GCSEs in England to be replaced with English Bac in 2015; single exam board, single exam; school lea - Polidicks

[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-19626663[/url] [quote=BBC News][B]The GCSE exam in England is going to be replaced by a qualification called the English Baccalaureate Certificate.[/B] A shake-up of the exam system set to be unveiled will mean a single end-of-course exam and one exam board for each subject. Pupils who have begun secondary school this year will be the first to take the revised exams in 2017. Mr Gove is going to give fuller details of the exam in a statement to the House of Commons. Labour's shadow education secretary, Stephen Twigg, has attacked the plans as "totally out of date, from a Tory-led government totally out of touch with modern Britain". "Schools do need to change as all children stay on in education to 18 and we face up to the challenges of the 21st Century. We won't achieve that with a return to the 1980s," said Mr Twigg. [B]Single exam board[/B] Details of the exam which will replace GCSEs in England are going to be given to MPs later on Monday. The changes will mean that the current system of assessing individual units of a course will be replaced by a single three-hour final exam. The first pupils would begin studying these exams in 2015 - with the first candidates taking the new-look exams in 2017. There will be one exam board for each subject - rather than having different exam boards competing with their own versions. This follows concerns that such competition leads to a "race to the bottom", with an incentive for exam boards to attract more business by making it easier to pass. The grading system will change with top results awarded a Grade 1 rather than the current A*. But despite an earlier leak claiming that there would be a two-tier system - similar to the old O-levels and CSEs - the new qualification will be a single exam for a wide range of abilities. [B]Leaving age[/B] To allow weaker pupils to catch up, the an exam could be taken at different points between 16 and 18 years of age - allowing weaker pupils to catch up. The changes to the GCSE exam will come alongside the raising of the leaving age - which will see young people staying in education and training until the age of 18. Mr Clegg said the changes would "raise standards for all our children", but he added that it would "not exclude any children". He said it would have been wrong to go back the old dual exam system - and set out what he hoped would be gained from the revised GCSEs. "Firstly give parents confidence in the exams their children are taking, secondly raise standards for all our children in schools in the country but thirdly and crucially not exclude any children from the new exam system." When more details of the new exam were leaked at the weekend, Labour said it supported more rigorous exams but only if they do not act as a cap on aspiration. A reform of the exam system in England will not apply to pupils taking GCSEs in Wales - and this shake-up could see a greater divide between qualifications in England and Wales. The Welsh government says it will not be rushed into following any changes to the GCSE and is carrying out its own separate review into the exam system. Changes to the GCSE in England would not apply to Northern Ireland. Former chief inspector of schools Sir Mike Tomlinson - who conducted a review of the exam system for the previous government - told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he thought the planned change was "largely positive". He backed the move away from a modular system and plans for there to be only one board to examine in English, mathematics or the sciences. [B]Back to the future?[/B] But he questioned how subjects that do not lend themselves to a single exam, such as art and dance, would be tested in a single exam. Brian Lightman, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said GCSEs needed to be reviewed but bringing back an O-level style exam was not the answer. "I hope that these proposals are not going to be telling us that we're going to have a system that goes back to something that we used to have in the 1950s, which was suited to a very small part of the population," he said. Martin Johnson of the ATL teachers' union said: "A new exam certainly should not be designed on the back of a restaurant menu as a short-term political fix by ignorant ministers. This is an insult to the nation's children who will have to live with the consequences if the crackpot ideas are implemented." "Tinkering with exams is a cheap and relatively easy lever for governments, which has been used and over-used in the past couple of decades. What would make a real, long-term difference to raising standards for all children would be improving the teaching and learning in all schools - but that's long, and hard, and expensive," said Kevin Stannard of the Girls' Day School Trust. The plan to reform the exam system comes amid controversy over this year's GCSE English exams - with head teachers claiming that grade boundaries have been unfairly altered. The exam regulator in England has refused to regrade the disputed papers - but the Welsh government has instructed the WJEC examining board to carry out a regrading in Wales. In Scotland, pupils take Standard Grades, Highers and Advanced Highers rather than GCSEs and A-levels.[/quote]

Seems like it's going towards the european standard

What. I love the cognitive dissonance going on in the current government. Make sure people can't get a real job till they're 18, and then make them not want to go to university because it's too expensive. [editline]17th September 2012[/editline] At least they've unified the exam boards.

The single exam seems brutal, some people's minds don't work that way The school leaving age I think should have stayed at 16 but it's not a huge deal The single exam board for each subject sounds cool, unless a shitty exam board gets it

Can someone explain what GSCE exams are? Are they similar to Scottish Higher exams?

