25th May 2011 9:00
By Blue Tutors
The government has announced that students not achieving a C grade in their Maths or English GCSE, will be given the chance to continue to study whichever subject they didn’t achieve a C in. Reported on the BBC, the government accepted the conclusions in Alison Wolf’s report on vocational education, which stated that in combination with any vocational course, we must ensure that students are at a C grade level in Maths and English, because they are the skills which every employer still places the most importance on.
Professor Wolf criticised the quality of skills being taught to many students aged 16 to 19, and felt that too many young people leave school having studied courses which offer little subsequent benefit, rather than focusing on improving basic skills to bring those students to a level of literacy and numeracy that an employer would be impressed by. Michael Gove endorsed the report and said that we need more transparency for students choosing vocational courses, so that their future career options aren’t limited.
Last summer 45% of students failed to achieve both an A*-C in Maths and one in English, and the move to provide continued help for these students has been welcomed by many in the industry. However, Wolf’s report also suggested that school league tables should be changed to reduce the focus on borderline pupils, and many teaching unions have criticised this move, which is par for the course when any league table is announced.