc subjects as well.
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