What’s going on with GCSEs?

This is the time of the year when pupils at a particular stage of their education will be choosing their GCSE option subjects.  Even in normal times, they, and their parents, can find these decisions to be difficult ones – the first to affect future studies and possible career options.  But these are not normal times.  We are half way through the most significant reform of secondary school qualifications since the introduction of GCSEs in the 1980s.

For pupils, thinking about these decisions should also be informed by the views of teachers and parents although you could be forgiven for challenging me on the latter.  We’re going through the early stages of GCSE subject decision-making with my eldest daughter at the moment.  When it comes to parental input, what do I know?  It seems that over twenty years of experience of teaching and advising hundreds of pupils on the process, count for nothing at home!

What potentially makes GCSE decision-making particularly challenging at the moment is the distraction caused by the amount of change that is taking place.  If you were involved in steering your son or daughter into GCSE territory even as recently as a year or two ago, the detail of the landscape has changed since then.

The current GCSE reforms were proclaimed in 2013 by the then Secretary of State, Michael Gove, seeking at the same time to overhaul A levels along with the entire National Curriculum and its assessment.

At the height of Mr Gove’s reforms, there was much publicity of the GCSE changes that are intended to drive up standards and put a halt to sustained grade inflation.  But since the changes have been adopted, the government’s educational priorities appear to have shifted for the time being to safeguarding and preventing radicalisation.  The detail of the GCSE reforms – now in full swing – have become old news.

The new GCSEs are intended to carry greater and more demanding content and therefore to be more challenging for pupils.  Coursework, more recently packaged as controlled assessments, is disappearing with the majority of assessment reverting to old school terminal exams sat at the end of Year 11.  The opportunity for re-sits under previous GCSE modular formats will also disappear other than in English and Maths.

Perhaps the most visible change will be that made to grading with a 9 to 1 scale replacing the current A* to G awards.  The best performances will be awarded a 9 – a standard expected to exceed the current A* in the new system that is designed to differentiate further the top performers than current grading allows.  To date, the ‘good’ pass floor has been considered to be at C grade.  Although no clear, direct comparison of old to new grades has been published, it is anticipated that a ‘good’ pass will be at 4 which will align to a current low B or high C grade.

These reforms are already underway.  They already apply to the courses that Year 10 pupils are following in Maths, English Language and Literature that will be examined in the summer of 2017.  The changes will, however, impact more widely on current Year 9 pupils who will be examined in summer, 2018 and for whom most of the rest of the GCSE subjects will be reformed from this September.

For a few subjects – mostly those with smaller entries although this group does include Business Studies and Design Technology – the reforms will not kick in until September 2017 for the following cohort of GCSE pupils (current Year 8) who will be examined in summer, 2019.

In the maintained sector, in order to meet government league table requirements of the Ebacc or English baccalaureate, most pupils will have to attempt GCSEs in English, Maths, Science, a language and either Geography or History.  Independent schools are not obliged fulfil this requirement and have greater freedom to allow their pupils to choose a combination of subjects that match their needs and interests.

Independent schools will also retain the freedom to enter their students for the international GCSE or IGCSE as, like a number of our counterparts, we already do at Newcastle School for Boys in English Language and Maths.

IGCSEs can offer greater breadth and be more secure than some of the new reformed GCSE courses.  For example, the IGCSE in Maths, in retaining an introduction to calculus, offers better preparation for A level.  IGCSEs also retain elements of the old GCSEs such as some coursework and more choice for teachers over course content that can then be matched to pupils’ needs.

Despite the changes to GCSE content and assessment, providing pupils make sensible and balanced choices informed by schools, teachers and parents (where permitted), the reality is that these choices are unlikely to close off permanently too many future study and career paths.  In most cases, it’s ultimately grades that are more valuable than subject choices.

It was a great pleasure to welcome Gary Fildes back to the School last week.  Many of our boys and parents will remember Gary from Prize Day last summer.  He is the founder director and lead astronomer at Kielder Observatory and on Thursday he came to deliver the latest talk in our open lecture series.

Gary gave a compelling and, at times, mind-blowing, insight to astronomy and the universe complemented by some stunning imagery.  Our audience ranged from junior boys to grandparents, from scientists with a good deal of knowledge to me with very little.  Yet Gary’s extraordinary knowledge and passion and his skill as a speaker captivated the entire audience. I could have listened for much longer and, I know, Gary could have spoken for much longer.

Our open lecture series introduced by Senior School Deputy Head, Alex Newman, has been a great success.  What I particularly value is the encouragement our speakers offer, particularly for our own pupils, to find and pursue their passions.  The opportunity for our boys to hear and feel the passion of those experts who have achieved success in their fields.  The message that success and fulfilment run deeper than simply qualifications, a career path and a good salary.

For those of us who subscribe to the research findings that reading for pleasure is the single biggest determinant of academic attainment – even more influential than social background – last week’s announcement of the Costa book of the year prize winner, was good news.  For only the second time in the history of the prize, it was awarded to a children’s book – The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge.

In response, The Times published a list of recent children’s books that adults might enjoy reading.  Parents may wish to draw on this list and share their reading of some of these books with their son or other children.

I would add to the list the book I’m currently reading with my own nine year old: Big Game and which happens to be written by NSB parent, Dan Smith.  It follows the quest of a 13 year old boy to become a man – a combination of a traditional adventure story and modern thriller for anyone who ever thought they weren’t good enough.  A great book for young boys and there’s a film version (certificate 15) too.

And to finish, my favourite teacher-pupil exchange overheard last week:

Sixth former:  Miss, can I borrow your hole punch?

Teacher:  No.  You still owe me an essay.

Sixth former:  Fair enough.

This wasn’t a teacher being irritable and mean.  It was a quick lesson for the sixth former in self-reliance and taking responsibility and he recognised it.  Give a (young) man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a (young) man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

The Headmaster’s blog can also be followed at https://nsbhmwordpresscom.wordpress.com/ and via his LinkedIn profile at https://uk.linkedin.com/in/davidtickner