The administration of examinations for 15-19 year olds in England

The administration of examinations for 15-19 year olds in England
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Education Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 108
Release: 2012-07-03
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9780215045782

This report from the Education Committee looks at the administration of examinations for 15-19 year olds in England. The Committee expresses serious concerns about incentives in the exam system and about competition on syllabus content. Incentives in the system should be changed so the downward pressure through the competition of exam boards is mitigated. The Committee considers a number of options to change incentives, including: (i) A single board. This offers a simpler system, with no risk of competition, but the Committee believes the cost, risk and disruption outweigh the benefits; (ii) Franchising of subjects to exam boards. This removes syllabus competition, but again has downsides; (3) Or the current system of multiple boards. The Committee sees no benefit in competition on syllabus content, but the setting and marking of exams and associated administration, if properly regulated, could generate incentives and drive quality up, offering value for money to schools and colleges.The Committee also recommends the development of national syllabuses, accredited by Ofqual. The syllabuses would be developed by exam boards in conjunction with learned bodies and employer organisations and could therefore retain the benefits of competition on quality and the incentive for exam boards to innovate.

From GCSEs to EBCs

From GCSEs to EBCs
Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Education Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 80
Release: 2013
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9780215053305

The Government's plans for replacing GCSEs with new English Baccalaureate Certificates in some subjects is trying to do too much, too fast. Introducing several fundamental changes at the same time and to a tight timetable will jeopardise the quality of the reforms and may threaten the stability of the wider exam system. GCSEs need "significant improvements" in order to restore public confidence in the exam system, but the Government still needs to make the case that the GCSE brand is so discredited that it is beyond repair. MPs are also concerned about the impact of the changes on subjects outside the English Baccalaureate, where students will be taking GCSEs for some time to come, according to the Government's plans. The report also questions how well the Government's proposals will serve lower attaining pupils, who are often the most disadvantaged. There is no evidence that the proposed changes will help to tackle under-achievement or narrow the attainment gap between the richest and poorest students any more effectively than GCSEs. The Government is also called upon to re-think its plans for a Statement of Achievement specifically for lower attaining pupils. MPs agree that changes are needed to the way in which exams are run, but they raise serious concerns about franchising subjects to exam boards. The report is critical of the Government's decision to abolish some GCSEs before publishing the outcomes of the National Curriculum Review and its proposed changes to the school accountability system. MPs also note the wide-ranging stakeholder opposition to many of the Government's proposals.

House of Commons: Sessional Returns - HC 1

House of Commons: Sessional Returns - HC 1
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 350
Release: 2013-09-13
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780215062277

On cover and title page: House, committees of the whole House, general committees and select committees. On title page: Returns to orders of the House of Commons dated 14 May 2013 (the Chairman of Ways and Means)

HC 1120 - Closing the gap: The Work of the Education Committee in the 2010-15 Parliament

HC 1120 - Closing the gap: The Work of the Education Committee in the 2010-15 Parliament
Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Education Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 21
Release: 2015
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0215084195

The Committee has summarised and evaluated it's work during the current Parliament in a short film entitled 'Closing the gap', available on the Committee's website. This report is intended to supplement the film and provide an overview of their work in different policy areas during the Parliament. Earlier summaries of their work in individual sessions of this Parliament are available on the website of the Liaison Committee. Based on discussions with key players in the fields of education and children's services the Committee decided that their future focus would be on the long tail of underachievement in education. This theme informed their work for the remainder of the Parliament as they sought to recommend changes to close the gap between disadvantaged children and young people, and their peers

Education in a Federal UK

Education in a Federal UK
Author: John Furlong
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 223
Release: 2019-10-23
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1351244051

Britain’s two recent referenda - on Brexit (2016) and on Scottish independence (2014) - have raised in the public mind fundamental questions about the future of the UK. It seems that for the first time, the public, the media and the political elite have woken up to the fact that in different parts of the UK, there are different histories, different aspirations and different imagined futures in relation to a whole range of vitally important political issues. But what the public debate often fails to recognise is that in many areas of public life – perhaps especially education – the UK is already a federal state and in key respects has been so for many years. The aim of this volume is therefore to take stock: to try and capture what the current state of educational policy and practice is across the whole of the UK. This has been achieved by commissioning two different papers from each of the four countries – Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and England. The first is an overview, exploring the distinctive history, principles and current policies of each country. The second paper has been specifically chosen as a case study of a key policy that highlights the distinctiveness of each country – the Foundation Phase for Wales, assessment policy in Scotland, ‘shared education’ initiatives in Northern Ireland and higher education policy in England. Taken together these eight papers give an important insight into the complexities of educational policy and practice across the whole of the UK today. This volume was originally published as a special issue of Oxford Review of Education.

