Education

Northern Ireland GCSE & A-level review

oDowd Michael Gove’s announcement of a replacement of GCSEs in England has prompted a fundamental review of Northern Ireland’s examinations system. Stephen Dineen reports.

Education Minister John O’Dowd has announced a fundamental review of the GSCE and A-level qualifications system in Northern Ireland. The move follows Education Secretary Michael Gove’s decision to replace GCSE exams in England with a new examination of core subjects and a qualification to be called the English baccalaureate (EBacc).

O’Dowd has said that the time is right for the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) to conduct a “root and branch” review. Northern Ireland is free to make its own decisions, under devolution, but the end of GCSEs in the main country using them will have implications for the value attached to the exams.

If Northern Ireland does not replicate the reforms in England, it will end a common exams system shared by the two regions and Wales since the introduction of Olevels in 1951. GCSEs were introduced by the Thatcher Government in 1986 and were first sat in 1988.

O’Dowd said that the review “should consider the continuing value of GCSEs and A-levels and potential alternatives that will meet the needs of all learners here, now and in the future.” He said that he wanted “a suite of qualifications which enable our young people to continue with their education, to get a job that is matched to their skills, which in turn supports the economy”.

The CCEA must complete its review by next June, with interim reports to be produced in January and March. It will identify the benefits of retaining GCSEs and A-levels “on a stand-alone basis in light of concerns about the future of the three-jurisdiction arrangement”, according its terms of reference.

It will also identify options and make recommendations to improve or replace GCSE or A-level qualifications (including advice on timescales). Any recommendations for a qualifications and awarding system must ensure skills as well as knowledge are tested and represent “progression from the levels of progression” in core subjects i.e. English or Irish, maths and ICT.

Any proposed examinations system must be portable, comparable and provide equality of access. The review will also have to take account of the changes to be made in England and any decision by the Welsh Government on the future of GCSEs and the three-jurisdiction arrangements (on GCSEs and A-levels) as they may apply to Wales.

In the Assembly, Education Committee Chair Mervyn Storey queried the ability of the CCEA to produce a timely review respected by stakeholders, while the UUP’s Danny Kinahan emphasised the need to consult with teachers during the review.

Responding to SDLP Education Spokesman Seán Rodgers, O’Dowd said that school leaders, teachers and pupils will be involved. The TUV’s Jim Allister said that it was vital that Northern Ireland doesn’t hold on to what will be seen (after reform in England) as “dumbed-down exams”.

From September 2015, students in England will study for more rigorous exams in English, maths and science. The first exams will be sat in the summer of 2017. Coursework assessment in English and maths will be scrapped, but some will remain in science. EBacc courses for history, geography and the sciences will begin in September 2016. Those successful in English, maths, the sciences, a humanities subject and a language will constitute a full EBacc.

For those unable to pass the new exams at 16, schools will be required to produce a detailed record of a student’s achievement in each curriculum area. Gove anticipates that most of these students will secure EBacc certificates at 17 or 18. There will be no lower standard exam, as was reported to have been planned.

Exams will be set by a single exam board, regulated by Ofqual, rather than the current competing boards. The Government will outline broad expectations for subject content that it considers absolutely essential and will work with subject associations and others to develop content.

At present, GCSE grades form part of the criteria options for general entrance requirements in Queen’s University (e.g. five passes, two at GCE A-level and three at GCSE level and/or AS-level), with a C in English language at GCSE level compulsory. The University of Ulster has the same grade requirements.

Announcing the plan to the Commons, the Education Secretary said that it was time to end an exams system “that has narrowed the curriculum, forced idealistic professionals to teach to the test and encouraged heads to offer children the softest possible options.” It was time “to tackle grade inflation and dumbing down,” he said, and “to raise aspirations and restore rigour to our examinations.”

As well as being critical of GCSE grade inflation, Gove has also expressed concern that UK children may not be getting world-class qualifications (see text box).

Labour has criticised the EBacc proposal. Shadow Education Secretary Stephen Twigg said that any movement away from coursework in core subjects was “totally out of date”. He acknowledged that schools need to change but added: “I simply do not accept that we achieve that by returning to a system abolished as ‘out of date’ in the 1980s.”

Student skills compared

While this year’s GCSE English exams resulted in controversy due to a decline in top grades, grade inflation has been evident since the exam was introduced. Whereas 8.4 per cent of students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland got As in 1988, 22.4 per cent received A* or As this year. In May, exam regulator Ofqual stated that grade inflation was due in part to easier exams.

A 2009 OECD PISA study on numeracy, literacy and science showed that the performance of the UK’s 15 year olds had declined when compared with 64 other countries. The UK rankings fell from 17th to 25th in reading, from 24th to 28th for maths and from 14th to 16th in science (57 countries featured in the previous 2006 study).

Northern Ireland students performed above the OECD average in reading. Finland was the only EU country with a statistically significantly higher score. In maths, students’ performance was comparable to the OECD average, with boys performing significantly better than girls. The mean score for science was higher than the average.

Area Reading Maths Science
Northern Ireland 499 492 511
OECD average 493 496 501
UK (overall) 494 492 514
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