24 Wednesday December 22 2021 | the times
News
Teachers want pupils to be allowed to
take GCSEs in core subjects before they
are 16 if they are ready, a survey has
found.
Many said they backed proposals for
a “stage, not age” system, in which
pupils would sit English and maths ex-
ams when they reached the right level,
no matter how old they were.
Research conducted by Oxford Uni-
versity Press (OUP) for The Times Edu-
cation Commission also found that
only half of teachers thought the cur-
riculum for pupils aged 14 to 16 was
broad and balanced.
Almost 500 teachers across England
and Wales, half of whom were heads of
department, responded to the poll. For
those in favour of an overhaul of the
GCSE system, the most popular sug-
gestion was reducing the number of
exam papers at 16. This was followed
closely by introducing a blend of high
and low-stakes assessment — such as
exams and teacher grades — and allow-
ing pupils to take GCSE English and
maths early.
Some supported moving to hybrid
GCSEs, set by schools as well as exam
boards.
Amanda Spielman, head of the edu-
cation watchdog, Ofsted, has criticised
schools that lengthen the GCSE course
to three years, cutting key stage 3 to just
the first two years of secondary school.
Many now adhere to a two-year GCSE
syllabus, but a third of respondents said
they wanted to teach GCSEs over three
years.
In 2017 Spielman said that in one
school she visited she was horrified to
see a class of 11-year-olds being taken
through GCSE marking schemes, and
she feared that the arts and music were
being harmed. “The real substance of
education is getting lost in our schools,”
she warned.
Not many teachers are in favour of
scrapping national exams at 16 alto-
gether, the survey found. But fewer
than half said the curriculum was pro-
fessionally fulfilling to teach, and a
third said it was not. About three fifths
did not agree that the GCSE assess-
ment system allowed young people todevelop curiosity, but a similar propor-
tion said that it did stretch the highest-
achieving pupils.
Three quarters agreed that the as-
sessment system was less about indi-
vidual success and more a measure of
schools that feeds league tables for ac-
countability. Most called for greater
accountability for the happiness of
pupils, their extracurricular activities
and their citizenship.
More than half agreed that exam
board requirements for GCSEs were
overly prescriptive, and almost as many
said they thought they were too
inflexible.
More than half of teachers told OUP
that all pupils should continue studying
English and maths until they attained a
GCSE pass or the equivalent. TheLet brightest pupils sit maths and
English GCSEs early, teachers urge
present system largely supports this
view, as teenagers must stay in educa-
tion or training until they are 18, and are
required to resit English and maths
GCSE if they have not reached a grade
4 (formerly a C).
More than three quarters of teachers
thought all schools should offer 14 to 16-
year-old pupils a blend of vocational,
technical and academic subjects and al-
most as many believed that assessment
at 16 should measure and reward non-
academic life skills.
OUP’s report said: “Most teachers
agree that preparing young people for
the world of work is important, but only
a third think that the 14-16 curriculum
and assessment system prepares stu-
dents for future vocational pathways or
training – a clear mismatch between
purpose and delivery.”
One respondent told researchers
that the GCSE grading system of 9 to 1
provided the “illusion of distinction
more than a meaningful difference”,
adding: “Perhaps it would be better to
move to a distinction-pass-fail system
instead, as this would reduce pressure
for incremental mark gains via drilling
examination technique at the expense
of promoting curiosity and under-
standing.
“It would be interesting to see an oral
examination in subjects such as mathe-
matics and science, and this skill set is
arguably a very important one that
goes un-assessed.”Nicola Woolcock Education Editor
Accused pleads
not guilty to
Amess murder
Fiona Hamilton Crime & Security EditorA 25-year-old man has pleaded not
guilty to the murder of the Conserva-
tive MP David Amess, who was stabbed
to death in October.
Ali Harbi Ali, who grew up in south
London and has Somali heritage, will
face trial in March.
During a hearing at the Old Bailey
before Mr Justice Sweeney he entered
pleas of not guilty to the murder of
Amess and preparing acts of terrorism
between May 1, 2019, and September 28
this year.
Ali is alleged to have engaged in re-
connaissance of the locations of
potential targets to attack, including
parliament and addresses associated
with MPs. The Crown Prosecution Ser-
vice will argue that the killing was an
act of terrorism with religious and ideo-
logical motivations.
A trial date was set for March 21 and
Ali was remanded in custody.
Amess, 69, was stabbed at a consti-
tuency surgery at Belfairs Methodist
Church in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, on Oc-
tober 15.
He had been an MP for 38 years, serv-
ing Basildon from 1983 to 1997 and
Southend West since then. After his
death it was announced that Southend
would be granted city status in recogni-
tion of his decades-long campaign.
Ali, the son of a former adviser to the
prime minister of Somalia, grew up in
Croydon and lived in north London.Only half of the
teachers who
responded to the
survey for The
Times Education
Commission
thought the
curriculum for
pupils aged
between 14 and 16
was broad and
balanced