7th January 2011 9:00
By Harriet Boulding
Former education secretary Estelle Morris has today joined the ranks of those calling for GCSE exams to be scrapped. The exams, taken by school children at the end of year 11, were intended to act as a school leaving qualification for those who declined to stay in education until 18.
Morris and others have pointed out the government’s decision to raise school leaving age to 18 renders the exam out of date and unnecessary, proposing instead an exam which would be taken at age 14 which would act as a ‘measure of progress’ only, and not a certificate of educational qualification. Advocates of the system also back the coalition government’s introduction of University Technical colleges which would provide technical training for students over 14 who wanted to study vocational skills.
Morris emphasised that the proposed exams would not be part of a ‘selection process’ and that student who performed poorly would still be able to pursue an academic path if they chose to do so. However, critics question whether this would happen in practice. Despite the assurance that the exam results would not form part of a selection process, it is difficult to see how these results could not influence the choices available to students. Further, many argue that 14 is too young to make a decision about whether to attend a technical college or pursue an academic path.