2012 GCSE English results

2012 GCSE English results
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Education Committee
Publisher: Stationery Office
Total Pages: 140
Release: 2013-06-11
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9780215058904

The 2012 GCSE English results prompted significant controversy, which ultimately resulted in an application for judicial review. This report sets out the background to these events and identifies lessons to be learned. The problems with GCSE English can be traced back to the 2007-09 development phase of the qualification- in particular the turbulence which resulted from the shift away from a mostly linear to a modular system, combined with a high proportion of controlled assessment and generous marking tolerances. Exam board experts raised concerns at the time, but these were not acted upon by the regulator (the then-interim Ofqual). Further difficulties arose because of pressures from the school accountability system. The problems experienced with GCSE English in 2012 highlighted serious weaknesses in the moderation of speaking and listening, with consequences for grade awarding. The current status of Ofqual, as an independent regulator accountable to Parliament, is the right one. However, the Coalition Government is bringing in wholesale changes to GCSEs and A levels, to a tight timetable and at the same time. Ofqual must have systems in place. The Committee is also concerned that there is a rush towards separate exam systems for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, without careful reflection on what might be lost, or consensus that this is the right thing to do.

HC 145 - Life Lessons: PSHE and SRE in Schools

HC 145 - Life Lessons: PSHE and SRE in Schools
Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Education Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 78
Release: 2015
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0215081560

This report investigates the actions taken by the Government to improve PSHE following Ofsted's finding in 2013 that the subject required improvement in 40% of schools. It concludes that the Government's current strategy for improving PSHE is weak, with a mismatch between the priority that ministers claim they give PSHE and the steps that have been taken to improve the quality of teaching in the subject. There is an overwhelming demand for statutory sex and relationships education - from teachers, parents and young people themselves. Statutory status will help ensure investment in training for teachers to improve its provision. SRE forms an important part of any school's efforts to safeguard young people from abuse, and is particularly needed to protect the most vulnerable children. PSHE builds character and resilience, and will help young people to live happy and healthy lives. The Committee recommends: all schools should be required to run a regular consultation with parents on the school's SRE provision; the parental right to withdraw their child from elements of SRE should be retained; the Government should formally endorse and issue the SRE guidance produced by Brook, the Sex Education Forum and the PSHE Association and promote this more actively to schools and governors; the funding of continuous professional development for PSHE teachers and school nurses should be reinstated; Ofsted should resume its regular subject surveys of PSHE provision; SRE should be renamed Relationships and Sex Education - RSE - to emphasise the relationships element of the subject.

HC 142 - Underachievement in Education by White Owrking Class Children

HC 142 - Underachievement in Education by White Owrking Class Children
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Education Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 76
Release: 2014-06-18
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0215073029

This report finds that poor white British boys and girls are educationally underperforming - but great schools have a transformative effect. The problem of poor, white British under attainment is real and the gap between those children and their better off class mates starts in their earliest school years and then widens as they get older. Just 32% of poor white British children achieve five good GCSEs including English and mathematics, compared with 42% of black Caribbean children eligible for free school meals and 61% of disadvantaged Indian children. Poor white children also do less homework and have a higher rate of absence from school. But good schools and teachers can make a huge difference to the academic achievement of children eligible for free school meals. Twice the proportion of poor children attending an 'outstanding' school will achieve five good GCSEs when compared with what the same group will achieve in 'inadequate' schools. Guidance for schools is needed on how an extended school day could be used to provide space and time for children to complete homework. And more work is needed to understand what interventions can be most effective in improving parental engagement, early language stimulus and other home based conditions which can set children up to succeed. The Government should also publish an analysis of the incentives that influence where teachers choose to work, and use this to design a system that ensures that the most challenging schools can attract the best teachers and leaders.

House of Commons - Education Committee: Foundation Years: Sure Start Children's Centres - HC 346-I

House of Commons - Education Committee: Foundation Years: Sure Start Children's Centres - HC 346-I
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Education Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 78
Release: 2013-12-17
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9780215065810

The Government needs to prove that it is serious about closing the attainment gap for disadvantaged children by setting out coherent, long-term thinking on early years and children's centres. Ministers should start by making clear the Government's strategy for realising its aspiration to put in place a highly qualified workforce with equal pay and status between early years teachers and those in primary schools. The Government also needs to be clear what children's centres should be offering and who they are for. The Committee identified three different types of centres but this is not reflected in current policy. They also found that the stated core purpose is far too vague and broad. The core purpose needs to focus on achievable outcomes and reflect the difference between centres, especially where they do not offer early education or childcare. Stronger accountability is needed for how well individual children's centres perform and, critically, for how effectively local authorities use children centres to improve outcomes for children in their areas. Closing children's centres should go ahead only after proper consultation and where alternative options have been considered. While some changes may make the network as a whole more effective, it should be up to local authorities to decide how best to organise and commission services. Funding pressures mean some targeting of services is inevitable but all families should be able to access the services they need and that universal services of some sort play a significant part in encouraging families to engage in the first place