Member News
25th August 2010
Ian Toone, senior professional officer (education) for Voice, comments on GCSE results.
GCSE students are to be congratulated on their achievements this year. This year's results are, historically, the best ever, with higher grade passes at A*-C up by 2% to 69.1% and the highest grades (A*-A) up by 1% to 22.6%.
This indicates that schools and students are more motivated than ever to achieve the highest marks possible, not only because of the very high value that society, and especially employers, place on qualifications nowadays, but also because of the pressure of league tables, on which the survival of a school often depends.
Students and their teachers have to work increasingly hard to attain the highest grades, and are under increasing pressure to do so. It should also be remembered that not all GCSE candidates are 16 year olds; there are now about 10% of students sitting GCSEs in Maths and English a year early, at age 15. This number has increased significantly following the demise of Key Stage 3 SATs at age 14.
This has freed up schools to tailor provision to meet pupils' individual needs. However, this also shows that children are still being put under pressure to perform at an earlier age, and concern needs to be expressed about the stress and associated mental health problems which this can cause. At the same time, there are many mature students who also sit GCSE exams, having returned to study in order to further their own education and improve their employment prospects and life chances.
This year's results show a significant increase in pupils taking exams in the separate science subjects of biology, chemistry and physics (rather than the earlier trend of trying to squeeze science subjects into one or two GCSE options of combined science programmes, which could never hope to provide a sound foundation for studying science at a higher level). This mirrors the trend towards more students choosing to study science subjects at A level.
However, although the government appears to favour this development, seeing scientific skills as holding the key to future economic prosperity, this overlooks the fact that the most influential people in society are often those with creative, thinking and communication skills, who have had a more classical or humanities-based education (politicians are a case in point as very few MPs are science graduates) – and without such people who can think deeply and laterally, we would not be able to produce the innovative solutions which will enable us to overcome the problems we face in this increasing complex modern world in which we live.
Another concern is that, although students have achieved better results this year, many of them will be thwarted in their attempt to progress further because of the increasingly competitive nature of further and higher education. Many of the 170,000 applicants who have been denied a university place will be wanting to re-sit or study for additional A levels at further education colleges, especially as there are so few jobs available, and this will inevitably create further obstacles for GCSE achievers who are competing for the same places in further education.
The government has said it will guarantee all 16 year olds places in education and training, but this guarantee does not extend to a place on a particular course at a particular college, which means that many youngsters risk being offered places on programmes which meet neither their needs nor their interests. In these bleak times of economic austerity, such a course of action is likely to alienate and exclude young people rather than harnessing and nurturing their talent.
Article Comments
I am a physics graduate, implying that students from a scientific background do not have the capability to think "deeply and laterally" is absolute nonsense. Fact of the matter people with a scientific background have a much harder task finding appropriate employment because of precisely that sort of attitude, pushed by those with a 'humanities' bent who have little or no understanding of the calibre and skills of people a scientific education produces. Make no mistake the country would be in better hands if a few more MPs came from a strigent scientific background.
SteveJ
31st Aug 2010 at 9:41 am
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