The government has announced its intention to reduce the current GCSE ‘equivalent’ qualifications from 3,175 to 125 in the annual performance tables to be published in January 2015 referring to GCSE results in summer 2014.
This announcement follows the recommendations made in the Wolf Review of 14-19 vocational qualifications. She highlighted how the current performance tables can create a perverse incentive for some schools to put pupils on courses that might boost their performance table position but do not necessarily enable them to progress to further learning or employment.
The DfE is concerned that many of the current equivalencies are worth four, five or even six GCSEs and are not of a similar rigour as these GCSEs.
From the 2014 performance tables (published in January 2015), only 125 of these qualifications will be included in the performance tables although schools will be able to follow courses that are not included if they think they continue to be appropriate for some pupils.
Equivalent courses that continue to be recognised for performance table purposes include full course GCSEs, established iGCSEs, AS levels and music at grade six and above. All these will be included on a one to one basis.
It remains to be seen how many of the non-accredited courses will continue to be offered by providers and, even if they are, what the uptake from schools will continue to be.
Schools will need to decide the extent to which this policy decision will impact on their Key Stage 4 curriculum and make any changes from September 2012.
Details of the DfE press release can be found here,
Let us know what you think.
This will have a huge impact on some very 'high performing' schools nationally.
ReplyDeleteI can understand the 'equivalence' argument, but my concern here is that the government only seems to value pure academic achievement in our schools. If the only thing we score schools on is GCSE equivalents, we are missing out on the talents of a lot of pupils who may not be 'bright' academically, but who are perfectly capable of being valuable members of the community in vocational roles. I wish this country would start valuing people as much as pieces of paper.
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