16th July 2013 9:00
By Blue Tutors
The new look GCSEs have recently been unveiled by the government in an attempt to make the qualification more difficult and a test of skills and understanding, rather than knowledge and exam technique. Reported on the BBC website, the new exams will still be called GCSEs, even though they will now be vastly different from GCSEs taken in Wales and Northern Ireland. The changes have received significant criticism from the Labour party, and from teaching unions.
The key changes, which will initially only affect nine core GCSEs, are that the grades will now be numbered from 8 to 1, rather than the A* to G letter system currently in place. There will be no more modular courses, with more emphasis placed on the final exams taken at the end of the two year course. The exams will be more stretching; arts subjects will involve longer essay-style questions, and science subjects will test a student’s problem solving ability, rather than repeating the same style of question for which a template answer can be learnt.
The new qualifications won’t start until August 2015, with the first exams to be sat in the summer of 2017. The intention is for them to more closely replicate high performing education systems such as those in Finland and Shanghai, and to put an end to what has been called ‘a race to the bottom’ by examination boards, where it’s become easier and easier to achieve higher grades. It’s hoped that these new GCSEs will be seen as closer to the old style O’ Levels sat by students in England until the late 1980s.
There has been widespread criticism of the changes, with many claiming that the proposals were rushed and badly thought through. Christine Blower, spokesperson for the NUT, reiterated that the government should have consulted teachers more before pushing ahead with the new qualifications. Stephen Twigg, the shadow education secretary, claimed that the changes will create uncertainty for students and their parents.