GCSE exams should be scrapped, MPs told. This was published in Leicestershire Live: https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/gcse-exams-should…
'Why are we still spending invaluable educational time in doing exams at 16 when young people stay in education or training until 18?'
GCSE examinations for students at age 16 should be scrapped, a Conservative MP has said.
Flick Drummond (Meon Valley) said the assessment system for secondary school pupils “is no longer fit for purpose” and that assessments at 16 no longer make sense now that pupils stay in education until the age of 18.
Mrs Drummond added that the Government must ensure that vocational courses are seen “on the same par” as other qualifications and called for an end of the trend of students sitting core subject resits “over and over again”.
Her comments come seven months after a group of Conservative MPs suggested the disruption to education caused by coronavirus allowed for a “radical” rethink of the England school system.
The paper from the One Nation group of centrist Conservative MPs argued that it is unusual to make teenagers sit two sets of highly-pressured exams within the space of three years.
Speaking during day three of the Queen’s Speech, Mrs Drummond, a member of the One Nation group, told the Commons: “I can’t say that the Secretary of State has agreed to everything that I have written, but I am hoping that he might listen in future.
“Our assessment system is no longer fit for purpose.
“It is not helping those young people who want to succeed through vocational courses.
“Many vocational courses, such as apprenticeships and T-Levels, are not being seen as important as academic ones.
“But if they were all put into a different assessment system, such as an all-encompassing national baccalaureate at 18, although I hope we would call it something else, parents, teachers and young people themselves would be more likely to push for qualifications that fit the person, rather than pushing them into directions that they might not be keen on.”
Mrs Drummond continued: “We must make sure that this is seen as an opportunity to level up vocational and academic subjects and help end the negative perceptions about vocational and technical education.
“For instance, GCSEs – why are we still spending invaluable educational time in doing exams at 16 when young people stay in education or training until 18?
"We need an education system that provides a wide ranging curriculum from 14 to 18 that enables young people to achieve their goals with recognition that their achievements is on the same par as others.”
Noting the “high percentage” of students sitting maths and English GCSEs “over and over again”, Mrs Drummond added: “We do need qualifications and examinations too, but there much better ways of assessing people then allowing them to fail in an area which is not suited to them.”