[QUOTE=Thom12255;37699759]Can someone explain what GSCE exams are? Are they similar to Scottish Higher exams?[/QUOTE] The ones you do at sixteen, to make sure you're smart enough to function in the real world and distunguish those who are capable of going onto higher learning.

They shouldn't force them to stay at school until they're 18. Sixth form at the moment is for people who are insecure about leaving school and if you look at them next to college students they're quite immature and annoying. They should be out of the school environment where they call their teachers 'Sir', go to assemblies and get moaned at. College gives them responsibility and the more adult environment is much better for 16-19 year-olds.

[QUOTE=Thom12255;37699759]Can someone explain what GSCE exams are? Are they similar to Scottish Higher exams?[/QUOTE] I can explain GCSEs but I don't know anything about Highers :v: I think they are similar though. Article says "In Scotland, pupils take Standard Grades, Highers and Advanced Highers rather than GCSEs and A-levels." You do GCSEs in years 10 and 11 (age 14-16), most of them right now are part coursework, part exams. Then most people use them to get into sixth form and do A-Levels for two years

They put so much pressure on you to pass shitty exams in High School then all of a sudden in college/uni you're left wondering what the fuss was about. Exams overall just aren't that helpful when schools pull lots of shitty tricks to get everyone a half-assed C.

Single exam board good, good, more clarity on what a grade in a subject actually means. Assesing the whole course on a single 3 hour exam? Stupid, some people struggle to even solidly work for 3 hours, what if someone is feeling slightly ill for that 1 particular day and doesn't do as well as they think they could? They'll be stuck doing the exact same content for another year.

3 hour exams are nothing. The French Bac is fucking insane. Passing that test is like the high point in your entire life it is so difficult

[QUOTE=smurfy;37699753]The single exam seems brutal, some people's minds don't work that way The school leaving age I think should have stayed at 16 but it's not a huge deal The single exam board for each subject sounds cool, unless a shitty exam board gets it[/QUOTE] I don't think the age being pushed up is that bad of an idea but the whole exam idea is ridiculous. One exam should not govern your worth and knowledge since it's pretty obvious that they'll keep using the same sordid techniques that don't motivate kids enough to do the work.

[QUOTE=AngryChairR;37699800]They shouldn't force them to stay at school until they're 18. Sixth form at the moment is for people who are insecure about leaving school and if you look at them next to college students they're quite immature and annoying. They should be out of the school environment where they call their teachers 'Sir', go to assemblies and get moaned at. College gives them responsibility and the more adult environment is much better for 16-19 year-olds.[/QUOTE] Maybe it depends on the area, and my high school having an attached sixth form, but where I live it's the exact opposite; the vast vast vast majority of students went to sixth form and college is seen as less academic. It's a very different atmosphere from school as well; no uniform, much smaller classes, teachers treat you differently, free periods, and of course only 3 or 4 subjects. I was looking forward to sixth form for a long time and it was as good as I expected

[video=youtube;ussCHoQttyQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ussCHoQttyQ[/video]

Plus, people with any learning disabilities get 2 extra hours in the French system, so I think the English one will have that too.

Wait, you mean you guys graduate at 16? Lucky bastards.

education is saved, aids and cancer are cured and kids will now become super-brainkids [QUOTE=AngryChairR;37699800]They shouldn't force them to stay at school until they're 18. Sixth form at the moment is for people who are insecure about leaving school and if you look at them next to college students they're quite immature and annoying. They should be out of the school environment where they call their teachers 'Sir', go to assemblies and get moaned at. College gives them responsibility and the more adult environment is much better for 16-19 year-olds.[/QUOTE] ANGRYCHAIR IS A SPECIAL ADULT HE DIDNT GO TO SCHOOL WITH THE BABY KIDS NOPE NOPE :)

Well my lil' relatives are going to have to go through this, I've already plowed through GCSEs :v:

[QUOTE=AngryChairR;37699800]They shouldn't force them to stay at school until they're 18. Sixth form at the moment is for people who are insecure about leaving school and if you look at them next to college students they're quite immature and annoying. They should be out of the school environment where they call their teachers 'Sir', go to assemblies and get moaned at. College gives them responsibility and the more adult environment is much better for 16-19 year-olds.[/QUOTE] My understanding of this is that pupils don't have to stay at "school" in the traditional sense, rather they have to stay in education, including sixth form, college, and even going on to take vocational courses and diplomas.

