MPs unveil plans to tackle dumbed-down exams
MPs call for standardised national syllabuses as part of reforms to remove “perverse incentives” for students to take dumbed-down exams at school.
In a report, the cross-party education select committee recommends stripping exam boards of their right to decide the content of examinations sat by pupils aged 15 to 19.
Instead, the committee suggests the introduction of national syllabuses to prevent boards bringing down the quality of exams as they fight for market share.
These national syllabuses for GCSEs and A-levels would be accredited by Ofqual, the qualifications regulator.
The recommendation responds to concern that examination boards are bringing down the quality of exams as they fight for market share.
Grade inflation
Graham Stuart, the Conservative chairman of the committee, said there was a need for change due to “grade inflation” in recent years, which he said had led to a loss of faith in the examination system.
The public, employers, universities all need to have their confidence restored. Graham Stuart, committee chairman
He said: “There is a combination of better teaching, better prepared pupils, harder work, but also there has been a change on grade boundaries and on the content and accessibility of the curriculum and syllabus, and that is why we suggest change.
“The public, employers, universities all need to have their confidence restored.
“A move to national syllabuses can provide exactly that change without massive disruption to the system, retaining the diversity and dynamism of multiple exam boards but getting rid of the perverse incentives to lower standards over time.”
Pilot scheme
The report comes after government plans to scrap GCSEs and replace them with “explicitly harder” O-level style exams were leaked two weeks ago.
Teaching unions and education experts claimed this would lead to a two-tier education system, but Education Secretary Michael Gove has since said he wants to move towards a one-tier set of high quality qualifications.
Mr Stuart said: “The government has refused to say what its exact plans are.
“The secretary of state has said he will make no further decisions until he has seen our report, which does not look particularly at the qualifications that are sat, it looks at the way they are administered and the way that impacts on quality.
“We, like the secretary of state, want to move to a system which is right for every child.
“We don’t want to see anybody turned into a loser at age 14, we want a system which brings out the best in everyone.”
The committee’s report, which suggests there should be a pilot scheme to test its recommendations, will now be considered by the government over the next two months.