Gove promises tougher exams in GCSE revamp

Ministers argued yesterday that a radical overhaul of the qualification was needed if the country’s pupils are to compete with their peers overseas.

Under linked proposals, being consulted on by both the Department for Education and Ofqual, course work is to be radically cut back, with pupils instead being tested in exams in the summer at the end of two years of study.

The grading system is also set to change with students’ performance being measured on a scale of 1 to 8, with 8 being the highest.

The planned reforms will be taught from 2015 in the core subjects of English literature, English language, maths, sciences, history and geography with the first exams being sat in 2017.

In a statement to the Commons, Education Secretary Michael Gove said: “In line with our changes to the national curriculum, the new specifications are more challenging, more ambitious and more rigorous.

“That means more extended writing in subjects like English and history; more testing of advanced problem-solving skills in mathematics and science; more testing of mathematics in science GCSEs, to improve progression to A-levels; more challenging 
mechanics problems in physics; a stronger focus on evolution and genetics in biology; and a greater focus on foreign language composition, so that pupils require deeper language skills.”

The GCSEs will be “universal qualifications” accessible to the same proportion of pupils who sit the exams now, Mr Gove said.

The name also looks likely to be kept. Reports had emerged last week suggesting exam regulator Ofqual was considering calling the qualification I-levels.

Last November Mr Gove announced plans – which he later abandoned – to scrap GCSEs in core subjects and replace them with a new English Baccalaureate Certificate (EBC).

There were also leaked proposals last summer that the Government was planning to bring back an O-level style exam and a two-tier system .

Mr Gove has also done a U-turn on a plan to only allow one exam board to deliver EBCs in each subject.

This was aimed at stopping competing firms attempting to offer schools easier version of the same qualification. However he said in February this year that this idea had been a “bridge too far”.

Mr Gove published details of the subject content being planned for the new GCSEs yesterday.

In English literature, pupils will be asked to study at least one play by Shakespeare, Romantic poetry, a 19th century novel, poetry from the 1850s onwards, and fiction or drama since the First World War.

The new maths GCSE features advanced algebra, statistics, ratio, probability and geometry, while those students who choose to take geography will undertake two different types of fieldwork which will be assessed in an exam.

In history, pupils will have to complete an in-depth study based on one of three periods – Medieval (500-1500), Early Modern (1450-1750) or Modern (1700 to the present day).

The new GCSE history course also contains no controlled assessment – course work completed in the classroom – with exams based on extended essays and short answers.

New science GCSEs contain practical experiments and extended work on topics such as genetics, ecology, energy and space.

Ofqual chief regulator Glenys Stacey said: “Ofqual’s role is to make sure that qualifications are of high quality. GCSEs are important and valued qualifications, but we have seen over the last two years that they can be improved.

“We have a real opportunity here to put in place reformed GCSEs which are engaging and worthwhile to study and to teach.”

Teaching unions have, however, raised concerns about the pace of the reforms.

Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said: “We want all children to succeed in education, and we need exams that are rigorous. However, the haste with which Michael Gove is pushing through huge simultaneous changes to both exams and the curriculum carries major risks.”