GCSEs as a whole were pretty horrible though, so many subjects that I had no interest in and didn't want to study. I can't see very much of a way round that though

[QUOTE=Forumaster;37699865]Wait, you mean you guys graduate at 16? Lucky bastards.[/QUOTE] GRaduate in the sense 'Can leave school', but GCSE's aren't really worth much and most people head on up to 6th form for another 2 years to do the A-Levels, which are pretty much used to get into University and little else.

Thank fucking finally we're going to a single board system, though A levels need to be made single board, too. Not so sure about one massive exam, though, it's not exactly indicative of knowledge, just a certain type of memory and answering ability, at least if it is kept as current exams are. What they do need to do is increase the facility for typing the exam, as no-one really handwrites anything past basic notes these days, and exams should be based around quality of answer rather than how it's input.

[QUOTE=Smasher 006;37699909]GRaduate in the sense 'Can leave school', but GCSE's aren't really worth much and most people head on up to 6th form for another 2 years to do the A-Levels, which are pretty much used to get into University and little else.[/QUOTE] Plus you get to choose what you want to study; and most of the time since they're subjects that interest you, you generally do better.

I hope foreign language Bacs are majorly overhauled. My French GCSE was a memory test, we literally google translated a page of french at home and then had to memorise it so we could write it down verbatim in a silent room. And that is what the course actually wanted you to do (apart from google translate of course) I got a D, I think I could do GCSE French now but back then it was such a clusterfuck of subjects I didn't care about, it really puts you off school IMO

[QUOTE=AngryChairR;37699800]They shouldn't force them to stay at school until they're 18. Sixth form at the moment is for people who are insecure about leaving school and if you look at them next to college students they're quite immature and annoying. They should be out of the school environment where they call their teachers 'Sir', go to assemblies and get moaned at. College gives them responsibility and the more adult environment is much better for 16-19 year-olds.[/QUOTE] As someone who went to sixth form, and is now going to college, you're wrong. Sixth form is more like a school, but you can't say that anyone [I]should [/I]be anywhere in any type of environment. I think you just didn't like sixth form. [editline]17th September 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=smurfy;37699944]I hope foreign language Bacs are majorly overhauled. My French GCSE was a memory test, we literally google translated a page of french at home and then had to memorise it so we could write it down verbatim in a silent room. And that is what the course actually wanted you to do (apart from google translate of course)[/QUOTE] I had a friend who did GCSE french and got a C He got a D in english.

[QUOTE=smurfy;37699944]I hope foreign language Bacs are majorly overhauled. My French GCSE was a memory test, we literally google translated a page of french at home and then had to memorise it so we could write it down verbatim in a silent room. And that is what the course actually wanted you to do (apart from google translate of course) I got a D, I think I could do GCSE French now but back then it was such a clusterfuck of subjects I didn't care about, it really puts you off school IMO[/QUOTE] GCSEs were pretty wank; they were all basically memory tests that you could ace if you were even slightly intelligent. French was utterly and completely dull though, was my lowest grade (C).

[QUOTE=smurfy;37699944]I hope foreign language Bacs are majorly overhauled. My French GCSE was a memory test, we literally google translated a page of french at home and then had to memorise it so we could write it down verbatim in a silent room. And that is what the course actually wanted you to do (apart from google translate of course) I got a D, I think I could do GCSE French now but back then it was such a clusterfuck of subjects I didn't care about, it really puts you off school IMO[/QUOTE] on-the-spot examinations in general are a terrible way of finding out if someone's actually good at something. there are so many factors that can change, something that stretches out over an average period of time would seem sensible imo but gcses were almost entirely comprised of memory tests. a levels were too to a certain extent

You Europeans and your school systems confuse me extensively.

[QUOTE=A B.A. Survivor;37700102]You Europeans and your school systems confuse me extensively.[/QUOTE] Same for you

[QUOTE=AngryChairR;37699800]They shouldn't force them to stay at school until they're 18. Sixth form at the moment is for people who are insecure about leaving school and if you look at them next to college students they're quite immature and annoying. They should be out of the school environment where they call their teachers 'Sir', go to assemblies and get moaned at. College gives them responsibility and the more adult environment is much better for 16-19 year-olds.[/QUOTE] I can't comment about sixth form since my school didn't have one, but I agree with the college bit. No uniforms, no detention, calling your teacher by their first name, and if there was any problems your teacher would discuss it with you and not your parents. I think it prepares people for work more.