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Thirty years on, how have GCSEs performed? Thirty years on, how have GCSEs performed?
(35 minutes later)
If you ever sat, as I did, in a CSE class in the late 1970s, you would know that they were little more than dumping grounds for those who were seeing out their time at school. Routinely packed with the Grippers and Biffos the school could no longer be bothered with, the CSE groups were where education gave up on children as being unacademic and not worth bothering with. We were told that a CSE grade 1 was the equivalent of an O-level grade C. None of us believed it, but it didn’t matter whether we did or not, as no one ever got CSE grade 1. It was class-based apartheid. If you were “good with your hands” you did CSEs; if you were going to work in an office, you did O-levels.If you ever sat, as I did, in a CSE class in the late 1970s, you would know that they were little more than dumping grounds for those who were seeing out their time at school. Routinely packed with the Grippers and Biffos the school could no longer be bothered with, the CSE groups were where education gave up on children as being unacademic and not worth bothering with. We were told that a CSE grade 1 was the equivalent of an O-level grade C. None of us believed it, but it didn’t matter whether we did or not, as no one ever got CSE grade 1. It was class-based apartheid. If you were “good with your hands” you did CSEs; if you were going to work in an office, you did O-levels.
The recent release of material from the National Archives tells us that, 30 years ago, Margaret Thatcher “did not like the sound of” the GCSE, but agreed to it to support the then education secretary Keith Joseph, and to smite the unions, who were, quite reasonably, against any rush to introduce it.The recent release of material from the National Archives tells us that, 30 years ago, Margaret Thatcher “did not like the sound of” the GCSE, but agreed to it to support the then education secretary Keith Joseph, and to smite the unions, who were, quite reasonably, against any rush to introduce it.
It was actually Shirley Williams who had set the ball rolling towards the new qualification, the intent of which was to move away from the old two-tier system – which separated children into wolves and pigs – and to reward achievement over the full term of the course through the introduction of coursework.It was actually Shirley Williams who had set the ball rolling towards the new qualification, the intent of which was to move away from the old two-tier system – which separated children into wolves and pigs – and to reward achievement over the full term of the course through the introduction of coursework.
On the first, cosmetic part, it succeeded: students were no longer tarred by being branded a CSE student – the equivalent of having been being labelled a “remedial”. But, mystifyingly, the superficial change came with an absurd structural flaw that continues to this day which meant, in reality, the apartheid continued to function, but with a different name. It was decided to have two (or sometimes three) tiers of entry to the GCSE, so that students who had not achieved as well as they might by the age of 14 were entered for a qualification that topped their possible achievement at a grade C.On the first, cosmetic part, it succeeded: students were no longer tarred by being branded a CSE student – the equivalent of having been being labelled a “remedial”. But, mystifyingly, the superficial change came with an absurd structural flaw that continues to this day which meant, in reality, the apartheid continued to function, but with a different name. It was decided to have two (or sometimes three) tiers of entry to the GCSE, so that students who had not achieved as well as they might by the age of 14 were entered for a qualification that topped their possible achievement at a grade C.
There was little perceivable logic to this, aside from a bigoted idea about what some children from backgrounds other than those of the legislators would ever be able to achieve, and it acted directly against the move towards equality of opportunity.There was little perceivable logic to this, aside from a bigoted idea about what some children from backgrounds other than those of the legislators would ever be able to achieve, and it acted directly against the move towards equality of opportunity.
Students at the age of 14 will still, this year, be entered for qualifications that stipulate that it does not matter how well they perform, they will only get a grade C at best. Even Michael Gove spotted the absurdity of this in terms of what it says about the system’s expectations of the children within it.Students at the age of 14 will still, this year, be entered for qualifications that stipulate that it does not matter how well they perform, they will only get a grade C at best. Even Michael Gove spotted the absurdity of this in terms of what it says about the system’s expectations of the children within it.
The second change, the introduction of coursework, was controversial in Conservative head office, even 30 years ago. Thatcher was worried that the introduction of coursework would distort results, as “biased” teachers would help their students. Broadly, there are two schools of thought on the success (or otherwise) of coursework. The most prevalent is that the rightwing were right: that coursework was a partial debacle, open to cheating, and that relying solely on the great leveller of the terminal exam is more likely to contribute to what are called “standards”. The other belief, which is rarely ever heard in the hubbub, is that the construction of a series of essays, or longer-term assessments, that are redrafted after the teacher has commented on them, is a spectacularly effective way of teaching students how to perform complex learning tasks while, at the same time, receiving expert guidance as to how they might improve. Furthermore, the process of writing involves going over it, redrafting, editing; and in asking students to take their work though three drafts on a high stakes assignment, we are really modelling for them how the professionals do things. The second change, the introduction of coursework, was controversial in Conservative head office, even 30 years ago. Thatcher was worried that the introduction of coursework would distort results, as “biased” teachers would help their students. Broadly, there are two schools of thought on the success (or otherwise) of coursework. The most prevalent is that the rightwing were right: that coursework was a partial debacle, open to cheating, and that relying solely on the great leveller of the terminal exam is more likely to contribute to what are called “standards”.
The other belief, which is rarely ever heard in the hubbub, is that the construction of a series of essays, or longer-term assessments, that are redrafted after the teacher has commented on them, is a spectacularly effective way of teaching students how to perform complex learning tasks while, at the same time, receiving expert guidance as to how they might improve. Furthermore, the process of writing involves going over it, redrafting, editing; and in asking students to take their work though three drafts on a high stakes assignment, we are really modelling for them how the professionals do things.
This narrative is no longer told, as it has suited the current administration to believe the partial truth that the gaming of coursework to improve results has caused a lowering of standards that adversely affects the right of children in elite institutions to be seen as intellectually superior to their state school counterparts. Gove has cancelled any coursework component from GCSEs in the near future, and had Nick Clegg not said it would be “over his dead body”, would have been inclined to scrap the GCSE entirely. The results of this will be large-scale collapses in grades in all kinds of institutions, children learning less, being less skilled writers and mathematicians and thousands of perfectly decent and competent teachers and managers finding their livelihoods at risk. It has a lot to be said for it, coursework.This narrative is no longer told, as it has suited the current administration to believe the partial truth that the gaming of coursework to improve results has caused a lowering of standards that adversely affects the right of children in elite institutions to be seen as intellectually superior to their state school counterparts. Gove has cancelled any coursework component from GCSEs in the near future, and had Nick Clegg not said it would be “over his dead body”, would have been inclined to scrap the GCSE entirely. The results of this will be large-scale collapses in grades in all kinds of institutions, children learning less, being less skilled writers and mathematicians and thousands of perfectly decent and competent teachers and managers finding their livelihoods at risk. It has a lot to be said for it, coursework.